Sights in Chicago
-
A
Art Institute of Chicago
The second-largest art museum in the country, the Art Institute houses treasures and masterpieces from around the globe, including a fabulous selection of both impressionist and post-impressionist paintings. The Modern Wing dazzles with natural light, and hangs Picassos and Mirós on its 3rd floor.
Allow two hours to browse the museum's highlights; art buffs should allocate much longer. Ask at the front desk about free talks and tours once you're inside. Note that the 3rd-floor contemporary sculpture garden is always free. It has great city views and connects to Millennium Park via the mod, pedestrian-only Nichols Bridgeway.
reviewed
-
B
University of Chicago
Faculty and students have racked up more than 80 Nobel prizes within U of C's hallowed halls. The economics and physics departments lay claim to most. It's also where the nuclear age began: Enrico Fermi and his Manhattan Project cronies built a reactor and carried out the world's first controlled atomic reaction on December 2, 1942. The Nuclear Energy sculpture, by Henry Moore, marks the spot where it blew its stack.
reviewed
-
C
John Hancock Center
Get high in Chicago's third-tallest skyscraper. In many ways the view here surpasses the one at Willis Tower, as the Hancock is closer to the lake and a little further north. Those needing a city history lesson should ascend to the 94th-floor observatory, and listen to the archaic audio tour that comes with admission. Those secure in their knowledge should shoot up to the 96th-floor Signature Lounge, where the view is free if you buy a drink ($6 to $14).
reviewed
-
D
Museum of Contemporary Art
Consider it the Art Institute's brash, rebellious sibling, with especially strong minimalist, surrealist and book arts collections, and permanent works by Franz Kline, Rene Magritté, Cindy Sherman and Andy Warhol.
reviewed
-
E
Nelson Algren's House
You can’t go inside, but on the third floor of this apartment building writer Nelson Algren created some of his greatest works about life in the once down-and-out neighborhood. He won the 1950 National Book Award for his novel The Man with the Golden Arm, set on Division St near Milwaukee Ave (about a half-mile southeast). A Walk on the Wild Side contains the classic advice: ‘Never play cards with a man called Doc. Never eat at a place called Mom’s. Never sleep with a woman whose troubles are worse than your own.’ And his short Chicago: City on the Make summarizes 120 years of thorny local history and is the definitive read on the city’s character.
reviewed
-
F
David & Alfred Smart Museum of Art
Named after the founders of Esquire magazine, who contributed the money to get it started, this fine arts museum opened in 1974 and expanded in 1999. The 8000 items in the collection include some excellent works from ancient China and Japan, and a colorful and detailed Syrian mosaic from about AD 600. The strength of the collection lies in the paintings and sculpture contemporary to the university’s existence, including works by Arthur Davies, Jean Arp, Henry Moore and many others.
reviewed
-
G
Robie House
Of the numerous buildings that Frank Lloyd Wright designed around Chicago, none is more famous or influential than Robie House. The resemblance of its horizontal lines to the flat landscape of the Midwestern prairie became known as the Prairie style. Inside are 174 stained-glass windows and doors, which you'll see on the hour-long tours (frequency varies by season).
reviewed
-
H
Field Museum of Natural History
The mammoth Field Museum houses everything but the kitchen sink – beetles, mummies, gemstones, Bushman the stuffed ape. The collection's rockstar is Sue, the largest Tyrannosaurus rex yet discovered. She even gets her own gift shop. Special exhibits, like the 3D movie, cost extra.
reviewed
-
I
Prairie Avenue Historic District pp106–7
By 1900 Chicago’s crème de la crème had had enough of the scum de la scum in the nearby neighborhoods. Potter Palmer led a procession of millionaires north to new mansions on the Gold Coast. The once-pristine neighborhood, which lined Prairie Ave for several blocks south of 16th St, fell into quick decline as one mansion after another gave way to warehouses and industry, hookers and gin. Thanks to the efforts of the Chicago Architecture Foundation, a few of the prime homes from the area have also been carefully restored. Streets have been closed off, making the neighborhood a good place to stroll. A footbridge over the train tracks links the area to Burnham Park and the…
reviewed
-
Churches of Ukrainian Village
The domes of the neighborhood’s majestic churches pop out over the treetops in Ukrainian Village. Take a minute to wander by St Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral, which is the less traditional of the neighborhood’s main churches. Its 13 domes represent Christ and the Apostles. The intricate mosaics – added to the 1915 building in 1988 – owe their inspiration to the Cathedral of St Sophia in Kiev. Saints Volodymyr & Olha Church was founded by traditionalists from St Nicholas, who broke away over liturgical differences and built this showy church in 1975. It makes up for its paucity of domes (only five) with a massive mosaic of the conversion of Grand Duke…
reviewed
Advertisement
-
J
Northerly Island
Park Hosts big-name summer concerts (which you can hear from 12th St Beach), trails and bird-watching.
