Arts and Culture

During the Great Depression the federal government tried to stimulate the economy by funding a variety of buildings and programs. Inside the 1936 WPA post office in Normal is a 1938 oil on canvas mural, a salute to the community, to human achievement, and to the importance of beauty in public spaces.

2025 was a good year for Normal, according to City Manager Pam Reece, noting town achievements include a range of infrastructure projects, opening a refurbished skate park at Fairview Park, and advancing the town's public arts plan.

The Bloomington Center for the Performing Arts will welcome Trisha Yearwood and Jake Owen to the stage in March. It's part of a successful track record for country artists at the venue over the last two years.

The structure of college classes will have to change in an AI world. That's according to Roy Magnuson, the director of the newly created Adaptive Edge Institute at Illinois State University. The institute studies new technologies and how they influence teaching. Right now, that's Generative AI.

If you want a sudsy taste of history, here's your chance: The McLean County Museum of History is partnering with Bloomington microbrewer Casper to honor the community's longest continuously operating (and now defunct) brewery.

It has been many decades since Downtown Bloomington was the premier destination for shoppers in the community. There was a time, though, when there were four large department stores downtown.

Monsignor Doug Hennessy, a Catholic priest known for his kindness, his work in the civil rights era, and a half-century of service to the people of Central Illinois, has died at age 87.

Ambrose is one of four people who spearheaded a coordinated open-studio walk in downtown Bloomington in 2000, then called the "Around the Corner Art Group" because of where their studios were situated.

Community members gathered over the weekend to honor loved ones who have died at the McLean County Museum of History’s annual Dia de Muertos celebration, filling the museum with music, dancing and colorful activities inspired by the traditional Mexican holiday.

Fukumura's second season begins in earnest with a trio of works by Beethoven, Bartók and Rózsa.