Ewing Cultural Center

Ewing Manor, located on the Sunset Hill estate of the late Hazle Buck Ewing, sits majestically in the wooded landscape at the northwest corner of Towanda Avenue and Emerson Street in Bloomington. Completed in 1929, Ewing Manor was designed by Bloomington architect Phil Hooten in the Channel-Norman style so favored by the affluent in the post-Victorian period. The surrounding Genevieve Green Gardens were created by noted landscape architect Jens Jensen, who also designed Springfield's Lincoln Memorial Gardens.

The theatre on the grounds of Ewing plays host to the Illinois Shakespeare Festival each summer. The festival is a professional Shakespearean Repertory Festival that is a part of the College of Fine Arts at Illinois State University. The Festival is recognized as a nationally renowned Shakespeare Festival that over 10,000 patrons visit annually. The Festival produces a repertory season of Shakespeare plays and new works during the months of July and August each summer on the grounds of the Ewing Cultural Center.  The Festival also hosts ShakesFEAR during the month of October which combines Shakespeare’s ghoulish characters with a haunted tour of the Ewing grounds. They also provide workshops and performances for area schools at little to no cost with their touring company that operates throughout the school year. Celebrating its 39th season in 2016, the Festival is a theatrical gem located in the heart of central Illinois. Click here to view the Illinois Shakespeare Festival website.