From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Grand Staircase and Preston Bradley Hall, with view of the Tiffany
dome
The Chicago Cultural Center is a Chicago Landmark building that houses the
city's official reception venue where the Mayor has
welcomed Presidents and royalty, diplomats and community leaders.
The building is a testament to the foresight of Chicago's turn of
the (20th) century cultural leadership. Originally the central
library building, it was converted to an arts and culture center at
the instigation of Commissioner of Cultural Affairs Lois Weisberg.
As the nation's first free municipal cultural center, the
Chicago Cultural Center is one of the city's most popular
attractions and is considered one of the most comprehensive arts
showcases in the United States. Each year, the Chicago
Cultural Center features more than 1,000 programs and exhibitions
covering a wide range of the performing, visual and literary
arts.
According to Crain's
Chicago Business, the Chicago Cultural Center was the
fifth most-visited cultural institution in the Chicago area in
2007, with 821,000 visitors.[3]
Architecture
The building was designed by Boston architectural firm Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge
for the city's central library and Grand Army of the Republic
Museum, and completed in 1897 at a cost of nearly $2 million. It is
organized as a 4-story north wing (77 East Randolph entrance) and a
5-story south wing (78 East Washington entrance), 104 feet tall,
with 3-foot thick masonry walls faced with Bedford bluestone on a
granite base, and designed in a generally neoclassical style with Romanesque revival
elements. It is capped with two stained-glass domes, set
symmetrically atop the two wings. Key points of architectural
interest are as follows:
- Randolph Street entrance and stairway - Greek revival entrance
with doric columns, mahogany doors, and entry
hall with coffered ceiling and walls of green-veined
Vermont marble. The curving
stairway is faced with Knoxville pink marble, and features mosaics
and ornate bronze balusters.
- Washington Street entrance, lobby, and grand staircase - Arched
Romanesque portal,
bronze-framed doors, and a 3-story, vaulted lobby with walls of
white Carrara marble and
mosaics. The staircase is also of white Carrara marble, set with
medallions of green marble from Connemara, Ireland, and intricate mosaics of Favrile
glass, stone, and mother of pearl. The stairway to the 5th floor
was inspired by Venice's Bridge of
Sighs.
- Grand Army of the Republic
Memorial - A large hall and rotunda in the north wing. The hall is
faced with deep green Vermont marble, broken by a series of arches
for windows and mahogany doors. The rotunda features 30-foot walls
of Knoxville pink marble, mosaic floor, and a fine, yellow-toned
stained-glass dome in Renaissance pattern by the firm of Healy
and Millet.
- Preston Bradley Hall - A large, ornately patterned room of
curving white Carrara marble, capped with an austere 38-foot Tiffany glass dome designed by
artist J. A. Holtzer. The Cultural Center states this to be the
largest Tiffany dome in the world.
Past
exhibitions
Crossroads: Modernism in Ukraine, 1910-1930 was
a display of art by Ukrainian artists, such as Sukher Ber Rybak,
Vsevolod Maskymovych, and Oleksandr Bohomazov to name a few.
Crossroads was organized by the Foundation for
International Arts and Education with the National Art Museum of
Ukraine. It is presented by the Chicago Department of Cultural
Affairs and the Kyiv Committee of the Chicago Sister Cities
International Program. The exhibition ran from July 22nd, 2006 -
October 15, 2006.
References
External
links
Sources
- "Chicago's largest tourist attractions, ranked by 2004
attendance," Crain's Chicago Business, May 2, 2005
- "A Self-Guided Tour of the Chicago Cultural Center", brochure,
Chicago Department of Public Affairs, February 2005
See also
Visitor attractions in Chicago
Wikis
Quiz
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