© 2024 NPR Illinois
The Capital's Community & News Service
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Exhibit Featuring Music Legends With Illinois Connections Opens At Lincoln Museum

State of Sound, a new exhibit at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, opens Friday.
Mary Hansen
State of Sound, a new exhibit at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, opens Friday.

A new exhibit at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum features music legends with Illinois connections and explores the state's impact on different musical genres.

The “State of Sound” displays personal mementos John Prine brought up on stage, the bright red trumpet Miles Davis played in the 1980s, and a guitar used by the band Cheap Trick. The exhibit highlights 13 musical styles, with items from Chance The Rapper, Wilco and the industrial metal band Ministry.

State of Sound, a new exhibit at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, opens Friday.
Miles Davis' red trumpet is on display in the 'State of Sound' exhibit at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum.

Museum exhibit director Lance Tawzer said he looked for artists who were important to their genre.

“We also look for ones that made Illinois their sort of professional home for long periods of time, whether they were born here or not,” Tawzer said. “And then we looked for ones that were homegrown.”

Microphones and instruments made in Illinois are also on display. The museum built a temporary broadcast studio – a place where radio stations from across the state can reserve a time to broadcast.

The exhibit is open now through January 23, 2022.

The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum is offering free admission during May and June to those who’ve been vaccinated against COVID-19.

Museum spokesman Chris Wills said the offer is a small reward for doing the right thing.

“We also want to give a little incentive to people who are hesitating or unsure,” Wills said. “If we can do anything to help encourage people to get vaccinated, help make us all safer, then we’re happy to do that.”

Tickets, with an entrance time, can be reserved on the Lincoln presidential museum’s website. Patrons must bring their vaccination cards to get free admission. The museum is also offering free admission – normally $15 – to all Illinois students during the month of May.

The museum is following all COVID guidelines, including capacity limits, Wills said.

Mary Hansen is a former NPR Illinois reporter.
Related Stories