Walk around the Illinois Capitol, and it's hard to imagine what it was like when the building opened134 years ago.
Mainly, it's hard to visualize that a building now filled with paintings and statuary was pretty much without any of the decorative touches visitors now take for granted.
"When the building first opened, it appears that none of the walls or ceilings were decorated," said Mark Sorensen, president of the Illinois State Historical Society and an authority on Statehouse art. "The governor's public office may have been decorated."
Sorensen will speak to a "Timely Talks About Timeless Topics" lunch at 11:30 a.m. March 9. The event, sponsored by University of Illinois Springfield alumni, the UIS chancellor's office and the Illinois State Historical Society, will be at the UIS Public Affairs Center. More information is available at alumni@uis.edu or 206-7395.
UIS alumnus Mark Sorensen was featured in a January 26, 2011, article published in The State Journal-Register.
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