Exhibition on American Foodways to open January 10

CHICAGO—Through a partnership with the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C, the Illinois Humanities Council (IHC) is bringing “Key Ingredients: America by Food,” a portable 5-kiosk display designed especially for small museums and historical societies, to Danville, Illinois. The exhibition will open on Saturday, January 10th at the Vermilion County Museum Society, 116 N. Gilbert Street, and remain on display until February 20th. The opening day events will begin at 9:30am with a “Children’s Morning, and a celebrity-judged “Cook-off” will take place from 2-4pm.

The Museum will also host a series of events in conjunction with the exhibition’s stay in Danville, including a keynote lecture by exhibition curator Bruce Kraig, President of the Culinary Historians of Chicago and Professor Emeritus of History and Humanities at Roosevelt University in Chicago on January 18th, and a February 10th presentation on “The American Century in Cookbooks” by Penelope Bingham of Chicago’s Newberry Library. All events are free and open to the public. For further details please call the Museum at 217.442.2292 or visit the Museum website at http://www.vermilioncountymuseum.org.

“Key Ingredients” looks at the rich regional food traditions found across the United States, focusing on the diversity of foods and customs associated with them. By displaying a broad selection of photographs, illustrations, and artifacts, the exhibit investigates the way differences in cultures, ethnicities, and classes have created unique American food traditions. The exhibit also examines the tremendous effecttechnological innovation has had on America’s food traditions, from changes in kitchen appliances to the development of large multi-market conglomerates.

“Key Ingredients” is part of the Smithsonian’s Museum on Main Street (MOMs) program. MOMs serves small-to medium-sized communities by bringing Smithsonian-quality exhibitions to local museums, historical societies, libraries, and community centers that traditionally have limited access to traveling exhibitions due to space and cost limitations.

This is the final stop on the exhibit’s Illinois tour. The exhibition has been on display in West Chicago, Morrison, Macomb, and Mount Vernon. “Key Ingredients” will return to Illinois for another series of engagements in 2005.

For more information about “Key Ingredients,” or any other IHC program, please call (312) 422-5580 or visit www.prairie.org and click on “Programs.”

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