In this image taken from video, Matthew Bussler, Tribal Historic Preservation Officer at Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians, uses mapping equipment in Dowagiac, Mich., on Aug. 10, 2023. (AP Photo/Melissa Winder)

Key to the measure is first-time authority for tribes to rebury recovered remains in Illinois, which they much prefer to relocating them to states to which the U.S. government forced their relocation nearly two centuries ago.

(Raftink1973 / Pixabay)

The Illinois State Museum is planning a “Growing Up Gen X” exhibit and has put out a call for contributions of photos, memories and objects that define the youth of this often-overlooked cohort of Americans.

(Dean Moriarty / Pixabay)

Share your experiences through written stories, art, videos and more. “This is a case where if you save it, I’m happy to receive it,” said Eileen Ielmini of the University of Chicago Library’s Special Collections Research Center.

In this Tuesday, April 21, 2020 photo, Obi Uwakwe poses with his painting in Chicago. Uwakwe is an artist/photographer and submitted his art work to the the Illinois State Museum, which is documenting what daily life is like for Illinois families during the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

In Chicago and around the world, people are creating photographs, paintings, emails, journals and social media posts that will shape how the world remembers the coronavirus pandemic for years and centuries to come. 

Rauner pushes for compromise, which includes continued closure of Thompson Center art gallery

On Monday, the state of Illinois announced the reopening of the Illinois State Museum, a 138-year-old institution closed by Gov. Bruce Rauner last September. But it's not exactly that easy. 

After being closed almost three months due to the state’s budget crisis, the Illinois State Museum has recently lost more staff members as it tiptoes ever closer to losing its accreditation in 2016.

A mastodon fossil at the now closed Illinois State Museum (Flickr / Mike Linksvayer)
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At least 43 union workers continue to cash checks from the state, despite the closure of several institutions, including the 138-year-old Illinois State Museum in Springfield.

New Art Show Sets Sail with a Boatload of Wordplay

A free exhibition explores the artful use of language by contemporary Illinois painters and sculptors.

Artists from Illinois– and one from Minnesota – Make Monstrous Magic

Four solo exhibitions from local artists, plus one beast of an installation.

We spotlight a little-known gallery that focuses on artists from Illinois.