Peoria County celebrates ‘Bison-tennial' with digital experience; bison competition

Yahoo

29-04-2025

PEORIA HEIGHTS, Ill. (WMBD) — Two fiberglass bison's overlooked the crowd as county officials announced several new unveilings to honor the county's bicentennial.
The two bison, one of which is set to be installed at Wildlife Prairie Park and the other which will be placed at Tower Park in Peoria Heights, are two of the many sculptures that are placed around the county. They are both, like the others, 5 feet tall, made out of fiberglass, and decorated by artists.
After each bison is decorated, it is then taken to Woodruff High School, where students help to put a clear protective coat over the bison to help them withstand the elements.
The Wildlife Prairie Park bison is painted with imagery that represents the park painted on it, including trees, the sky, birds, and other naturalistic imagery. A volunteer for the park painted their bison.
The one that will go at Tower Park was designed by a local artist, Morgan Elser, who covered the fiberglass bison in bronze as well as a homemade putty to give the bison a unique look. She also named the statue, Yanasi (pronounced Yah-nah-see), the Cherokee word for bison, to honor her great-grandmother, who was 100% Cherokee.
'We talked about him looking like a cast of bronze piece, which I do a lot of that, where you can get the look, and he is actually covered in nine layers of real bronze,' she said. 'The big rough piece of his hair and everything that's on the top in front of him is an applied clay that I create out of all recycled materials.'
Also at the unveiling, James Dillon, the Peoria County board chair, revealed two new ways the community can be involved in the bicentennial with Bison Trek as well as a Bison sculpture competition with the help of Fired Up.
The Bison Trek Digital Passport is an online experience that will allow community members to earn badges for going and taking a picture of all the different Bison sculptures around the county.
'It's a free online platform where you can go and see where all the Bison are placed. You can then go to the bison and check in and earn badges based on you checking in with them and to check in, all you do is take a picture of the bison and load it into the platform,' said county chairman Rob Reneau.
On the platform, users will also see a short text about the bison, as well as the artists and the organization that sponsored the sculpture.
Each bison costs the organization that sponsored it $2,500, which pays for the fiberglass sculpture as well as the base it stands on. Each organization is also tasked with decorating, or hiring someone to decorate their bison.
Because of this expense, the county wanted a way for someone from the community to have artwork portrayed on a bison without them having to spend all that money. In steps, their partnership with Fired Up.
Anyone who wants can visit Fired Up at 4532 N. Prospect Road in Peoria Heights and pay $20, and they can paint their own miniature bison. Each bison painted will then have a photo taken of it and entered into the contest, and the winning design will be featured on one of the county's bison statues.
'You will have the opportunity to visit our studio, pick a bison, and create. You will glaze the piece and paint it. Staff's there to help you with different techniques and ideas, and then we'll take care of the rest,' said Heather Hogan with the studio.
Once you finish with your bison, the staff at Fired Up will then take it and do the 'firing' as well as the photographing for the contest, then they will call, and the artists can pick up their miniature bison 7–10 days later.
Anyone wanting to paint a bison should visit their website to make a reservation. The competition will run through the summer.
For more information on the bicentennial, the bison and Bison Trek, visit the county's website.
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