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cityutopiadystopia · 8 years

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Museums of Chicago

We selected a few museums in Chicago and thoroughly talked about the history of their founding. While it is hard to pinpoint data for every specific instance of development, we envisioned how the general structure of the museum and the reason for its founding would be responsible for the type of people who attend it. Additionally, we put on our literary caps to determine where different characters from the books we read this past quarter would end up if given the chance to attend a museum.

The Art Institute of Chicago- 111 South Michigan Avenue

The Art Institute moved to its Beaux-Arts building on Michigan Avenue after the World’s Columbian Exposition in 1893. It is easily accessible by CTA buses, the ‘L’ in the Loop, and the Metra at Millennium Station. There are two bronze lions given as a gift by Mrs. Henry Field for the museum’s opening. The Museum contains a growing encyclopedia collection and a 264,000 sq ft Modern Wing designed by Renzo Piano. The museum is partners with the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) (http://www.saic.edu/about/historyandquickfacts/buildinghistory/)

The organization, Chicago Academy of Design, was founded in 1866. Their primary goal was to run a free school with its own art gallery. This school opened up on Dearborn Street but soon moved to 66 West Adams Street, which opened on November 22, 1870. The Great Chicago Fire destroyed this building in 1871, and the Academy soon confronted massive debt. After much desperation, the Academy went into bankruptcy and the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts bought its assets at an auction. Later, this organization renamed itself to the Art Institute of Chicago. In 1882, Charles Hutchinson was elected as president and he transformed the Institute to turn it into what it is today. The organization purchased a lot on the southwest corner of Michigan Ave and Van Buren Street for $45,000, and another adjacent lot was purchased as the galleries expanded. Architects wanted a building that would create an “impressive presence” on Michigan Ave, so the Institute pressed for the Chicago City to commision a building for the World’s Columbian Exposition to be held in 1892-1893. After the building was used for the Expo, it could then be converted into the Art Institute itself. The city agreed, and this is primarily the museum we see today.

Initially, the museum was free, which allowed more access to its facilities. However, the people who had access to the museum were still limited because it was a matter of wealth of time in this case. Most people were heavily working in sweatshops and could not afford to take time out of their schedule to see an art museum. As the museum got more popular, they started to charge for admittance. Today, it costs at least 14 dollars for admission but is free if one is an Illinois resident or a student at a university in Chicago. Though these provisions still provide access to the general public, it is still very limiting, and there is an inherent privilege for the groups that have this free access. Given the grand presence of the Art Institute building and the commercialized and flashy attractions built around it, it is now seen as an elite, “touristy” attraction. In 2014, Tripadvisor named the Art Institute the world’s best museum, which is a great promotional name to have, but at the same time elevates the museum’s unique status and removes the building from being a truly global and ubiquitous place to access art.

The Smart Museum of Chicago

David and Alfred Smart (1892-1952 and 1894-1951, respectively) launched the Esquire magazine and built an innovative publishing business in Chicago. They both were very rich and successful entrepreneurs during the Depression in the 1930s. They had an initial private magazine company, but people were stealing these magazines, so they created a public magazine called Esquire that was very cheap and exposed the public to fine arts like literature. They died in the 1950s. The University of Chicago wanted to open an art museum in the late 1920s, but they couldn’t because of the Great Depression. The Smart family was asked to fund this project due to their interest in the arts and public engagement. (https://vimeo.com/107279140)

The founding gift came from the Smart Family in 1967 and was originally associated with UChicago’s art history department but ultimately became its own unit of the university in 1983.

Collections include modern art exhibits, Asian art, European art, Contemporary art. Now, the museum collaborates with other RSOs on campus and local community engagement programs

The building is very minimalist and modern, to add emphasis to the paintings that are being displayed.

Though the concept of upper level university linked museums are tricky with regards to concepts like gentrification, the Smart Museum tries to constantly engage with the local Chicago community through educational outreach activities in local schools. Though it’s wonderful that the Smart Museum has an inherent cognizance of the position it serves, the fact that it is at one of the world renowned institutions gives off an elite vibe, and the primary demographic of people who attend these museums are students of the university.

The Smart Museum is located on the campus of the University of Chicago, which is most accessible by car and CTA buses.

The Field Museum

Like the Art Institute of Chicago, the Field Museum was also commissioned as part of the World’s Columbian Exposition in 1890. Several individuals responsible for national museum exhibits by the government saw the possibility of creating a great museum, appointed JW Ellsworth of the foreign affairs committee to spearhead this initiative

Initially, in 1893, there were strong editorials that called for this museum. Directors of the exposition even called the museum “The Columbian Museum of Chicago” initially and wanted this public meeting as a way to “adopt measures to establish in Chicago a great museum that shall be a fitting memorial of the World’s Columbian Exposition and a permanent advantage and honor to the city.” As committee members and officials of the exposition got more exhibits and collections to be featured in the museum, they realized they needed a larger endowment to fund the museum permanently, and that person, in 1893, was Marshall Field.

