Programs & Events

Join us for one of the Museum’s most popular annual events, a concert of American Indian tales, told during the winter months, the traditional time of telling. This year's presenter is Eldrena Douma, a Hopi-Tewa storyteller from Laguna Pueblo who travels throughout the United States sharing stories from her American Indian heritage. Her experience as a storyteller began in her youth listening to family stories of her great grandmother Nampeyo and her contribution to the pottery world. Adults in her community told of life experiences, history, and folktales. Today, Eldrena continues to develop stories of her own unique creation which stand to become as much a part of her rich heritage as the traditional stories she grew up with. Winter Tales concerts are sponsored by an endowment from Reginald and Gladys Laubin.

Enhance your Spurlock Museum experience with hands-on activities for visitors of all ages in the Zahn Learning Center. This week: make your own masterpiece! Use our "masterpiece" art rubbing plates to create a picture, experiment with different brush types on a Buddha Board, “shrink” a sketch of a Spurlock artifact using the grid-drawing technique, or take a sketch board and paper out into the galleries for a real artist experience.

Parents and kids! Create, play, and learn together through crafts and activities from around the world. Arrive anytime between 9:30 and 11:30. The program ends at noon.

Organized by the Preservation Working Group of the University of Illinois, this informational event welcomes visitors to meet and talk with preservation specialists whose expertise ranges from antiquities to modern digital media. Have you ever wondered how to preserve that old film of family memories or take care of grandma’s quilt? Bring your small, hand-held items to the Museum or come with images of larger items and have your preservation questions answered by the presenting experts.

Keynote Speaker: Bob Swisher
"Historic Preservation in Champaign County"

Many individuals have worked to turn the tide of development in our community. Historically significant commercial buildings were abandoned for years due to the lack of insight and effort of their owners and were nearly lost to neglect. Many have only been restored by the efforts of a new business owner. Older apartment houses, which are often deeply neglected in our community, are once again finding life by the restoration efforts of new owners who see the beauty and financial viability of these charming old buildings. The University of Illinois now has an officially adopted Preservation Plan (although often ignored), and a preservation ethic has slowly been instilled in some of the administrators as well as the operations and maintenance staff. Bob Swisher, lifelong collector and preservation enthusiast will speak about historic preservation efforts in Champaign County—touching upon many of the projects that PACA (Preservation and Conservation Association) has steered to preserve the built environment and our local architectural heritage.

Bob Swisher is the local collectibles columnist for The News-Gazette. In addition to his weekly columns on antiquing and collectibles, he has served on the PACA Board of Directors twice, and has helped develop an architectural salvage program into the ongoing PACA program.

Hamid Rahmanian, Director
Introduction and panel discussion lead by Professor Hadi Esfahani, Director, CSAMES
Panel participants: Noreen Sugrue (Research Associate, WGGP), Behrooz Ghamari-Tabrizi (Associate Professor, History), Ritu Saksena (Associate Director, CSAMES)

The Glass House, a featured film of the 2009 Sundance Film Festival, skillfully examines the mostly hidden lives of young women, teetering on the fringes of Iranian society in modern Tehran. Marginalized by their families, these women have found a saving grace in a day center formed by an Iranian expatriate. Marjaneh Halati opened the center to give downtrodden young women a voice, thus empowering them with the life skills they need to succeed on their own. Many of these teens previously spent time in a jail, hospital, or state home because they had no other options. The young women see Marjaneh as both a mother figure and a mentor, and cherish her frequent visits from London. In superb cinema vérité style, spanning a period of 18 months, The Glass House deftly portrays a spirit of hopefulness as these young women, former victims of their society, are given the chance to express themselves and transform their difficult circumstances into new beginnings.

Film site (at sundance.org) (external link).

This event is presented by the Center for South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies (CSAMES) in cooperation with the Spurlock Museum, and cosponsored by the Women and Gender in Global Perspectives Program and the Persian Cultural Association.