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 fantastic building that opened in 1897. It's a special Chicago Landmark and is managed by Chicago's Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events. This center is where the Mayor welcomes important guests. These include presidents, royalty, and community leaders. You can find it in the Loop area, right across from Millennium Park.

This building was first 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, Chicago's main library is the Harold Washington Library Center. It's a big, modern building that opened in 1991.

The Chicago Cultural Center was the first free public cultural center in the United States. It's one of Chicago's most popular places to visit. Many people think it's one of the best places to see art in the country. Every year, the center hosts over 1,000 events and shows. These cover music, dance, visual art, and books. It's also the main office for the Chicago Children's Choir.

Building Design

The building was designed by a company called Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge. They created it for the city's main library and a meeting hall for the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR). The GAR was a group for Civil War veterans. The land was given by the GAR, and the building was finished in 1897. It cost almost $2 million back then.

The center has a four-story north wing and a five-story south wing. It stands about 104 feet tall. The walls are very thick, about 3 feet, and made of Bedford Blue Limestone. The building looks like a neoclassical style, with some Italian Renaissance touches. It has two beautiful stained-glass domes on top. Here are some cool parts of its design:

Entrances and Stairways

• Randolph Street Entrance: This entrance has strong doric columns and mahogany doors. The hall inside has a special coffered ceiling and walls of green Vermont marble. The curving stairway is made of pink Knoxville marble. It also has pretty mosaics and fancy bronze railings.
• Washington Street Entrance: This entrance has an arched doorway and bronze doors. The lobby is three stories tall with a vaulted ceiling. Its walls are made of white Carrara marble 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. The stairway to the 5th floor looks like Venice's Bridge of Sighs.

Special Halls and Domes

• Grand Army of the Republic Memorial: This is a big hall and round room in the north wing. The hall has deep green Vermont marble walls with arches for windows and mahogany doors. The round room has 30-foot walls of pink Knoxville marble. It also has a mosaic floor and a beautiful stained-glass dome. This dome has a Renaissance pattern and was made by Healy and Millet.
• Sidney R. Yates Gallery: This room looks like an assembly hall from the Doge's Palace in Venice. It has very decorated pilasters and a coffered ceiling.
• Preston Bradley Hall: This is a large, fancy room with curving white Carrara marble. It has a huge 38-foot Tiffany glass dome. This dome was designed by artist J. A. Holzer. The Cultural Center says this is the largest Tiffany dome in the world.

Recent Updates

The Chicago Cultural Center had a big renovation in 2021–2022. The goal was to bring back the building's original beauty. A grant of over $15 million helped restore the art glass dome and decorations in the Grand Army of the Republic rooms. These rooms honor Civil War veterans. The Chicago Cultural Center has two amazing stained-glass domes. Harboe Architects, a Chicago firm known for historic preservation, led the project.

The work included making new light fixtures that had been lost. They also cleaned and polished old marble and fixed mahogany doors. Restoration teams spent many hours removing layers of paint from the historic rooms. The 40-foot wide Tiffany-designed stained glass dome was also fully restored. It had become dirty and painted over. This dome has over 60,000 pieces of glass that needed to be fixed. Daprato Rigali Studios from Chicago did the stained-glass dome restoration.

Past Art Shows

Chicago Sculptor Richard Hunt's Steel Bloom, Number 10, 1956 at the Chicago Cultural Center, 2015

The center often hosts interesting art shows. For example, Crossroads: Modernism in Ukraine, 1910-1930 showed art by Ukrainian artists. These included Sukher Ber Rybak and Oleksandr Bohomazov. This show was put together by the Foundation for International Arts and Education and the National Art Museum of Ukraine. It ran from July 22, 2006, to October 15, 2006.

Another big show was Richard Hunt: Sixty Years of Sculpture. This exhibition featured sixty sculptures from Hunt's long career. Many pieces came from his own collection. This show 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 a public art project. The mural is called "Rush More." It's on the west side of the cultural center building. This artwork celebrates women who have made important contributions to Chicago's culture.

The mural features many notable women, including:

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 project was funded by a non-profit group called Murals of Acceptance. Donations from people like David Arquette and Oprah Winfrey also helped.

See also

In Spanish: Chicago Cultural Center para niños

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