Results tagged “artinstituteofchicago”

       

We're keyed up about Saturday's grand opening of the AIC's new Modern Wing. As the largest expansion in the museum’s history (with a price tag of - holy shit - about $290 million), this new three-floor facility offers 65,000 feet of new galleries that will house both modern and contemporary works, photography, as well as architecture and design collections. It's sheer magnitude will make the Art Institute the second largest museum in the United States. And perhaps we should mention that the New York Times has given the Modern Wing an absolutely glowing review. (For a peep at their lovely photo slideshow, click here.)

Summer is almost here (even if it doesn't feel like it) and that means lots of museum visitors. And, of course, there's been a big stink about the Art Institute's upcoming 50 percent admission hike. Under pressure from many directions - but most prominently Ald. Ed Burke - the Chicago Park District may give locals a break on the new admission fees to the count of $2. Instead of $18, local adults would pay $16 and local students and seniors would pay $10.

With the opening of its Modern Wing just around the corner on May 16th, The Art Institute of Chicago has decided to tease us a bit with its March 24th opening exhibition, Modern and Contemporary Works on Paper. With an unveiling of 80 drawings that rarely see the light of day in public galleries (literally -- due to light sensitivity), expect to see works by famous modern artists like Pablo Picasso, German School Artist Ernst Kirchner, and Roy Lichtenstein, as well as contemporary additions to the collection by Minimalist Sylvia Plimack Mangold and architect Le Corbusier. The best part? Notational and diagrammatic sheets will be featured along with finished works. Which means that you can see the artists’ drawing process evolve right before your very eyes. And if you’re unable to see this exhibition, not a problem. Major works by many of these artists will be on display in the Modern Wing’s permanent galleries.

In spite of the current recession, Chicago's museums are still managing to bring in a healthy number people. Total attendance in 2008 at the city's top 10 "major cultural attractions" was only off by one percent for a total of 7.7 million. The Shedd Aquarium saw a drop of seven percent, but was still had the highest overall attendance at 1.9 million; The Museum of Science & Industry had a larger drop at 15 percent, but was second overall with 1.4 million. In spite of these drops, the eight other attractions saw increases. The Art Institute of Chicago drew 1.4 million for third place overall and the Chicago History Museum saw a healthy 22 percent increase in visitors for a total of 266,000. The overall attendance on "free days" also saw a hefty increase of over 15 percent.

Last week, while at a certain Olympic bid fundraiser at Pritzker, we noticed a strange building in the south skyline. We soon realized that we were looking at the Art Institute’s new Modern Wing, and were surprised at how … done it looked. Which is a good thing, since the Art Institute announced last Thursday that its 264,000 square-foot addition to the museum will be opened to the public on May 16th, 2009.

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