With a few hours to spend in Champaign-Urbana, we sought out some highlights, starting with University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana campus. The Alma Mater bronze sculpture stands on the corner of Wright and Green Streets. It was designed by Lorado Taft, dedicated in 1929, and stands 13 feet tall. "Learning" and "Labor" are the two figures behind her.
The Quad features historic signs and a huge sculpture, "Mananaan" standing 26 feet tall. It was created by Alexander Liberman. Mananaan is a god of the sea in Irish mythology.
This Mammoth was installed in 2023 outside of the Natural History Building.
Lincoln Hall has a Lincoln bust in an entryway that was created by Hermon MacNeil in 1928. The University paid $450.00 for it. The nose is shiny because students rub it for good luck 😊 Allegedly, the bust was stolen for a day and found on a golf course.
"Diss-Connections" by John Adduci is located in front of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Building and is intended to highlight the cables used by engineering students.
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The Courier Cafe in Urbana has a sweet mural on its wall and some cool graffiti on a building next door. Besides some history, the mural features four favorite sons, two of which attended the University (Novak and Shalit), Ebert who was born in Urbana, and Will who was born in Champaign.
And speaking of Roger Ebert, he has a sculpture in front of the Virginia Theatre in Champaign (203 W. Park Avenue). It was designed by Rick Harney and unveiled in 2014. Ebert passed away in 2013.
We enjoyed some time in Legends where the retired University mascot, Chief Illiniwek, is on display. And other than our hotel view and some cool clouds driving in, our visit was over. Until next time!
Drinks at Legends was the highlight :)
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