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Photo: via Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
The oldest alternative art venue in the city is dedicated to the visual arts, usually has several contemporary exhibits running at any given time, and frequent events like artist talks, poetry readings, and music performances.
The Hyde Park Art Center (HPAC) is a visual arts organization and the oldest alternative exhibition space in the city of Chicago. Since 2006, HPAC has been located just north of Hyde Park Boulevard, at 5020 S.Cornell Avenue, in the Kenwood neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois.
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One of Frank Lloyd Wright's earliest distinctive buildings (1897), often credited as the turning point in his early career when he shifted towards the Prairie School.
KAM Isaiah Israel
It looks like a Byzantine style mosque, but that minaret is actually a smokestack for this synagogue. The building was built in 1924 for the reform Isaiah Israel congregation, which later merged with Chicago's oldest Jewish congregation, Kehilath Anshe Ma'ariv (KAM), which in turn moved out of its massive temple on Drexel Avenue. The interior is marvelously elaborate. There are stained-glass depictions of humans, which is very unusual for a synagogue, and the walls appears to be made out of ancient stone -- but they're actually just plaster!
Masjid Al-Faatir is the largest of Chicago's Mosques. Founded by world heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali and his manager Jabir Herbert Muhammad (son of Elijah Muhammad) in 1987. It was later renovated with the help of the late president of the UAE, Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al-Nahayan.
The Point
Promontory Point is a beautiful spot to take in the great skyline view, gaze off into the blue, watch summer fireworks, or take a swim in its submerged beach (north side of the point). (It's illegal, but everybody does it.) The Point was constructed under the depression era Works Progress Administration in the style of the Prairie School of park design.
No tour of Chicago's museums is complete without a visit to this one. Spend hours upon hours looking at really cool stuff you never even knew you didn't know about. So much to do, so little time. You can return for free the following day if you take your ticket to "Will Call" on the way out on your first day. Great for kids, with many hands-on exhibits and the famous Coal Mine; adults will enjoy the display of the German U-boat 'U-505'. The immense, beautiful building was itself built as part of the White City in 1893, and is the last of the grand buildings left in Hyde Park.
This ornate fountain that stands in the tiny Drexel Square Park is the oldest in Chicago — one of the first monuments erected in the Chicago area. Commissioned by a wealthy stockbroker by the name of Francis Drexel, who managed to get the avenue, square, and fountain all named after himself without ever setting foot in Chicago.