reviewed
-
K
River Esplanade
The developers looking to cash in on River East Center were given a mandate by the city: for the proposed shopping area to be approved, the company would have to leave the River Esplanade to the Chicago Park District. It was a good deal for both parties, and the River Esplanade makes an excellent place to take a break from your hectic shopping/sightseeing schedule. Beginning with the oddly proportioned curving staircase at the northeast tower of the Michigan Ave Bridge, the landscaped walkway extends east along the river past the Sheraton Hotel. Every hour on the hour, from 10am to 2pm and again from 5pm to midnight, the esplanade’s Centennial Fountain shoots a massive…
reviewed
-
L
Essanay Studios
Back before the talkies made silent film obsolete, Chicago reigned supreme as the number one producer of movie magic in the USA. Essanay churned out silent films with soon-to-be household names like WC Fields, Charlie Chaplin and Gilbert M Anderson (aka ‘Bronco Billy,’ the trailblazing star of the brand-new Western genre and cofounder of Essanay). Filming took place at the studio, but also in the surrounding neighborhoods. Getting the product out the door and into theaters was more important than producing artful, well-made films, so editing was viewed somewhat circumspectly. As a result, it was common in the early Essanay films to see local children performing…
reviewed
-
M
Garfield Park Conservatory
These 4.5 acres under glass are the Park District’s pride and joy. Built in 1907, the conservatory completed a multi-million-dollar restoration campaign in 2000, polishing it above and beyond its original splendor. One of the initial designers, Jens Jensen, intended for the palms, ferns and other plants to recreate Chicago’s prehistoric landscape. Today the effect continues – all that’s missing is a rampaging stegosaurus. Newer halls contain displays of seasonal plants that are especially spectacular in the weeks before Easter. Kids can get dirty with roots and seeds in the Children’s Garden. Between May and October the outdoor grounds are open, including the…
reviewed
-
N
Old St Patrick’s Church
A Chicago fire survivor, this 1852 church is not only the city’s oldest but also one of its fastest-growing, thanks to the strategies of its politically connected former pastor, Father Jack Wall. Old St Pat’s is best known for its year-round calendar of social events for singles, including the enormously popular World’s Largest Block Party; this is a weekend-long party with big-name rock bands where Catholic singles can flirt. (No less an authority than Oprah has proclaimed the block party the best place to meet one’s match.) The social programs have certainly boosted Old St Pat’s membership, which has gone from four (yes, four) in 1983 to thousands two decades later. The…
reviewed
-
O
Shedd Aquarium
Top draws at the kiddie-mobbed Shedd Aquarium include the Oceanarium, with its beluga whales and frolicking white-sided dolphins, and the shark exhibit, where there's just 5in of Plexiglas between you and two dozen fierce-looking swimmers. The 4D theater and the odd aquatic show cost extra (around $4 each).
reviewed
-
P
Sr Crown Hall
A world-class leader in technology, industrial design and architecture, Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) owes much of its look to legendary architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, who fled the Nazis in Germany for Chicago in 1938. From 1940 until his retirement in 1958, Mies designed 22 IIT buildings that reflected his tenets of architecture, combining simple, black metal frames with glass and brick infills. The look became known as the ‘International Style.’ The star of the campus and Mies’ undisputed masterpiece is SR Crown Hall, appropriately home to the College of Architecture. The building, close to the center of campus, appears to be a transparent glass box…
reviewed
-
Q
Millennium Park
Rising boldly by the lakefront, Millennium Park is a treasure trove of free and arty sights. Frank Gehry's 120ft-high swooping silver band shell anchors what is, in essence, an outdoor modern design gallery. It includes Jaume Plensa's 50ft-high Crown Fountain, which projects video images of locals spitting water, gargoyle style; the Gehry-designed BP Bridge that spans Columbus Dr and offers great skyline views; and the McCormick Tribune Ice Rink that fills with skaters in winter (and alfresco diners in summer). The newest installment is the Nichols Bridgeway that arches from the park up to the Art Institute's 3rd-floor contemporary sculpture garden (free to view).
