Beal Grand Corridor gallery
Elizabeth Freeman, The Tri-State Tornado of 1925, 2013-2024, textile multi media.
Stormy Weather: The Tri-State Tornado of 1925
January 24, 2026 – March 8, 2026
• Exhibit Open: Tuesday – Saturday 10 am to 5 pm & Sunday 1 to 5 pm
• Gallery Admission – Free
GATHER AT THE GALLERIES – EXHIBIT OPENING RECEPTION
Saturday, January 31, 2026 | 5:00 to 7:00 pm
Admission $10.00 | Cedarhurst Members – Free
- Open bar and appetizers | 5 to 6 pm
- Shrode Photography Competition Awards Announcement | 6 pm
- Gallery hop to see the art and meet the artists | 5 to 7 pm
- Shuttle rides to the Shrode Art Center to view the Laura Strand weaving exhibition | 6 to 7 pm
Gallery Sponsor:
ABOUT THE EXHIBIT:
In the summer of 2024, the First Tuesday Fiber Group artists of the Little Egypt Art Association in Marion, IL elected to commemorate the centenary of the 1925 Tri-State Tornado. Their goal was to honor the lives lost in this terrible storm through interpretive textile creations. Their only “rules” were to feature textiles art, the tornado, to limit work to a reasonable size, and to finish by a certain date. Rules about talent, needlework skill, or experience were a moot point. Their own personal experiences regarding weather events are reflected in their portrayed subject matter.
The Stormy Weather fiber artists are Mary Bergdolt Slider (1957-2025), Marie Samuel, Ethel Mae Mitchell, Rose May, Elizabeth Freeman, Alicia Garza (age 8), Judy Spiller, Linda Martin, and Janet Bixler (brochure), with help from Patty Morrison, LEAA.
To add context to the devastating event, we have included reproductions of photos and copies from regional newspaper microfilm archives that describe the impact, destruction, and casualties left in the wake of the storm on that fateful afternoon, March 18, 1925.
