Singing Bird and the Importance of Native American Women in Illinois History Presentation on April 6, 2024
Dressed in her native regalia, Kim Sigafus McIver gives a history of Natives in Illinois with a focus on Native women, or what was considered “The Hidden Half.” Her primary focus is women such as Singing Bird (Blackhawk’s wife), and Hononegah.


Kim will bring the audience into these women’s day-to-day lives, including courting, marriage, and child-rearing. She will also talk about their role in their husbands’ lives, and how those lives affected the history of Illinois. Kim will also bring items that women would have used in their daily lives, as she discusses the role women played within the family unit. The audience will be able to pick up and view the items, learn Native language and music, and get the chance to play the drum in this interactive experience.


This one-hour program is free and is open to the public. It will start at 1 p.m. at the Steeple Building Museum. For more information, contact the Bishop Hill Heritage Association at 309 927-3899 or bhha@mymctc.net. Sponsored by the BHHA and the Illinois Humanities Council Road Scholar Program.

 

 

Pottery Class in 2024

April 12, 13, and 14 from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. each day. Seating is limited for this three-day pottery class. This hands-on clay experience is geared for high school age and up. Students will learn techniques in centering clay and pulling up forms on the wheel. This class will be taught by local potter Jeffrey Goard at the Dairy Building in Bishop Hill IL. The Dairy Building is located at 410 North Erickson Street. The $150 fee includes all supplies. Call or text 309-883-1035 for details and to sign up. Bring a lunch or enjoy one of Bishop Hill’s fine eateries. Partially sponsored by the Bishop Hill Heritage Association.

 

 

Wild Boar to Baconfest: Pigs in History and Popular Culture Program on April 20, 2024
In this lecture, Cynthia Clampitt presents the history of pigs and pork to examine the impact these animals had worldwide. Clampitt will focus on the Midwest, including why poet Carl Sandburg would call Chicago “Hog Butcher for the World.”

Pigs were the first food animals to be domesticated, so their history with human beings date back more than 12,000 years. However, antiquity is just one of the reasons why pork is the most eaten meat in the world. This odd, paradoxical animal offers a great range of advantages when it comes to feeding large populations—especially urban populations—though, historically, it has also offered several disadvantages. Once pigs were introduced to the Americas, they became an almost instant success, raised by settlers but also valued by Native Americans. As the Midwest opened, pigs moved west and numbers grew rapidly.

This one-hour program is free and open to the public. It will start at 1 p.m. at the Steeple Building Museum. For more information, contact the Bishop Hill Heritage Association at 309 927-3899 or bhha@mymctc.net. Sponsored by the BHHA and the Illinois Humanities Council Road Scholar Program.
 

June 1             Bishop Hill Folk Music Festival
Begin your summer by attending the Bishop Hill Folk Music Festival.  Enjoy free music in the park all day long.  Listen to Bucky Halker, Barry Cloyd, and many more folk musicians. Visit the Steeple Building Museum for a free presentation about dulcimers by Mike Anderson.  This one-day festival is free and open to the public.  Email bhha@mymctc.net or call 309 927-3899 for more information.   Organized by the, Bishop Hill Heritage Association,  Funded by the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency, Galesburg Foundation, and Geneseo Foundation.

 

June 21 Stitched Shibori, Clay Resist and Mandalas plus Indigo Dyeing Class (2-day workshop,
taught by Sheri Wood
Friday, June 21, 2024 (9.am.-3p.m.) plus your choice of Thursday, June 27 OR Saturday, June 29
On June 21st, we will explore some advanced resist methods for patterning indigo, including Stitched Shibori designs, painting, stenciling and stamping with clay resist, and more detailed tying techniques to create Mandala or snowflake designs. We will spend the day working on the different techniques and designs, you may take home your stitched and tied items to complete before the dyeing class next week. Please leave your clay resist items with Sheri to finish drying before next week’s class.

You will choose which day, Thursday June 27 or Saturday June 29 the next week to return for dyeing. We will work with both fresh indigo and vat indigo to color your projects.

