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By Brent Hoffmann, Class of 2005

Bob Carr’s interest in architecture long predates his service with CAC as an exhibit host.  “When I worked at the Chicago Tribune, I got to know the paper’s architecture critic, Paul Gapp,” he said.  Gapp won the Pulitzer Prize in 1979 for his columns about architecture.

“He was a versatile, witty and deeply aware writer who loved the city,” continued Bob.  “Before he created the position of architecture critic in 1974, he could cover a murder story in the morning and a city committee meeting in the afternoon.   Then, at night and under an assumed name, he’d write a column for postage stamp collectors.  Paul opened my eyes, and thousands more, to the wonders of the city’s built environment.  Also, to the contributions of others beyond the architects, including structural engineers such as Fazlur Kahn.  Later, I followed Blair Kamin’s exemplary Pulitzer work on the grandeur, grit and grace of this beautiful place.”

First, a Reporter

Bob, who grew up in rural Rockford, earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale.  He followed with a master’s degree in communications and education at Northern Illinois University, DeKalb.

“My first job out of school was as a reporter at the Freeport Journal-Standard, in upstate Freeport, Illinois,” said Bob.  “Then I moved to Iowa as a copy editor and weekend night city editor for the Des Moines Register.  The Sun-Times brought me to Chicago, where I was a news and features editor.  Mike Royko asked me to be on his softball team, but I couldn’t join, having two young kids at home in the suburbs and a working wife.  Occasionally, I edited Irv Kupcinet’s renowned, celebrity-gossip “Kup’s Column”.  He was always a gentleman.  And I watched movie critic Roger Ebert turn out flawless copy with the fastest fingers in the newsroom — on a manual typewriter, no less.  Amazing.

“From there, I filled a number of news and features roles at the Chicago Tribune, including as editor of the Sunday arts and books section,” explained Bob.  “In addition to Paul and Blair, I worked with other giants like theatre critic Richard Christiansen; Alan Artner, art critic; John von Rhein and Howard Reich, music critics; pop music critic Lynn Van Matre; and columnist Rick Kogan. It was, altogether, a long moment in our city’s golden age of journalism.

“I remember going to movie screenings with movie critic Gene Siskel and watching as Gene and Roger Ebert bickered,” he continued.  “They threw popcorn at the screen, yelled insults at each other, and developed the insights they’d later argue during their “At the Movies” syndicated TV show.  Remember how they were always one-upping each other?  That was all real.”

Corporate & Agency

After a stint as Tribune Company’s corporate communications director in the early 1990s, Bob took a similar position with Sears in west-suburban Hoffman Estates.  “It was the final act of another golden age – that of the sprawling department stores.  Sears was still a Dow Jones-30 behemoth.  It was incredibly talented, incredibly complex and, unfortunately, incredibly challenged by lower-end competitors such as Wal-Mart and the dawning of internet shopping.

“But talk about architecture,” Bob said.  “Hundreds and hundreds of stores with totally individual looks and layouts.  The company proudly commissioned a ‘portrait’ of each unique store — which were on display at Sears headquarters.  It drove the logistics vice president crazy.”

“I met some of the smartest, savviest folks there as we pushed against the tide of an entrenched culture in times of rapid change.  And we were keeping our heads above water.  If you look at the list of CAC volunteers, you’ll find a few of those smart, savvy Sears vets are still around.”

Following the marriage of Sears and Kmart, where he led merger communications, Bob returned to downtown Chicago.  He became           an account leader and editorial services director for the regional office of Ketchum, a global public relations agency.  “My local clients were nationally known, and I had the privilege of working on other accounts as diverse as Kellogg’s, Whirlpool, and Western Union.  One of my favorite clients was Discount Tire, which was suffering from a PR crisis not of its own making.  Absolute pros.  Rather than trying to simply protect the brand, the client asked, “What would Bruce Halle do?”  Fortunately, Bruce, Discount’s founder and a PR pro, had instilled a ‘customer-first’ attitude in virtually every employee from the tire changers to the executive vice president.  So the PR problem blew over, and I became a Discount Tire customer for life.”

Bob stepped away from the Ketchum agency in 2010, and now devotes some of his time to Bob Carr Communications — providing communications and marketing assistance to small and mid-size manufacturers.  “I’m helping a friend whose company makes landfill and toxic-remediation pumps. Our newest product is solar-driven and is finding a use in pumping condensate from hog-farm natural-gas operations.  I’d say that’s a long jump from Siskel and Ebert.”

In Addition to CAC

After working part-time behind the counter in a Sonoma County winery’s tasting room in Santa Rosa, California, Bob enlisted as an exhibit host at the Chicago Architecture Center in 2018.

“I orient visitors to the Center’s layout and functions,” he explained.  “For those new to the joys of architecture, I suggest where and how they might look at the marble and concrete around them.  One thing that both Paul and Blair taught us is the symbiosis of how the built environment shapes us as much as we shape the next generation of building makers.  It will be fascinating to see the impact of Covid-19 on the newest of our architecture practitioners.”

He’s also a volunteer guide at the Milwaukee Art Museum (MAM).  “As well as having a collection of nearly 25,000 works of art, the museum’s a great place to appreciate the work of three outstanding architects,” said Bob.  “The oldest building, which dates from 1957, was designed by Eero Saarinen.  It has a striking modernist flair and holds the MAM’s oldest works. David Kahler’s addition of 1975 displays the contemporary collection effortlessly, without showing off.  In 2001, the museum opened an addition by Santiago Calatrava that helped popularize it as a major tourist attraction.  The Quadracci Pavilion has white wings that, when it opens, looks like a giant seabird about to take flight across Lake Michigan.  And viewed from the south, the pavilion’s exterior resembles the prow of a lake ship.  Brilliant and breathtaking.”

Bob and his wife, Cathy, often spend winters in Scottsdale, Arizona.  “Nearby, in Phoenix, is the Musical Instrument Museum, MIM, where I’m a volunteer guide,” he said.  “It’s the world’s only global musical-instrument museum, with more than 8,000 instruments from about 200 countries, spanning 2,000 years.  Thanks to interactive media, the guests can see the instruments, hear their sounds, and watch them being played in their authentic contexts.

“The museum, designed by RSP Architects, is an understated masterpiece willed into being by Bob Ulrich, the MIM’s founder and former chief executive office of Target.”

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Bob’s home office features his photo, shot from the steps east of the CAC, showing the Chicago Tribune building, where he edited the paper’s Sunday arts and books section.