Chicago Cultural Center facts for kids

Chicago Public Library, Central Building
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Chicago Cultural Center
Location in Central Chicago Show map of Central Chicago Location in Illinois Show map of Illinois Location in the United States Show map of the United States
Location	78 E. Washington St., Chicago, IL, United States
Built	1897
Architect	C. A. Coolidge, Robert C. Spencer
NRHP reference No.	72000449
Quick facts for kids Significant dates
Added to NRHP	July 31, 1972

Preston Bradley Grand Hall and Tiffany domes

Preston Bradley Hall

Preston Bradley Hall and Tiffany glass dome

Tiffany glass dome

The Chicago Cultural Center is a stunning building in Chicago, IL. It first opened its doors in 1897. This special place is a Chicago Landmark and is managed by the city's Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events.

The Cultural Center is where the Mayor of Chicago welcomes important guests. These guests include presidents, royalty, and leaders from the community. You can find it in the Loop area, right across Michigan Avenue from Millennium Park.

This building was originally the main library for the Chicago Public Library. In 1978, it was changed into an arts and culture center. This idea came from Lois Weisberg, who was in charge of cultural affairs. Today, the city's main library is the Harold Washington Library Center. It is a large, modern building that opened in 1991.

The Chicago Cultural Center was the first free public cultural center in the United States. It is one of Chicago's most popular places to visit. It is known for showing off many different kinds of art. Every year, the center hosts over 1,000 events and art shows. These events cover music, dance, visual arts, and writing. It is also the main home for the Chicago Children's Choir.

Building Design and History

The building was designed by a company called Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge. They planned it in 1892 to be the city's main library. It also included a meeting hall and memorial for the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR). The land for the building was given by the GAR. The center was finished in 1897 and cost almost $2 million.

Architectural Style and Features

The Chicago Cultural Center has a neoclassical style. This means it looks like ancient Greek and Roman buildings. It also has parts that look like Italian Renaissance buildings. The outside walls are made of Bedford Blue Limestone on a granite base. The building is about 104 feet tall.

A special part of the building is its two beautiful stained-glass domes. These domes are placed perfectly on top of the two main sections of the building.

Here are some interesting parts of the building:

• Randolph Street Entrance: This entrance has strong doric columns and wooden doors. The entry hall has a patterned ceiling and walls made of green marble. The curving staircase is made of pink marble. It has detailed mosaics and fancy bronze railings.
• Washington Street Entrance: This entrance has arched doorways and bronze doors. The lobby is three stories tall with white Carrara marble walls and mosaics. The staircase is also white Carrara marble. It has green marble circles from Connemara, Ireland, and detailed mosaics. These mosaics are made of Favrile glass, stone, and mother of pearl.
• Grand Army of the Republic Memorial: This is a large hall and round room in the north part of the building. The hall has deep green marble walls. The round room has 30-foot walls of pink marble and a mosaic floor. It also has a beautiful stained-glass dome.
• Sidney R. Yates Gallery: This room looks like a famous assembly hall in the Doge's Palace in Venice. It has very decorated columns and a patterned ceiling.
• Preston Bradley Hall: This is a large, fancy room with curving white marble. It has a huge 38-foot Tiffany glass dome. This dome was designed by J. A. Holzer. It uses glass and special "turtleback jewels" made by Kokomo Opalescent Glass. The Cultural Center says this is the largest Tiffany dome in the world.

Building Restoration

The Chicago Cultural Center had a big renovation in 2021 and 2022. The goal was to bring back the building's original beauty. The detailed work on the art glass dome and decorations in the Grand Army of the Republic rooms was a huge project. It was made possible by a large donation of services.

Chicago-based Harboe Architects led this restoration project. They recreated old light fixtures that were missing. They also cleaned and polished the old marble. They restored the wooden doors and put in new glass. Layers of paint were removed from the historic rooms. The 40-foot Tiffany-designed stained glass dome was fully restored. It had become dirty and covered in paint over time. This dome has more than 60,000 pieces of glass! Daprato Rigali Studios from Chicago did the work on the stained-glass dome.

Past Art Shows

The Chicago Cultural Center often hosts amazing art shows.

Crossroads: Modernism in Ukraine, 1910–1930 was an art show featuring Ukrainian artists. It ran from July 22, 2006, to October 15, 2006.

Richard Hunt: Sixty Years of Sculpture was a major show of sixty sculptures. It showed art from Richard Hunt's long career. This exhibition was on display from December 6, 2014, to March 29, 2015.

"Rush More" Mural

In 2017, artist Kerry James Marshall created a special mural for the building. The mural is called "Rush More" and is on the west side of the cultural center. This artwork honors women who have made important contributions to Chicago's culture.

Some of the women shown in the mural are:

Kerry James Marshall first painted the mural on a smaller model of the building. Then, muralist Jeff Zimmerman transferred the design to the actual building wall. The money for this project came from a non-profit group called Murals of Acceptance. It also came from donations by people like David Arquette, Patricia Arquette, Marc Benioff, and Lynne Benioff.

See also

In Spanish: Chicago Cultural Center para niños

• Chicago architecture
• List of museums and cultural institutions in Chicago