Material and most supplies will be provided at class, but feel free to bring along natural fiber fabric or small clothing items from home to use. Bring along an apron, your needlework scissors, thimble and assortment of needles.

Class will meet at the 1854 Dairy Building, 410 N. Erickson Street, Bishop Hill, IL 61419. We will take a lunch break around noon, please visit one of the local restaurants or bring your lunch. Class size is limited to 10 people. Class fee is $150. And includes 2 days of class and most supplies. For more information or to sign up for class, contact Sheri at: sheri_jeanne@hotmail.com or (309) 299-8007.  Partially sponsored by the BHHA.

 

 

June 27 Fresh Indigo and Vat Indigo Dyeing Class, taught by Sheri Wood
Class is from 8 am. to 3 p.m. at the Dairy Building. Please join me for fun day of exploring the magic of dyeing with Indigo! Starting with natural fibers and materials, we will add patterns and watch the magic as the fabrics change from white to yellow to blue right in front of your eyes. We will start out the day, meeting at the 1854 Dairy Building, 410 North Erickson Street, Bishop Hill, IL and take a short walk to the indigo patch to harvest the fresh indigo (Japanese Indigo or persicaria tinctoria), along the way we’ll discuss planting growing, harvesting and seed saving of these plants. We will then use the freshly harvested leaves to color our fabric using 3 different techniques- salt rub, ice dyeing and leaf pounding. Before lunch break, we will start our indigo vats and prepare items for the afternoon vat dyeing by clamping, tying, and folding materials.

After the lunch break, we will spend the afternoon dipping and dyeing our fabric and other materials. We will discuss how to finish your projects at home, and suggestions for different uses for your treasures. Material and supplies will be provided at class, but feel free to bring along fabric or small clothing items from home to use, natural fibers dye best. I will provide samples of many different natural fabrics and yarns for you to dye. Bring along an apron, or wear clothing that make be shades of blue before the day is over. Everyone will take home their samples to finish at home, starts of the plants, and class handouts including sources for supplies, instructions for what we did in class, and directions for finishing your samples at home.

We will take a lunch break around noon, please visit one of the local restaurants or bring your lunch.
Class size is limited to 10 people. Class fee is $75. And includes class and most supplies. For more information or to sign up for class, contact Sheri at: sheri_jeanne@hotmail.com or (309) 299-8007.
Partially sponsored by the BHHA.

 

 

June 29           Fresh Indigo and Vat Indigo Dyeing Class, taught by Sheri Wood

Class is from 8 am. to 3 p.m. at the Dairy Building.  Please join me for fun day of exploring the magic of dyeing with Indigo! Starting with natural fibers and materials, we will add patterns and watch the magic as the fabrics change from white to yellow to blue right in front of your eyes. We will start out the day, meeting at the 1854 Dairy Building, 410 North Erickson Street, Bishop Hill, IL and take a short walk to the indigo patch to harvest the fresh indigo (Japanese Indigo or persicaria tinctoria), along the way we’ll discuss planting growing, harvesting and seed saving of these plants. We will then use the freshly harvested leaves to color our fabric using 3 different techniques- salt rub, ice dyeing and leaf pounding. Before lunch break, we will start our indigo vats and prepare items for the afternoon vat dyeing by clamping, tying, and folding materials.

After the lunch break, we will spend the afternoon dipping and dyeing our fabric and other materials. We will discuss how to finish your projects at home, and suggestions for different uses for your treasures. Material and supplies will be provided at class, but feel free to bring along fabric or small clothing items from home to use, natural fibers dye best. I will provide samples of many different natural fabrics and yarns for you to dye. Bring along an apron, or wear clothing that make be shades of blue before the day is over. Everyone will take home their samples to finish at home, starts of the plants, and class handouts including sources for supplies, instructions for what we did in class, and directions for finishing your samples at home.

