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The Illinois State Museum Lockport Gallery offers more than just a quiet retreat to contemplate critically noted exhibitions highlighting the art and visual culture of Illinois. Special events, talks, guided tours, and informative presentations provide background information and insight, bringing the each installation alive.
Philip Juras | The Long View
Prairie Paintings from Illinois Nature Preserves
June 9, 2023 – October 21, 2023
Exhibitions
The Lockport Gallery features rotating exhibitions highlighting the art and visual culture of Illinois.
COMING SOON! Generation X: Growing Up X opening November 2023 through May 2024!
This exhibition features paintings from 23 nature preserves across Illinois by artist and conservationist Philip Juras. The work celebrates the 60-year legacy of the Illinois Nature Preserves Commission and offers a window into the past and present ecology of the Prairie State.
The prairies featured in Juras’ paintings range geographically from the shore of Lake Michigan, Lockport, and down through the southern end of Illinois. They show the visual variety found in remnant prairies based on physical characteristics and the ephemeral qualities of weather and season. Juras remarks that, ‘together, they represent multiple aspects of the tallgrass landscape I’ve come to cherish. For example, as a southerner more accustomed to densely forested environments, I find the long views in prairies irresistible.’
Together with Juras’ paintings is another exhibition, Prairie Companion. This exhibition features artwork and specimens from the Illinois State Museum collection that highlight aspects of prairie ecology and how our actions have consequence for prairie survival. While Juras’ exhibit celebrates the wide vistas of the prairie, this exhibition considers individual species and details of places that define this vital ecosystem.
‘As an artist, I’m enthralled by tallgrass prairie. Its beauty, rich ecology, and fascinating history are the essential ingredients in what I believe makes a compelling landscape. It is moving to set foot in a true prairie remnant where I can ponder the profusion of flowers and grasses and imagine how the patch of prairie in front of me could once have covered millions of acres.’ Philip Juras
Prairie Companion
June 9, 2023 – October 21, 2023
Prairie Companion features artwork and specimens from the Illinois State Museum collection that highlight aspects of prairie ecology and how our actions have consequence for prairie survival. Presented in conjunction with Philip Juras’ exhibit celebrating the wide views of prairie preserves, this exhibition considers individual species and details of places that define this vital ecosystem.
Artists include Harry Breen, Roger Brown, H.B. Colby, Tom Denlinger, Winifred Godfrey, Frank Sadorus, Kevin Veara, Mel Watkin.
This exhibition is organized by Doug Stapleton, Curator of Art, with Dr. Meredith Mahony, Curator of Zoology and Dr. Melissa Pardi, Assistant Curator of Geology.
Upcoming Exhibitions
Growing Up X
November 2023 - May 2024
The Growing Up X exhibition explores the toys, technologies and cultural touchstones surrounding Gen Xers in their childhood. Museum visitors will see items familiar to anyone who grew up in the 1970s and 1980s, from telephones with cords, record and cassette players, and an Apple IIe computer to Teddy Ruxpin and parachute pants. Additionally, they will learn how growing up in the shadow of the Vietnam War, the Cold War, the AIDS crisis and the War on Drugs shaped Gen Xers as individuals and a generation.
