Northern Illinois University will shutter its Lorado Taft Field Campus next month as the school grapples with a $32-million budget deficit. The wooded campus in Oregon started as an artists' colony more than a century ago, then served as an environmental education campus, and was most recently a home for summer camps and conferences.
In this episode of Under Rocks, Dan Libman, Claire Buchanan, and Susan Stephens take a hike in the wooded campus overlooking the Rock River before heading back to host Perspectives 101, one of the last events at the conference center. And we revisit an early Under Rocks episode, where Dan Libman and Spencer Tritt met up with librarian and author Jan Stilson to learn more about the mysterious sculpture in the woods, known as The Funeral Procession or The Seven Muses. Jared Ortega provided the photos for that story.
As of November 2024, Northern Illinois University says the school is working diligently to create a plan for the Lorado Taft campus and its artwork that’s appropriate and respectful of Taft, the university, and the community.
Got an idea for our next Under Rocks adventure? Send us an email: rocks@niu.edu.
