Holiday Tours of Edwards Place

Step back in time to 1867 this holiday season at Edwards Place! Peek into the world of Helen and Benjamin Edwards and their daughters as they prepare to celebrate the holidays. You'll see the house decorated for Christmas, 19th century style - lots of greenery, but no electric lights! As you move through the house, you'll learn fascinating tidbits about early Victorian holidays - how the Christmas tree became a tradition, how Santa Claus became popular, why people exchanged presents on New Year's Day rather than Christmas, and why nothing said Victorian Christmas like a head cheese boiled from your very own pig's head.

After the tour, be sure to stick around for some shopping at Holiday Hall, where arts and crafts from more than 50 artists are on display. Find the perfect something for that special someone, and rest assured that your purchase is one-of-a-kind!

Holiday tours of Edwards Place are offered on Saturday, December 4 and Wednesday, December 15 at 6, 7, and 8 p.m. These tours are free and open to the public.

Helen Edwards Condell's dress comes home to Edwards Place

A chance conversation between two strangers led to the Springfield Art Association's acquisition of Helen Maria Edwards's Civil War-era day dress on long-term loan.

Curator of Collections Erika Holst went to the Dana-Thomas House in late October for that site's Halloween event. While there, Erika began chatting with a volunteer, Mrs. Manning, and happened to mention that she worked at the Art Association. In a happy burst of serendipity, Mrs. Manning declared that she had a dress in her closet which had belonged to Helen Maria Edwards Condell during the Civil War.

Helen Maria was the daughter of Benjamin and Helen Edwards. She moved to Edwards Place in 1843 as a three-year-old child and lived there until her marriage to Moses Condell in the summer of 1861, at which point she moved into a house her parents had given her as a wedding present, just across Fourth Street from Edwards Place. She was a frequent visitor to her parents' house throughout the Civil War, and it is easy to imagine the brown taffeta of her skirts spread out over the Edwards's parlor sofa as she took tea with her mother.

Helen Maria went on to have six children, including a daughter named Eliza Condell. Eliza, born in 1872, lived to be 103 years old. Mrs. Manning became acquainted with Eliza Condell in the 1950s. At one point, when Mrs. Manning needed a Civil War-era dress for a school performance, Eliza Condell loaned her one that had belonged to her mother. Eliza then insisted she keep the dress, and Mrs. Manning had it ever since.

Just before leaving for the Dana-Thomas House, Mrs. Manning happened to glance at Helen's dress in her closet and think to herself that she really should do something with it. Lo and behold, a few hours later she crossed paths with Erika, and the rest is history!

The dress will be displayed throughout the Christmas season. Be sure and come by for a tour to see this piece of family history!

The Heart of Enos Park

The Springfield Art Association, located north of downtown Springfield, is in the Enos Park neighborhood. What used to be the "Jewel of Springfield" now hosts more than 88 vacant lots, boarded-up homes, and many of the properties are in poor condition. That's not to say there aren't some incredible improvements made and maintained by the Enos Park residents, including drastic renovations, community parks, and wonderfully-restored homes throughout the neighborhood.

There has been a significant amount of press regarding the Enos Park neighborhood, including the transformation of the current campus to become a Cultural campus for the entire city, with a proposed three-to-four-story building for educational space and administrative offices.

Learn more: Read the SJ-R article for more information and where to attend tonight's master plan unveiling meeting.

Join us for a Victorian Seance at Edwards Place!

People holding hands around a table...mysterious rappings and tappings...tables shaking...messages from beyond the grave...these eerie and possibly supernatural occurrences were going on in dining rooms throughout the United States in the 19th century, and millions of Americans dabbled with Spiritualism.

Spiritualism is a religious philosophy that believes, among other things, that the human spirit survives after death and is able to communicate with the living through use of a medium. This philosophy became incredibly popular in America in the wake of the Civil War, in which millions of people mourned lost husbands, brothers, fathers, sons, and sweethearts. Mary Lincoln was known to have hosted seances in the White House during her husband's presidency.

On November 20 and 21, Edwards Place will host a theatrical recreation of an authentic Victorian seance. Noted hypnotist and licensed clairvoyant Amye Scharlau of Minneapolis will be the "medium", who will lead participants in trying to contact the spirits of the dearly departed, including the Lillie Judd, whose portrait hangs in the dining room. Will Ms. Scharlau be successful? You'll have to join us to find out!

Tickets are $25 per person. Price includes participation in the seance, a professional palm reading by Ms. Scharlau, wine, and hors d'oeuvres. Seating is limited to 10 people per session, and both sessions on November 20 are sold out. However, seats are still available for November 21 and 7 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. - call 217-523-2631 or email collections@springfieldart.org to register!

SAA in the News, part two!

Just a couple of weeks ago, the SAA was on the cover of the Illinois Times, with the article "Renaissance at the Art Association." Although it was a wonderful piece that followed Betsy Dollar, our Director, around for the week as she documented the different facets of our organization...there was a mistake made about the Edwards Place Historic Home.

The article states the following about the house:
"Edwards Place...is an elegant Italianate mansion once a center for social activity in Springfield...it is said that Lincoln courted his future wife, Mary Todd, at Edwards Place."

Well, not exactly...

Our Curator of Collections, Erika Holst, sets the record straight in the article "Lincoln Didn't Sleep Here," which was featured in the October 14 issue of the Illinois Times. To read the article, click here.

Haunted Nights of History

Hear voices from beyond the grave on October 21 and 22 as Edwards Place is haunted by the "ghosts" of the Edwards family and friends! These dearly departed 19th century Springfield citizens will share the often fascinating, occasionally macabre, and sometimes tragic stories of their lives and deaths.

The people you'll meet include the Edwards' friend Mary Jane Welles and her twin sister Julia Homes, who each lost five children as well as her husband; family friend Bettie Stuart, who died of dysentery at age 30; Elizabeth Edwards, who was Mary Lincoln's older sister and Benjamin Edwards' sister-in-law, and many more!

You will have a chance to sign up for tours of Oak Ridge Cemetery on Saturday October 23, where a guide will take you to the actual graves of the people portrayed at Edwards Place.

Refreshments and Halloween-themed craft activities will also be available.

Tickets are $4 per person and no reservations are required. Tours begin at 7 p.m. and are offered every 15 minutes, with the last tour at 9 p.m. Cemetery tours are an additional $3 per person and will be offered at 1, 2, and 3 p.m. on October 23.

SAA in the Media

The Springfield Art Association has been in the headlines recently, and we'd like to promote these articles, and where you can visit to frequently stay up-to-date with your favorite art club.

The Illinois Times
The SAA was a recent cover story of the Illinois Times, a weekly publication that delivers cultural, visual and performing arts news of the city. The article, "Renaissance at the Art Association," chronicles SAA's Executive Director Betsy Dollar hopes and dreams for the organization, as well as documenting the day-to-day of the Springfield Art Association, including tours of Historic Edwards Place and various art classes in our studios.



The State Journal-Register
After making headlines of its own earlier this year, Travis Taylor's "Sybia" sculpture has a new home--the SAA Sculpture Garden! Taylor's piece, a ten-foot sculpture made of found objects and welded pieces, was considered a traffic hazard by the city of Springfield. Taylor even mentioned the SAA as a destination for artists in the September 1st article, which sparked the SAA's involvement to serve as sanctuary for the work.

The sculpture is now on display along the SAA Administrative Building, between 4th & 5th Streets. It joins the buffalo sculpture, and the recently-installed Butterfly, made by our 2010 Summer Art Campers.