Allerton Park is located at 515 Old Timber Road, Monticello, IL 61856. It is about 20 minutes outside of Champaign. It is a large plot of forest land with great architecture, art, and facilites dispersed throughout.
I went to Allerton with high hopes that the Sun Singer statue would blow me away. I had photographed the Prayer for Rain statue in West Side Park and people had thought it was the Sun Singer. However, I was underwhelmed by the Sun Singer.
His stance is not strong. One leg is bent slightly which sets his body off kilter. I think about the “ready stance” in sports. The Sun Singer is not ready. It also makes him difficult to photograph. Do I make the platform he is standing on straight? Or do I make his body straight.
He also doesn’t have anything at his feet like the Prayer for Rain statue does. I think this make the statue too skinny. I want it to have more of a triangular shape but instead he looks like a straight line up from the platform.
The area devoted to the Sun Singer, though, is impressive. You can walk, ride, or drive the path from Allerton’s entrance and you’ll eventually end up in a huge clearing with the Sun Singer in the middle. The space was impressive.
I can now say that I’ve visited the Sun Singer and for that I am happy. I plan like to explore other areas of Allerton because of all the good reviews I have heard.