However,…
reviewed
-
R
Newberry Library
Humanities nerds and those trying to document far-flung branches of their family tree will have a field day at this research library. Entry requires a library card, but one-day passes are available for curious browsers; you must be 16 or older to be admitted. Once inside, you can pester the patient librarians with requests for help in tracking down all manner of historical ephemera. (The collection is noncirculating, though, so don’t expect to take that 1st edition of the King James Bible home with you.) The Newberry often features interesting special exhibits, and has a bookstore where you can pick up such treatises as Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Philosophy, and cool…
reviewed
-
S
Illinois Institute of Technology
A world-class leader in technology, industrial design and architecture, Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) owes much of its look to legendary architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, who fled the Nazis in Germany for Chicago in 1938. From 1940 until his retirement in 1958, Mies designed 22 IIT buildings that reflected his tenets of architecture, combining simple, black-metal frames with glass and brick infills. The look became known as the International Style. The star of the campus and Mies’ undisputed masterpiece is SR Crown Hall, appropriately home to the College of Architecture. The building, close to the center of campus, appears to be a transparent glass box…
reviewed
Advertisement
-
T
Smith Museum of Stained Glass Windows
Navy Pier doesn’t promote this free, impressive attraction very well, but visitors who wander along the lower-level terraces of Festival Hall will discover the country’s first museum dedicated entirely to stained glass. Many of the 150 pieces on display were made in Chicago (a stained-glass hub in the late 1800s, thanks to the influx of European immigrants), and most hung at one point in Chicago churches, homes or office buildings. Even if you think stained glass is something for blue-haired grandmas, you should make a point of coming by; the articulately explained collection ranges from typical Victorian religious themes to far-out political designs (the Martin Luther…
reviewed
-
U
Lincoln Park Conservatory
Near the zoo's north entrance, the magnificent 1891 hothouse coaxes palms, ferns and orchids to flourish. In winter, it becomes a soothing, 75-degree escape from the icy winds raging outside.
reviewed
-
Pilsen Churches
Some wonderful European-influenced churches remain throughout Pilsen. The 1914 St Adalbert Church (1650 W 17th St) features 185ft steeples and is a good example of the soaring religious structures built by Chicago's ethnic populations through thousands of small donations from parishioners, who would cut family budgets to the bone to make their weekly contribution.
The Poles had St Adalbert's; the Irish had St Pius (1901 S Ashland Ave), a Romanesque Revival edifice built between 1885 and 1892. Its smooth masonry contrasts with the rough stones of its contemporaries. Catholics of one ethnic group never attended the churches of the others, which explains why this part of…
reviewed
-
V
Chicago Theatre
Everyone from Duke Ellington to Frank Sinatra to Prince has taken the stage here over the years (and left their signature on the famous backstage walls). The real showstopper, though, is the opulent French baroque architecture, including the lobby modeled on the Palace of Versailles. Opened in 1921, the theater originally screened silent movies with a full orchestra and white-gloved ushers leading patrons to their seats. Tickets cost just 50ç so rich and poor alike could revel in the splendor. Today it’s a concert venue. Tours are available most days (excluding Friday and Sunday) in summer, less often the rest of the year. At the very least, take a gander at the…
reviewed
-
W
Moody Church
Directly across from the Chicago History Museum stands the hulking nondenominational Moody Church, started by 19th-century missionary Dwight Moody. He also founded the Moody Bible Institute in the Gold Coast, and was basically the Billy Graham of his age – a charismatic preacher who took his literal interpretations of the Bible to audiences around the world. During the 1893 World’s Expo, Moody organized huge Christian revivalist events under enormous tents in Jackson Park, hoping to warn fair-goers away from the moral ruin awaiting them on the Midway and in Chicago’s infamous Levee District. This Clark St structure, which can hold almost 4000 worshippers, was built in…
reviewed