Discover Cedarhurst, and be amazed by the vast number of opportunities and events for all ages and interests...including you! Nurture your talents or learn something new at the Shrode Art Center. Bring your family to play and learn in our interactive Beck Family Center. Browse Cedarhurst's five art galleries and enjoy the ever-changing variety of exhibitions. Savor the sounds that fill the acoustic performance hall from a variety of talented musicians. Take a walk through the nationally recognized Goldman-Kuenz Sculpture Park, and drink in the beauty of Southern Illinois!

To generate enthusiastic participation in and support for the visual and performing arts in Mt. Vernon, southern Illinois and the surrounding region, and to provide opportunities for enjoyment of the arts and increased awareness, understanding, and appreciation for the arts.

An extraordinary personal art collection was the reason John and Eleanor Mitchell planned a museum in rural southern Illinois. The museum was built to house the couple’s collection of late 19th and early 20th century American paintings and artifacts. The significant collection included works from their friend and fellow collector John Parish, of Centralia. The Mitchells acquired their artwork over three decades, the result of suave business practices, luck, and adventurous exploration. In 1965, they established the Mitchell Foundation to build the Mitchell Museum at Cedarhurst and create an institution that would continue to evolve into the premier art and cultural facility in southern Illinois. The Mitchell Museum opened in 1973 to enrich the lives of southern Illinois residents. Both John and Eleanor died before the museum was completed, but their legacy lives on, bringing the arts to life for all people who visit this unique oasis of art and nature that is Cedarhurst Center for the Arts.