Fuller Visionaries: From Illinois to the World

What can bold lives from the past teach us about navigating an uncertain future, from right here in Illinois?

Fuller Visionaries: From Illinois to the World explores the legacy of two remarkable relatives: Margaret Fuller, a groundbreaking 19th-century writer whose 1843 journey in Illinois inspired reflections on nature, Native history, and justice; and her great-nephew Buckminster Fuller, a pioneering futurist who patented the geodesic dome, built his career in Chicago and launched a global design revolution from Southern Illinois to work for solutions for “100% of humanity.”

Though separated by nearly a century, both lived beyond the limits of their time. Margaret laid the groundwork for the feminist movement; Bucky is widely considered a father of modern sustainability.

Centered around the work and unique archives of the Fuller Dome Home Museum, which restored and now stewards the only geodesic dome Fuller ever lived in, this presentation offers more than history. It’s a call to consider how legacy is transmitted, how bold ideas take root, and what it means to live with imagination and purpose when the world needs both now more than ever.