Prairie State Wire

The Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) is collaborating with Wooden It Be Lovely for a special exhibit at the Dana-Thomas House State Historic Site in Springfield during March to celebrate Women's History Month. The exhibit features six chairs that have been refurbished and hand-painted by women involved with Wooden It Be Lovely.

Wooden It Be Lovely provides transitional employment, housing, and support to women recovering from poverty, addiction, and abuse. The organization offers jobs, mentoring, recovery tools, education, networking, and a supportive community. Women in the program refurbish donated wooden furniture, sew unique products, and craft hand-poured candles as part of their transitional employment efforts aimed at achieving economic stability and well-being for themselves and their families.

"Wooden It Be Lovely is so honored to be invited to show some of our work at the Dana-Thomas House," said the Rev. Margaret Ann Jessup, executive director of Wooden It Be Lovely. "The women who painted the chairs feel so proud that their work will be recognized by the public. They have been telling everyone they know how excited they are. It's so empowering to them to be honored in this way. I believe this is something that these women will never forget."

The refurbished chairs will be available for purchase at Wooden It Be Lovely's spring furniture showcase on April 5.

For more information about visiting the Dana-Thomas House or scheduling a tour, interested individuals can visit its website. The historic site is open every day of the week for free scheduled tours.

Located at 301 E. Lawrence Ave in Springfield, the Dana-Thomas House was constructed between 1902 and 1904. It stands as one of architect Frank Lloyd Wright's best-preserved "Prairie Style" homes, featuring over 400 pieces of specially made art glass along with original furnishings.