Blog

By Emily Clott, Class of 2012

When we think of Chicago Architecture Center leadership, we think of Lynn Osmond. She has been our president and CEO for 24 years and counting. But anyone who has heard Lynn’s pronunciation of the word about—”aboot”—might have guessed that she is not a native of Chicago. Jill Carlson, Ellen Shubart and I asked Lynn to let us do a feature about her and her background before and during her tenure at CAF/CAC. Here are some of the things we learned in a fascinating Zoom conversation in late December, 2020.

Lynn’s parents emigrated from England to St. Catharines, Ontario, where she was born. Competitive swimming and playing clarinet were her favorite activities growing up, leading to her decision to major in music at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario. She aspired to working as a music therapist with psychiatric patients, but deregulation of mental health care facilities greatly diminished job prospects in the field, so Lynn decided to switch to arts administration.

East to West and Halfway Back Again

After a stint working for the Association of Canadian Orchestras, Lynn was hired as the General Manager of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra (BPO). While there, Lynn developed an interest in architecture, since one can hardly live in Buffalo without realizing its rich architectural heritage. Many of the stars of the Chicago architectural firmament have designed compelling structures there, where interest in preservation was burgeoning during Lynn’s tenure at the orchestra. Also during her time in Buffalo, the BPO hired Doc Severinsen as Principal Pops Conductor on his departure from “The Tonight Show.” It was the start of a lasting friendship and some 14 years later, Severinsen and Lynn would dance together at her wedding.

From Buffalo, Lynn’s orchestra management career led to the warmer climes of Sacramento, California where she served as Executive Director of the Sacramento Symphony. After a number of  years in orchestra management, Lynn responded to a headhunter’s invitation to apply to lead the Chicago Architecture Foundation. With aging parents living much closer to Chicago than to California, she accepted the offer to become CEO of CAF in November of 1996. She felt certain that, while the hard work she put into orchestra management made the orchestra’s survival possible, with the Chicago Architecture Center, there was a real opportunity for growth.

When she started, CAF occupied the first-floor offices at the Railway Exchange Building, had access to one boat, a staff of 20, and a budget of $2.4 million. She found the first months relatively boring, since there didn’t seem to be a long-term vision for the organization. Soon, she would bring her vision to bear, ultimately resulting by 2019 in an annual budget of $24 million, a staff of 85, and a brick-and-mortar Center on Wacker Drive just above the CFL dock. (Due to the pandemic, reductions in budget and staff had to be implemented—only temporarily, she hopes.)

Transformation and Expansion

Lynn began this transformation by emphasizing and expanding educational and outreach programs. She decided to take docent training herself, joining the 1997 docent class hoping to become an active member of the community and to master the basic vocabulary of Chicago architecture and how CAF docents interpret it to tour attendees.

At first, Lynn put off homework assignments until Friday nights before her Saturday classes, but she soon learned that path would lead to a lot of all-nighters and failure. She vividly remembers lots of red marks on her homework papers and giving her Modern Architecture certification tour on a winter day with horizontal snow. Like all docents, she felt great pride when she certified in the Historic and Modern tours.

Lynn points to four major milestones that led to CAF’s growth during her tenure:

1. 1. Negotiating a five-year contract to replace the previous year-to-year agreements with the Agras of Chicago’s First Lady Cruises (CFL). The longer agreement gave both CFL and CAF the security to make long-range plans. As the fleet grew to the current five boats, the River Cruises became the bedrock of CAF expansion.
   2. Developing the Education curricula “Schoolyards to Skylines” and “The Architecture Handbook: A Student Guide to Understanding Buildings,” which built on the success of the organization’s annual Newhouse Architecture + Design Competition.
   3. Developing the Chicago City Model, first installed at the Railway Exchange Building and later expanded for the new Center, making it a destination for passersby and raising the organization’s profile.
   4. The launch of Open House Chicago in 2010 after five years of planning. Lynn realized that sponsors were needed to get it off the ground, so she sought and secured an initial $100,000 in grants and sponsorships.

The Other Idea

As the organization has grown, the role of its Board of Trustees has become less hands-on and more strategically focused. Interestingly, working with the Board led to romance for Lynn. Chris Multhauf was an active member of the Board, set to become its new Chair in 1997. As she interviewed Chris for the position, Lynn thought he was so attractive, she’d try to set him up with her girlfriend. Chris had other ideas. He said that it looked to him like there were two positions available: Chairman of the Board, or Lynn Osmond’s boyfriend. He chose the latter, and thus began a CAF love story. Chris recused himself from the Chair position, and eventually from the Board, to avoid any conflict of interest after they married.

Chris then took docent training because he loved CAF and created the Devil in the White City tour, to dovetail with the publication of Erik Larson’s popular book of that title. (Photos he took for that tour are still being used in many of the virtual tours being offered in 2020.) Health issues led to Chris retiring from active docenting recently. His two sons from a previous marriage live in Chicago, one of them currently hunkering down with Lynn and Chris in their West Loop home. A third son passed away in 2012.

Lynn is quick to state that the pandemic is the biggest challenge she has faced as leader of the CAC, while opening the Center is her greatest single accomplishment. She notes that the Center enables us to have a seat at the table in discussions of city planning. We’ve become a respected partner involved in city dialog.

When asked about what she values most about the CAC, Lynn answered that the commitment and dedication of the docents and volunteers warm her heart. People joke that she’s not running an organization, she’s running a cult, since we docents and volunteers are so passionate about what we do.

Looking to the future, Lynn plans to use the CAC’s recent reorganization to focus more specifically on architecture’s impacts on climate change and urban equity issues. She is currently serving as Vice Chair of Choose Chicago, enabling her to clearly understand future prospects for Chicago tourism and for the CAC’s role going forward. This has been a year of much disruption, but the CAC has shown great flexibility and has pivoted well to new formats and platforms. We can all be grateful for the steady and inspired leadership Lynn has shown throughout her time at the CAC. Let’s hope that 2021 proves to be less of a challenge for Lynn and for the entire Chicago Architecture Center family.

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Author Emily Clott