Announcements
- Please join us for the 2025 Architecture Tour to Savannah, GA on March 6-9. Savannah is a very historic and walkable city. Our tours will include the Plant Riverside District, LS3P Architects, a presentation from Shamrock Drones, a walking tour of Savannah's historic district, tours of the Mickve Israel Synagogue, the Mercer Williams House Museum, the Cathedral Basilica of St. John the Baptist, the Telfair Academy, the Jepson Center and Children's Art Museum, the Ships of the Sea Maritime Museum and SCAD Museum of Art and the SCAD 4D immersive experience. And of course, we'll visit the Bonaventure Cemetery. Click…
- We’ve got an All-Star lineup of speakers for the Fundamentals of Chicago Architecture training class in 2025, and there are limited opportunities for docents and staff to attend some of the lectures! Since there are limited seats, we ask that you choose your top three options, and we’ll assign seats on a first-come, first-served basis. Advance signup is required - attendees will not be admitted to the lecture hall without pre registration and confirmation from CAC staff. Registration closes on January 3rd and you will receive confirmation by January 10th. Review the line-up below. Express your interest here: https://forms.gle/VbXkub6QAXBp3N3c7 January 18, 10:25 AM…
- As we prepare for the new year's upcoming events and communications, it’s essential that we have your correct contact information on file. We kindly ask that you log in to your Better Impact account and confirm that your address is up to date. Here’s how you can verify your address: Log in to your Better Impact account. Navigate to the "My Profile" section. Select "Contact Information" Review your address details and make any necessary updates. Save your changes. Having accurate information helps us ensure you receive important updates and materials promptly. If you have any trouble accessing your account or…
- As we wrap up another successful year at the CAC, we want to remind you of the requirements for each role. If you are a docent and have other roles such as an exhibit host, you must complete your docent requirements to remain in good standing with the docent community. There are a few exceptions so if you have any questions, please contact Jared for clarification. Read the information below along with what to expect if you did not meet your requirements this year. Docents: Please refer to the docent handbook for further information. ACTIVE DOCENT: An active docent has…
Features
John Blackburn 2017 Hug 1999, Ivory 2023, or Slivka 2023 Historic Treasures of Chicago, December 2024 John was an amazing guide - very well informed and prepared. He made everyone feel very included. I learned so much during the tour. He picked beautiful places - I walked by them so many times and never thought to step in or look up. Chicago has so many treasures. Highly recommend it. Joanna…
By Bob Pratt, Class of 2019 Photographs by the author unless noted A successful Olympics now over, Paris has returned from crowded to merely bustling, as my wife Cathy and I discovered during an eight-day stay in mid November. Olympic improvements remain: not just athletic venues, but freshly decorated, glistening Metro stations with new glass safety doors separating platform from train, new street signage, and scrubbed bridges. The Old French…
By Burt Michaels, Class of 2019 “The carillon is the only instrument that summons its own audience,” claims Jim Fackenthal, carillonneur at St. Chrysostom’s Episcopal Church on North Dearborn Street, whose 1920s bell tower houses one of only two working carillons in Chicago. The other is at Rockefeller Chapel at the University of Chicago. “You don’t prepare for a carillon concert,” he explains. “It comes to you. You’re just walking…
The talents and creativity of our Docent and Volunteer community know no bounds. To prove that point, here are some stellar recent examples from Jack Brickman, Robin Simon and Karen Clapp. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lego Competition: Tales of Chicago As a former structural engineer, Josh Brickman (Class of 2017) worked on several major skyscrapers in downtown Chicago over the years. On these projects Josh faced the same toolbox of materials – steel,…
by Emily Clott, Class of 2012 It’s always tough to say goodbye to a valued friend and colleague. Hard as it is to imagine Holmes without Watson or Batman without Robin, it’s even harder to imagine The Bridge without Diane Wagner. Yet say goodbye we must, as Diane retires at the end of December from the CAC, the Communications Committee, and from her work on The Bridge. Diane is a…
by Ellen Shubart, Class of 2006 Coming to CAC with a Theatre Management background might not be the way most staff get to 111 E. Wacker Drive, but Madeline Sneed came down that path. And she sees a number of parallels between her training and her job today – “there are lots more performances here,” she jokes. Sneed, 26, is an Ohio native hailing from Oregon, Ohio, near Toledo. She…
by Ron Becker, Class of 2019 Many people try to imagine what it is like to live in a Frank Lloyd Wright house, but I had an opportunity to spend two nights in FLW’s Palmer House in Ann Arbor. The Palmer House is a Usonian design with 3 bedrooms and 2 baths. It is 2,000 ft2 and situated on a hilly, well-forested two-acre lot in a quiet section of Ann…
By Brent Hoffman, Class of 2005 “I love my city, and I love sharing it,” Bill said. “Doing presentations was a part of my profession that I enjoyed, and being a docent gives me a platform for doing more. Years ago, a friend walked me through the Historic Skyscrapers tour he’d recently taken, and I knew I’d enjoy doing more of that. Since becoming a docent 23 years ago, I’ve…
by Ron Becker, Class of 2019 John Blair was born in Scotland in 1821. It was there he learned his trade as gardener, landscape architect, and stone mason. Ever a nomad, he emigrated to Canada in 1851. By 1854 he was landscaping the estate of John Holland in Rockford, Illinois. When Mary Manny acquired the estate, he continued working for her. Later, after she married Robert Tinker, he would return…
By Sann Knipple, Class of 2023 MTH Industries has been building Chicago since 1886. A combination of four historically significant companies, Tyler & Hippach Glass Company (1886), Illinois Bronze Works (1923), Midwest Glass Company (1930), and Midwest Iron Works (1938), MTH creates and preserves Chicago’s architectural heritage by installing and renovating windows and structural and ornamental metal elements. Docents are familiar with MTH’s work even if we do not know…