What’s Doing In Chicago

Museums, Restaurants, Nightlife & Art Fairs

Chicago is a city you can visit all year with cultural events, exhibitions and art fairs to suit every taste. The city LITERALLY lights up during the holidays.

Christmas Tree 

 2017 marks the 104^th year of Chicago’s official tree and the third year it’s at Millennium Park. The tree, which stands at 62 feet is only 7 feet shorter than the tree at Rockefeller Center, which soars to 69 feet.  It will remain a beacon of the holiday spirit until January 7^th.

ZooLights

Lincoln Park Zoo boats 35-acres of wildlife and during the holidays, the park is twinkling with holiday lights. The first 1,000 people through the gates receive special glasses to enjoy the glow that takes over through January 7^th, 2018.  Maggie Daley Park and the McCormick Tribune Ice Rink also get transformed for the holidays.     

The Nutcracker

The Joffrey Ballet debuted a new version of The Nutcracker set in Chicago against the backdrop of the 1893 World’s Fair. The critically acclaimed ballet was choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon and runs through the 30^th of December.

Expo Chicago

Expo Chicago, the annual art fair at the Navy Pier, has grown in scale and importance since its inception six years ago. The city has embraced the fair, which happens every September, scheduling other major cultural events around it.  The art on display at Expo Chicago has grown more eclectic, and a slew of world class galleries have now come onboard, including Gagosian and New York/London gallery Lévy Gorvy.

Galerie Gmurzynska

Isabelle Bscher, third generation owner of Switzerland’s Galerie Gmurzynska, showcased a well-thought-out group of rare works by renowned artists including Christo, Joan Miro and Fernand Leger at the fair. The works by these blue-chip artists were selected because they each have a strong connection to the Windy City.

Bscher displayed a maquette of Miro’s iconic 1981 public sculpture affectionately dubbed “Miss Chicago” by locals, and a Leger piece dating from 1931, the year of that artist’s first-ever trip to the U.S., including a stop in Chicago. “People in Chicago, collectors, and the museums were very visionary from early on supporting artists,” says Bscher. “Both these artists have very close ties to the city.”

Christo, who famously wrapped Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Art in 1969, appeared at the Galerie Gmurzynska booth during Expo. They also showed three of his pieces from that era. “It’s a city that from the beginning of his career has been very important to him,” says Bscher, who hosted a dinner in his honor at the United Supper Club.

Frank Lloyd Wright House

 Frank Lloyd Wright’s home and studio in Oak Park, IL, is a must-see for design aficionados visiting Chicago. The legendary architect, whose myriad works included private residences, like Falling Water, and public facilities like New York City’s iconic Guggenheim Museum, had a prolific design career of 70 years.

Architecture Foundation River Cruise

Chicago reveres its architecture and the city takes it seriously, preserving buildings intact in their original state from different eras, be it 1880s or 1980s.  A terrific way to see the fabulous buildings from a different angle is to take the Chicago Architecture Foundation’s river cruise. From the comfort of a boat, certified guides explain the city’s architectural history, and place more than 50 different buildings in context as you sail past on the Chicago River. It’s enlightening, and lots of fun and makes for great photos. For landlubbers, the Foundation also offers a host of bus, trolley and walking tours for taking in the Windy City’s architecture.

Picasso’s Miss Chicago

 The monumental Picasso sculpture in Daley Plaza is known as “Miss Chicago” because the Spanish artist did not give it a name. Commissioned in 1963 for the plaza, the 50-feet high 160-ton steel sculpture was originally considered controversial. Today, it is an icon of the city, beloved by the public.

Miro’s The Sun, the Moon and One Star

Across the street from Picasso’s sculpture is Joan Miro’s The Sun, the Moon and One Star. Unveiled in Brunswick Plaza on April 21, 1981 the 39 feet tall statue is made of bronze, ceramic tile, steel, concrete and wire mesh. Galerie Gmurzynska offered Miro’s model of the sculpture during Expo Chicago. 

Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA)

Chicago is home to several notable museums, and the MCA is a standout. The MCA building was the first in the U.S. by German architect Josef Paul Kleihues, and the museum’s mission is to present contemporary art and culture by bringing artists and audiences together.

To that end, in addition to its extensive collection of over 2,500 artworks from the 1920s to the present, the MCA brings innovative programming to Chicago. Solange Kowles recently gave a talk for the “In Sight Out” series, and Virgil Abloh, creative director for Kanye West and founder of the Off-White fashion label, has an upcoming retrospective in 2019.

Many Tongues: Exhibit

The MCA Chicago just won the inaugural Sotheby’s Prize, a newly established grant from the auction house in recognition of exhibitions that break new ground in art history. The award-winning show is “Many Tongues: Art, Language, and Revolution in the Middle East and South Asia,” scheduled for 2019. The MCA was one of two winners among a pool of 92 institutions from 15 countries.