PEORIA, Ill. – A nationally touring exhibit examining the cultural and social contexts of farming over the last century will call a large outdoor farm park and exhibit hall near Peoria home for much of the summer.

Farm Life: A Century of Change for Farm Families and Their Neighbors, an exhibit made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), will be featured from July 5 through Aug. 20 at Three Sisters Park, located near Chillicothe on State Highway 29 in Peoria County.

The featured exhibit, organized by the Chippewa Valley Museum in Eau Claire, Wis., will offer visitors a view into life on a working farm. Rather than focusing on the technology of farming, Farm Life examines what it means for a family to live and work on the land.

“The exhibit at Three Sisters will be a more spectacular display than in any of the previous communities to host this touring exhibit,” said Three Sisters marketing director Gene Pratt, citing the fact that unlike previous museum and library settings for the exhibit, the display at Three Sisters will be enhanced by the presence of the park’s period farmhouse, barn, chapel and other farm outbuildings and implements officials hope to secure before the exhibit’s opening.

“This exhibit truly belongs in a farm setting. We’re pretty excited about this,” Pratt said. He added that the park expects thousands of people to attend Farm Life and spend several hours perusing the vast collections of farm memorabilia in addition to the main exhibit.

“The NEH exhibit takes up about 2,000 square feet, but in addition Three Sisters Park will be providing large exhibits such as the farmhouse and barn. Also, our pavilion will hold around 14,000 square feet of exhibits and artifacts donated by four local historical societies, farmers and others,” Pratt said.

Other activities scheduled during the exhibit’s seven week run include guest speakers, period demonstrations of farm activities and Sunday chapel services followed by ice cream socials.

Thousands are expected to attend the last weekend of the festival, which coincides with the park’s annual Farm Heritage Days - already a popular event - and the inaugural presence of the national plowing competitions.

The exhibit is free to the public.

“We wanted the exhibit to be inclusive and family friendly,” Pratt explained. “The exhibit is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and we want as many people as possible to see it.”

Phone 866-278-8837 or see the park’s website, www.threesisterspark.com for details.