Exhibits | Collections - PERMANENT COLLECTION - Peoria Riverfront Museum

Exhibits | Collections - PERMANENT COLLECTION - Peoria Riverfront Museum
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Viewing Room | Virtual Tours
Exquisite Creatures
Exquisite Creatures: Patterns Alive
America 250: Celebrating America's 250th Birthday
The Promise of Liberty
Ken Burns: Guest Curator for America 250
America Forward: Jeanne Gang
Tour of The Promise of Liberty with Seth Kaller
Joyful Resistance
Athletes: A Peoria Plays America Exhibition
Deep Rivers / Long Roads | The Journey of America
A Peoria Plays America Exhibition: Fogelberg
TOYTOPIA
Louis XV Plate
Amethyst Gallery of Minerals
DURYEA: America's First Car Company
The Center for American Decoys
American Decoy | The Book
Bronzeville to Harlem | An American Story
Peoria Holocaust Memorial
Yom HaShoah | Holocaust Remembrance Day
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Forbes Biological Station: Celebrating 130 Years
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Donate an artifact or artwork
PERMANENT COLLECTION
Duryea Motor Trap
Sculpture Garden
Virtual Exhibitions
EXHIBITS
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American Animation: Art on Screen
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Kids Pix on the Giant Screen
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Infinite Wonder Podcast
Museum Conversations | Henry Diltz: Legendary Rock Photographer
-SOLD OUT
Museum Conversations: Christopher Marley
American Animation: Art on Screen
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Bradley FUSE Interactive Experience 2026
Engineering Day 2026
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I Hear America Singing- Both shows SOLD OUT
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Nita Sunderland Tribute
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Exhibits | Collections
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Permanent Collection
Exhibits | Collections
EXHIBITION SCHEDULE
Virtual Collections
Viewing Room | Virtual Tours
Exquisite Creatures
Exquisite Creatures: Patterns Alive
America 250: Celebrating America's 250th Birthday
The Promise of Liberty
Ken Burns: Guest Curator for America 250
America Forward: Jeanne Gang
Tour of The Promise of Liberty with Seth Kaller
Joyful Resistance
Athletes: A Peoria Plays America Exhibition
Deep Rivers / Long Roads | The Journey of America
A Peoria Plays America Exhibition: Fogelberg
TOYTOPIA
Louis XV Plate
Amethyst Gallery of Minerals
DURYEA: America's First Car Company
The Center for American Decoys
American Decoy | The Book
Bronzeville to Harlem | An American Story
Peoria Holocaust Memorial
Yom HaShoah | Holocaust Remembrance Day
Hallway Exhibitions
Forbes Biological Station: Celebrating 130 Years
Museum Green Tours
Donate an artifact or artwork
PERMANENT COLLECTION
Duryea Motor Trap
Sculpture Garden
Virtual Exhibitions
EXHIBITS
PERMANENT COLLECTION
Peoria Riverfront Museum's Permanent Collection includes Fine Art and Folk Art - with many works by nationally and internationally known artists - and Natural Sciences, with hundreds of examples of the earth sciences. The first donations of archaeological and geological specimens were accepted in 1964 and the collections have continued to grow through donation, purchase and bequest, currently numbering over 16,000 works.
Collection Highlights
International Fine Art
Midwest Folk Art
Sculpture Garden
Duryea Motor Trap
Courthouse Clock
Natural Sciences
We collect objects and works of art that by themselves are of historic or contemporary significance or are by artists of historic or contemporary significance. Our collection is comprised of works from the United States and Europe, with an emphasis on pieces from Illinois and the Midwest. The collection represents the Museum’s legacy for the future; it forms the foundation for the Museum’s role in the community as a center for the study and appreciation of art and science.
Permanent Collection categories:
Fine Arts
(paintings, sculptures, works on paper)
Decorative Arts
(furniture, ceramics, metal, glass, textiles)
Folk Art
(paintings, sculptures, graphics, decorative arts, etc.)
Ethnographic Arts
(Native American, African, Oceanic, Asian)
Natural Sciences
(mineralogy, geology, entomology, conchology)
Dispersed Exhibits
(Duryea car, theater/opera poster collection, square dancing)
Provenance Project
Following guidelines set forth by the
American Association of Museums
in April 2001, Peoria Riverfront Museum initiated the European Provenance Research Project in 2009 to identify provenance information on the 60 European paintings, prints and drawings in Peoria Riverfront Museum's collection that may have been purchased, sold, or created during the World War II era.
Click here
for more info.
Permanent Collections Gallery
One gallery of the museum is devoted to the rotating displays of works from the Museum’s Permanent Collection. Due to space limitations, not all works from the permanent collections are on display at any given time, so if you are interested in viewing a particular collection, please call ahead to confirm what will be on view at the time of your visit.