SPURLOCK MUSEUM of Cultural Heritage
At the University of Illinois, UIUC, a division of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
What a thrill for a museum lover! The Beauty of places very close to my Backyard too.
By world standards this museum is fairly small, but the exhibits are of world-class standards—educational, very well set-out and marked. Another benefit of living in a university town.
Their motto is “Explore the World”. Well, here you certainly can, as you get a good taste of what’s out there in our big wide world. Whet your appetite, or (like me) consolidate some of what you’ve seen and learned before about world cultures and cultural history.
The entrance lobby has an information desk on the right and behind it a Learning Center, and a special exhibit hall (which has shown, for example, “Why Knot”, about the diverse uses of fibers over the ages; and “Ancient Egypt: The Origins”).
Enter the actual museum to the left. First into the circular atrium, called the Central Core Gallery, with its three pillars: Body (shelter, food, clothing), Mind (ethics), and Soul (art, religion), representing the challenges all humans face, and some of the varied solutions. The museum galleries radiate out and around this central space. 
On the ground floor are the Gallery of American Indian Cultures (both North and South America), and the Gallery of Ancient Mediterranean Cultures (focusing on Greece and Rome).
Upstairs are three galleries. First, the Gallery of Asian Cultures, which focuses on Indonesia, Oceania, and East Asia. In the center is the Gallery of European Cultures. Finally, on the right is the Gallery of African and Middle Eastern Cultures.
You could spend many hours here, but today I chose to highlight the European Gallery. It spotlights a number of different cultural areas, loosely linked by the theme of European Odyssey. First are 4 houses, from different eras and different geographical areas in Europe. Then there is Warfare (from Medieval times to WW2), Religion (Islam, Judaism, Christianity—with some gorgeous stained-glass panels), the Elites, Communication, and Entertainment. 
Every semester, the museum also offers a number of special events, such as Manda Drumming, Polish Music and Dancing, Chinese Silk-and-Bamboo Ensemble. They are always really interesting and we come away feeling we’ve learned a whole lot of new stuff. See my earlier entry on the Mayan Weavings in “Wonderful Weavings” April 2008.
Pick up one of the Gallery Explorations worksheets or an Exhibit Bingo sheet for the kids.
INFORMATION:
Address: 600 S. Gregory St., Urbana(just off Lincoln, on the corner of Gregory and Oregon).
Hours:
Tuesday 12-5 
Wednesday, Thursday, Friday 9-5
Saturday 10-4
Sunday 12-4
Free general admission
Parking available on the street, and in the unmetered parking lot over weekends.
Tel: +1 217-333-2360
Hello.
I thought you might be interested in hearing about Tim Long’s photographs of Daniel Burnham’s iconic buildings in the Philippines. Check out my blogpost at http://artseenchicago.blogspot.com/2009/05/daniel-burnhams-enduring-vision-for.html. Please feel free to leave your comments on artseenchicago. If you’d like more information, please contact me at eburkedain@colum.edu. Thanks.
Thanks for the link to your blog about the Chicago art scene. As you see from my blog, we try to visit Chicago and also look for the special art exhibits. Recently, I enjoyed the exhibit of art inspired for Obama, and had fun looking at the huge “GOd Bless America” on Michigan Ave. (also on my blog)
I did post a comment to your blog, but not sure if it’s showing up.
I like museums that say ‘Hey, come on in! There’s something interesting in here!’ in contrast to the ones of my schooldays, which were rather forbidding, and definitely ‘look but don’t touch!’
Me too! I guess museums are really trying these days to especailly get young people in/