Artists prepare for First Friday
BLOOMINGTON — Downtown Bloomington artists will host First Friday on June 3 from 5-8 p.m. as part of the Cogs & Corsets festival.
The festival will take place Friday and Saturday throughout the six square blocks of downtown Bloomington. Downtown galleries and studios will feature local artists’new work and hosting visiting artists whose pieces represent the Steampunk vibe.
There will be a Steampunk Market, The Tea Room, The Great Airship Race Murder Mystery Dinner, panels, lectures, workshops, the Maker Faire display and more.
Masks and social distancing are encouraged, but not required.
Visit cogsandcorsetsil.com for more information.
Peoria museum opens exhibit
PEORIA — The Peoria Riverfront Museum opened its new exhibit “Creatures of Light: Nature’s Bioluminescence,” that opened on May 28.
The exhibit will be available at the museum through September 5. The exhibit was created by the American Museum of Natural History in New York; it illuminates the worlds of the extraordinary organisms that flash, sparkle and glimmer by generating light, called bioluminescence, exploring how and why they glow, from the deep sea to Midwest backyards.
The museum also hosted the American Museum of Natural History’s international traveling of “T. Rex: The Ultimate Predator” May 2021-January 2022.
“Creatures of Light” is an immersive, family-friendly exhibit that takes guests of all ages through a series of recreated, interactive environments where the light makers live, including a woodland floor scattered with glowing mushrooms, a meadow filled with fireflies flashing species-specific patterns, a New Zealand cave where glowworms drop sticky threads from their bioluminescent tails to trap prey, Puerto Rico’s Mosquito Bay famous for dinoflagellates that create sparkling halos around anything that moves and the Cayman Island’s Bloody Bay Wall lit with fluorescent coral and fish.
Admission is free for members and $19 for adults, $17 for seniors and students with ID and $15 for youth 3-17. The admission prices covers all exhibitions and daytime planetarium shows. Giant Screen Theater tickets are extra. The museum welcomes Blue Star Museum families, Museums for all and public library pass holders.
Sponsors of the exhibit include PNC, UnityPoint Health, OSF Healthcare and Corporate Visionary Society Council. In addition to the American Museum of National History, the exhibit was in collaboration with the Canadian Museum of Ottawa, Canada and the Field Museum, Chicago.
Call 309-686-7000 or visit RiverfrontMuseum.org for more information.
Peoria band
concerts return
PEORIA — The Peoria Municipal Band will return with their 85th season of summer concerts on Sunday, June 5 at 7 p.m. in the Glen Oak Park Amphitheater in Peoria.
The concert will feature vocal soloist Jennifer Rosa with music by George Gershwin, Eric Whitacre, John Philp Sousa and others.
The 2022 summer season will consist of 24 performances by a band of 50 musicians. All concerts are free and parking is available near the venues.
Other Sunday evening concerts will be June 12, 19, 26, July 3, 10, 17, 24, 31, Aug. 7 and 14. Wednesday evening performances will be at 7 p.m. on the corner of Water and State St. These performances will be June 8, 15, 22, 29, July 6, 13, 20, 27, Aug. 3 and 10.
A special performance will take place at 7 p.m. on Friday, June 24 at St. Philomena’s Church and School and at 7 p.m. on Firday, July 29 at United Presbyterian Church.
Visit peoriamunicialband.com for more information.
Allerton concert series back
MONTICELLO — Last Minute, a Central Illinois-based rock and roll band will open the Allerton Park & Retreat Center Concert Series presented by the Ayers Family at 6 p.m. on Friday, June 3.
The band will play classic rock tunes. The band will kick things off for the monthly concert series, starting with ‘LOVE FOR ALLerton’ entry, on the Gatehouse lawn of the Monticello-area park.
After Last Minute, Green Diamond Express will take the stage at 7:30 p.m.
There is a $5 suggested donation to attend the concert; $10 per family. Attendees are encouraged to bring lawn chairs or blankets to sit on. Food will be provided by Piato To Go and Jimmy John’s/
Lodging will also be available during the concert weekend. Visit allerton.Illinois.edu/lodging for more information.
Source: pantagraph.com