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Dana-Thomas house to feature Wooden It Be Lovely chairs for Women’s History Month

The Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) is partnering with Wooden It Be Lovely for an exhibit of six refurbished chairs at the Dana-Thomas House State Historic Site in Springfield during March for Women’s History Month.

The chairs were hand-painted by the women at Wooden It Be Lovely, which offers transitional employment, housing and support to women healing from poverty, addiction, and abuse. The organization also offers jobs, mentoring, recovery tools, education, networking and a safe community. 

The women in the program are employed to refurbish and sell donated wooden furniture, sew unique products and craft hand-poured candles. This transitional employment empowers women to move toward economic stability and enhanced well-being for themselves and their children. 

“Wooden It Be Lovely is so honored to be invited to show some of our work at the Dana-Thomas House,” said the Rev. Margaret Ann Jessup, executive director of Wooden It Be Lovely. “The women who painted the chairs feel so proud that their work will be recognized by the public. They have been telling everyone they know how excited they are. It’s so empowering to them to be honored in this way. I believe this is something that these women will never forget.”

The chairs will be available for purchase at Wooden It Be Lovely’s spring furniture showcase on April 5.

For more information visit the Dana-Thomas House website. The site is open seven days a week for free scheduled tours. 

The Dana-Thomas House is located at 301 E. Lawrence Ave, Springfield. The home, built between 1902 and 1904, is perhaps the best-preserved of architect Frank Lloyd Wright's "Prairie Style" homes, with more than 400 pieces of specially made art glass and original furnishings.