PEORIA, Ill. — After being shut down in November due to COVID-19 mitigations, the Peoria Riverfront Museum will reopen Saturday, March 6.
When visitors return to the museum, there will be new exhibitions for them to view.
The main new exhibit is Preston Jackson’s “Bronzeville to Harlem: An American Story.”
Jackson, an acclaimed Peoria-based artist, redesigned “Bronzeville to Harlem” to be a semi-permanent installation in the museum’s renovated Owens Gallery, formerly The Street Gallery.
Jackson is gifting the work to the museum, and museum president and CEO John Morris expressed his gratitude to Jackson.
“At the perfect moment in our society’s history, this act of extraordinary generosity by the artist, his family, and his many supporters represents the largest, most valuable, and important story-telling art installation ever given for the public inspiration in the history of Peoria,” said Morris.
Jackson said the work, as a whole, took more than two decades to complete.
“This piece started about 25 years ago,” said Jackson. “During my spare time — or little spurts of interest in certain subjects — I will make several little figures or a building.”
Jackson said he more than doubled the size of the sculpture in one year because of his motivation of politics.
Jackson said he materializes politics and social commentary, especially seen in the last year, to make them real.
“I get to bring expressionism into my work,” said Jackson.
“101 Treasures of the Peoria Riverfront Museum Collection” will also be opening Saturday, which showcases 57 years of collecting the most artistic works, scientific objects, historic relics and achievement-related stories that define the museum’s permanent collection.
Works by artists such as Pablo Picasso, Frederick Remington and Frank Lloyd Wright will be on display in that exhibit.
The new exhibits were created with education in mind, so students can view them and learn, according to Morris.
“The most important people we serve in this community are our young people — they are our future,” said Morris. ”
The museum’s Every Student Initiative gives an opportunity for every Peoria Public Schools student to visit the museum for free.
Pictures of the exhibit are available at 1470WMBD on Instagram.