Features many anthropological collections, and there are extensive collections made by the department of anthropology of the exposition. Similar to the Art Institute of Chicago, this museum has an entrance fee of about 17 dollars. There are free days throughout each season for families and children, but these events often get overcrowded.

(https://www.fieldmuseum.org/about/history)

The Field Museum is most accessible by car and CTA buses.

Chicago Cultural Center

The Chicago Cultural Center opened in 1897 as the central public library of Chicago, until 1977 when it became the Chicago Cultural Center. It is located on the Magnificent Mile, across the street from Millennium Park, and is accessible by CTA buses, the ‘L’, and the Metra.

The center has two wings-- one four stories and one five stories tall. Each has its own glass dome. The exterior facade is limestone and is in the Neo-Classical Style. The two main entrances and interiors feature decorations that celebrate the Italian renaissance, including Doric columns, brightly colored marble, arches for windows and doors, and mosaics. In contrast to the pure, Italian Renaissance inspiration, there are a few very pronounced imitations of Venice, including a staircase meant to be Venice’s Bridge of Sighs, and an art gallery that is a replica of an assembly hall in the Doge’s Palace.

The cultural center is the official reception venue of the Mayor and the city. Any Presidents or leaders go on official visits to Chicago are greeted at the cultural center by city officials. The main attraction is the spectacle of the architecture, meant to impress visitors, foreign dignitaries and common citizens alike. Over 1,000 events and exhibits are put on at the cultural center each year. The Chicago Cultural Center is unique in that its building has been free and open to the public since its opening.

Chicago Architecture Foundation

The Chicago Architecture Foundation was founded in 1966 to preserve Chicago landmarks, and eventually turned into the educational institution we know it as today. Since 1992 its headquarters has been in the Railway Exchange Building on South Michigan Avenue, across the street from the south wing of the Art Institute. It is accessible by CTA buses, the ‘L’ in the Loop, the Metra, and many tourism bus companies.

The foundation has one permanent exhibit that is free and open to public called Chicago Model. This is a large diorama of the city plan that is constantly updated with new and demolished buildings. It is reminiscent of the Panorama of the City of New York located in the Queens Museum, on the grounds of the 1939 New York’s World Fair and was made in 1964 New York’s World Fair.

Ticketed tours depart from the headquarters and use the city of Chicago as their museum. Once the barriers of money and mobility are crossed, the tours take attendees out and travel through public space, mostly outdoors but sometimes indoors, and informs them of the history and meaning behind buildings and streets they might pass through in their everyday lives.

DuSable Museum of African American History

The DuSable Museum of African American History is a museum dedicated to African American history and culture. The collection consists of 13,000 items including art and personal affects of African Americans and activists who fought for African American rights.

The museum was originally on South Michigan Avenue on the ground floor of a residential building which had at one time been a club and a boarding house. The museum is now on East 56th Place and Cottage Grove in the Washington Park neighborhood of the Southside. It is accessible by CTA but it is not very convenient for travelers. Buses get travelers closest to the museum, but the ‘L’ and the Metra are over half a mile away. It is most accessible by car. The building the museum is now housed in was built to be a parks administrative building in the 1910s but when donated to the museum by the Chicago Park District. The museum also has a 466-seat auditorium for various performances and events for museum attendees and the neighborhood. The museum is not free but has discounted admissions rates for Chicago residents.

Characters and Respective Museums

The Baron — Chicago Cultural Center

The Baron would love to appreciate the splendor and spectacle of the the Chicago Cultural Center, which borrows architecturally from the Classical tradition just like the Baron borrows his ancestry from families that are not his own. He cares deeply about appearances, which is the primary function of the cultural center-- to make an impression on any visitor who walks through the door

Narrator of Man of the Crowd — Museum of Contemporary Art

The Narrator of Man of the Crowd gravitates towards large groups of highly diverse and interesting people, which he could easily find in and around the Museum of Contemporary Art. He would find a person or group that peaks his interest and follow them wherever they may go, most likely down the Magnificent Mile.

Aschenbach— Art Institute of Chicago

Aschenbach is drawn to the Greek statues after seeing the perfection that is Tadzio, making a trip to the Art Institute and its collection of Greek sculpture something that he would appreciate.

Jurgis— Balzekas Museum of Lithuanian Culture

Jurgis knows he has to shield his true culture in the workplace and a place that celebrates Lithuanian culture would be a good place to express himself and organize activism among his fellow Lithuanian workers.

Conclusion

Museums as public spaces in Chicago have a long history dating back to the Columbian Exposition. Their variability in terms of accessibility speak to the politics of transportation and class privilege. The museums we have described here and many others in Chicago offer wonderful, educational content, and we believe that some of the characters we’ve discussed in class would have either enjoyed some of these museums or that their personality matches the spirit of a given museum. Over the last century Chicago has increased its public cultural programming through these museums and hopefully more, accessible offerings will continue to operate for the people of Chicago to enjoy.

#atlas #ella hester #meghana rao

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