We will take a lunch break around noon, please visit one of the local restaurants or bring your lunch.
Class size is limited to 10 people. Class fee is $75. And includes class and most supplies. For more information or to sign up for class, contact Sheri at: sheri_jeanne@hotmail.com or (309) 299-8007.
Partially sponsored by the BHHA.

 

July 20            Basket Weaving Workshop

 At the Dairy Building from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., learn how to make an ivy basket from instructor Linda Simmons. $15 per person, max of 10 people for this class. Participants are asked to bring with them the following items: a towel, a pail, and some hand-held garden shears. All other materials will be provided and lunch will be on your own. Call 309 927-3899 or email bhha@mymctc.net for more details or to register. The Dairy Building is located at 410 North Erickson Street. Sponsored by the BHHA and the Illinois Art Council Agency, a state agency.

 

Aug. 17 Fresh Indigo and Vat Indigo Dyeing Class, taught by Sheri Wood

Class is from 8 am. to 3 p.m. at the Dairy Building. . Please join me for fun day of exploring the magic of dyeing with Indigo! Starting with natural fibers and materials, we will add patterns and watch the magic as the fabrics change from white to yellow to blue right in front of your eyes. We will start out the day, meeting at the 1854 Dairy Building, 410 North Erickson Street, Bishop Hill, IL and take a short walk to the indigo patch to harvest the fresh indigo (Japanese Indigo or persicaria tinctoria), along the way we’ll discuss planting growing, harvesting and seed saving of these plants. We will then use the freshly harvested leaves to color our fabric using 3 different techniques- salt rub, ice dyeing and leaf pounding. Before lunch break, we will start our indigo vats and prepare items for the afternoon vat dyeing by clamping, tying, and folding materials.

After the lunch break, we will spend the afternoon dipping and dyeing our fabric and other materials. We will discuss how to finish your projects at home, and suggestions for different uses for your treasures. Material and supplies will be provided at class, but feel free to bring along fabric or small clothing items from home to use, natural fibers dye best. I will provide samples of many different natural fabrics and yarns for you to dye. Bring along an apron, or wear clothing that make be shades of blue before the day is over. Everyone will take home their samples to finish at home, starts of the plants, and class handouts including sources for supplies, instructions for what we did in class, and directions for finishing your samples at home.

We will take a lunch break around noon, please visit one of the local restaurants or bring your lunch.
Class size is limited to 10 people. Class fee is $75. And includes class and most supplies. For more information or to sign up for class, contact Sheri at: sheri_jeanne@hotmail.com or (309) 299-8007.
Partially sponsored by the BHHA.

 

Aug. 24           Bishop Hill Chautauqua

Join us for this historical re-enactment brought to life through storytelling and performing.  Spend a Saturday in the village park with several characters from our past, such as Mrs. Mary Lincoln and pilot Amelia Earhart.  In the afternoon, enjoy Fika with some of the performers in the park, and then later that evening, enjoy a dinner theater at the Bishop Hill Creative Commons.  Programs in the park are free and open to the public.  For more information, contact the BHHA at 309 927-3899 or bhha@mymctc.netOrganized by the BHHA, Fox Tales International, and the Twinflower Inn.  Funded by Community State Bank, Geneseo Foundation, Galesburg Community Foundation, and Illinois Arts Council Agency, a state agency.

 

Sept. 28-29      Agriculture Days – Jordbruksdagarna

As always, there will be a variety of traditional craft demonstrations, music, food, dancing, vendors, and hands-on activities for the children during Jordbruksdagarna (Swedish for “earth work days”).  Enjoy the petting zoo and the antique tractor display, with demonstrations. This 19th century harvest festival is free and open to the public. Email bhha@mymctc.net or call 309 927-3899 for more information.   10 a.m. – 4 p.mOrganized by the BHHAFunded by the Illinois Art Council Agency, Nature’s Creations, Wilbur and Marilyn Nelson, Peck Farms, River Valley Cooperative, State Bank of Toulon, TerraForm Power by Brookfield Renewable, and the Henry County Independent Insurance Agents Association. 

 

Please call 309 927-3899 or email bhha@mymctc.net to confirm dates and times.