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Photo: Editors2021, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Dankmar Adler and Louis Sullivan's masterpiece. Frank Lloyd Wright, who served as an apprentice on the project, called it "The greatest room for music and opera in the world — bar none." If the current production isn't worth seeing, take a tour of this gorgeous, acoustically-perfect theater instead. Tours are available at various times and days depending on the season.
The Auditorium Theatre is a music and performance venue in the Auditorium Building at 50 E. Ida B. Wells Drive in Chicago, Illinois. Inspired by the Richardsonian Romanesque style of architect Henry Hobson Richardson, the building was designed by Dankmar Adler and Louis Sullivan and completed in 1889. The Chicago Symphony Orchestra performed in the theatre until 1904 as well as the Chicago Grand Opera Company and its successors the Chicago Opera Association and Chicago Civic Opera until its relocation to the Civic Opera House in 1929. The theater was home to the Joffrey Ballet from 1998 until 2020. It currently hosts a variety of concerts, musicals, performances, and events. Since the 1940s, it has been owned by Roosevelt University and since the 1960s it has been refurbished and managed by an independent non-profit arts organization.
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Beman, 1885
A Michigan Avenue charmer built in 1884-85 whose worn stone walls looks even older. Even though few artists could afford to keep studios on Michigan Avenue these days, it still has a creative air, thanks to the fanciful carvings on the walls.
A stimulating and innovative forum for the collection, creation, and examination of contemporary image-making in its camera tradition and in its expanded vocabulary of digital processes. Affiliated with Columbia College Chicago.
A museum dedicated to Jewish culture and learning, in a dramatic, newly remodeled facility. There's a children's center, which promises hands-on exhibits, and a regular slate of exhibits and events on Jewish art, culture, and social issues, with points given for range that includes the Israeli-Palestinian Comedy Tour and lectures on Jewish-Catholic relations. The Asher Library, also on-site, keeps different hours (Su-Th afternoons).
Runs numerous river cruises and themed architecture walks covering the Loop and other parts of the city, with offerings suitable for general audiences and people with specific interests. There are some small, informative exhibits inside their 224 S Michigan headquarters and a gift shop. Walking tours are usually $15, $12 for students/seniors.
Home of Chicago's renowned orchestra; they spend a lot of time on the road, though, so visiting orchestras and stately jazz concerts can also be found here, as can the occasional curveball like a silent film.
One of the premier museums in the U.S. — and with the opening of the sensational new Modern Wing, it's one of the largest, too. Set aside a whole day and arrive early! Iconic pieces on display include "American Gothic" by Grant Wood (the stoic farm couple), "Nighthawks" by Edward Hopper (the late-night diner), Georges Seurat's pointillist masterpiece "Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte". The Art Institute also boasts the world's best collection of Impressionist painting outside of France. But there's a lot more to discover, including a great selection of early 20th-century painting, architecture, and photography, as well as archaeological finds covering 5,000 years of art and cultural history.