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NIU’s Lorado Taft campus open for Oregon “Trail Days” Festival

July 14, 2014
Lorado Taft's Blackhawk statue

Lorado Taft’s Blackhawk statue

Northern Illinois University’s Lorado Taft Field Campus, best known by scores of suburban students as the site of their favorite middle school field trip, will be transformed into a Native American/Pioneer village July 19-20 during the weekend’s Oregon Trail Days Festival.

Demonstrators will exhibit soap- and candle-making, blacksmithing, wood carving, spinning, and lace- and broom-making near the old Log Cabin on Taft’s campus, and children will be invited to participate in a variety of Pioneer games and activities.

Quilts will be on display in Taft’s historic Poley House, and Sunday morning breakfast will be offered in the Taft Dining Center.

Other activities taking place during the festival include a Native American drum circle, tipi camping, a cowboy arena and a mountain man encampment.

Throughout the two-day event, Taft staff will provide tours of the historic campus.

Founded in 1898 by famed sculptor Lorado Taft, the campus was originally known as the Eagles Nest Artist Colony and played host to a who’s-who of Midwestern artists.

Taft and the ten other founding members of the colony gathered in bucolic Ogle County to escape the summer heat of Chicago.  All were members of the Chicago Art Institute or the University of Chicago art department, and examples of their paintings and sculpture abound throughout the Oregon community.  Upon the death of the colony’s final founding member, NIU acquired the 144-acre property in 1941 and has operated it as an outdoor education center ever since.

This year, NIU’s Art Museum is sponsoring a bus trip to the festival on Saturday, with stops at the historic Oregon Public Library–where paintings and other artwork from the original Eagles Nest artists reside–and at locations along the Oregon Sculpture Trail.

For those who prefer to travel independently, event organizers will provide transportation via hayracks and a handicapped shuttle van from the parking area to the festival.

Located just 30 minutes west of DeKalb-Sycamore, the picturesque Taft campus sits on a bluff overlooking the Rock River.  Three of the original artist colony buildings remain in use, while newer structures have been added over the years to house dormitories, classrooms and a dining hall.

During the school year, more than 6,000 northern Illinois fourth- through eighth-graders visit Taft for three-day outdoor education sessions. On weekends, the campus plays host to a variety of adult events, from scrapbooking clubs to executive retreats.

Suburban high school sports teams often rent fields and dormitories during the summer months for training camps, while the Illinois Department of Natural Resources runs a popular week-long program in June that teaches women outdoor survival skills.

A few hundred feet from the edge of the Taft campus stands the area’s most famous landmark – a 60-foot tall Lorado Taft sculpture called the Eternal Indian.  The enigmatic figure, arms crossed and staring serenely across the river, is more than 100 years old and in need of repair. Oregon Trail Days admission fees are funding the restoration project, which is currently underway.

The Lorado Taft Field Campus is one of four regional sites managed by NIU’s Division of Outreach, Engagement and Regional Development.

IF YOU GO:  Festival hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, June 19, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday, June 20.  Taft campus tours are at 11 a.m., noon, and 1, 2, 3 and 4 p.m. on Saturday, and at 10 and 11 a.m. and 1, 2 and 3 p.m. on Sunday.  Breakfast on Sunday will be from 8:00 to 10:30 a.m. on Sunday ($12 per person for a full meal, including Taft’s famous cinnamon rolls).

For more information, visit the festival website at www.oregontraildays.org.

 

To learn more about NIU’s Lorado Taft Field Campus, visit www.niu.edu/taft.