RANTOUL – Taylor Studios makes exhibits for parks and museums across the nation, but this winter you can see some of the company's handiwork closer to home.

The Rantoul-based company is behind new exhibits that recently opened at the Turkey Run State Park nature center near Marshall, Ind.

"The central theme is how water, ice and human perseverance made Turkey Run the park it is today," said Kara Vanskike, marketing manager for Taylor Studios.

Dominating the room is a model of a sandstone rock formation. The company made molds and casts of actual rock walls in the park to help create the model.

The exhibit also includes a "crawl-through log" kids can climb on and under, Vanskike said. When kids crawl inside, they can view a snake through a terrarium wall.

The display includes a sculpted hemlock tree, a copper fountain and several interactive features, including flip doors and a wall of movable panels, she said.

The Turkey Run exhibit took about 15 months to prepare. It was installed in November and had a grand opening this month. About 15 people worked on the exhibit, and the project cost was $292,675, Vanskike said.

During the winter, the nature center is open Thursday through Monday and closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

Taylor Studios also fabricated two exhibits for the recently opened Terre Haute (Ind.) Children's Museum.

The "DinoMite!" feature allows kids to enter a "cave" and use brushes, chisels and tools to excavate "dinosaur bones."

The museum also has a beehive that looks like a log; kids can open doors to see a working hive inside.

Taylor Studios is also working on a host of projects for sites in Ohio, Arkansas, Illinois, North Dakota, Texas and Nevada. Among them:

– A nature center project for the Cleveland Metroparks' West Creek Reservation near Parma, Ohio.

– A natural history project at Logoly State Park near McNeil, Ark., and a cultural history exhibit for Jacksonport State Park near Newport, Ark., as well as one at Prairie Grove Battlefield State Park in northwest Arkansas.

– An exhibit for the Grayslake Municipal Historical Museum in Grayslake, Ill. The city once had a gelatin plant, and the exhibit includes scents associated with gelatin.

– Exhibits to be installed in January at a new visitors center at Rend Lake near Benton in southern Illinois.

– Exhibits for an interpretive center at the Fort Totten State Historic Site near Devils Lake, N.D.

– Work for the Texas Historical Commission at the Fulton Mansion State Historic Site in Rockport, Texas.

– An exhibit for the Nevada State Railroad Museum in Carson City, Nev., expected to be installed in February.

Taylor Studios employs 35 and is still hiring, Vanskike said. The company has openings for an administrative assistant and a creative scenic artist and is accepting resumes for museum exhibit designers, exhibit artist-fabricators and interactive specialists.