By Brent Hoffmann, Class of 2005
“Look at the lady in white, on the balcony of that brick building,” Susan would say to her boatload of tourees. “That’s my mom. On the count of three, say, ‘Hi, mom!’ Or I’d ask them to shout, “Hi, Mrs. Osborn.’ She loved it, and so did my tourees.” Susan explains, “That was back in 2007, ’08 and ‘09, when she lived in Cityfront Place on the river. I’d let her know the approximate time my boat would pass by. Then, without fail, she’d appear on her balcony, usually dressed in white shirt and pants, and return the greeting. She’s since passed away, and that’s a memory I will always cherish.”
In addition to being a river architecture docent, Susan is a musician. “I have always been a musician, teaching piano and performing,” she says. “This is my 33rd year at Northwestern. I moved here in 1987 from Princeton, N.J., to take a job in the Northwestern University Music Academy. I entered Northwestern’s doctoral program in Piano Performance and Pedagogy, graduating in 1995 as a Doctor of Musical Arts. I continued to teach in the music academy and later joined the Keyboard Skills Faculty of Northwestern’s Bienen School of Music. I’ve been teaching at Northwestern ever since.
“After college, I studied piano in Paris for a year and had a piano concert and photo exhibit at the Fondation des États-Unis of the Cite Internationale Universitaire de Paris,” she continues. “I loved everything about living there. I was able to see Strasbourg, Amsterdam, Vienna, Salzburg, Munich, and London during that year. Later in my studies, I spent two weeks in St. Petersburg, Russia, during a music-related trip.
“During the summers, I usually teach at the Interlochen Arts Camp in Michigan. But not in 2020, due to the COVID 19 cancellation. So, I’m now teaching live practice lessons online and recording my Northwestern college keyboard skills classes on Zoom from home, since one of my students is from Hong Kong. I miss my daily face-to-face contact with students. I also miss swimming in the lake and biking along the lakefront.”
Snookie Who?
Susan grew up in Fair Haven, Colts Neck, and Rumson, N.J. “I was fascinated by the vintage architecture along the Jersey Shore,” she continues. “And no, I don’t know Snookie,” Susan insists, when asked if she recalled the best-known cast member of the infamous “Jersey Shore” reality TV series. “I used to take my parents’ car to drive up and down Ocean Avenue in New Jersey, photographing architecture from the 1800s and the early 1900s. While living in Rumson, I was steps away from a grand, but haunted-looking, old mansion designed by Stanford White.
“After I moved to Evanston in 1987, I became fascinated with the architecture of Chicago,” says Susan. “I took el rides down into the city simply to look at the buildings. I studied some of Geoffrey Baer’s WTTW tours and wrote my own tour to give to a friend who’d recently relocated to Chicago. Soon after I visited the Glessner House, I told a friend how much I loved the architecture here. She suggested that I become a docent for the Chicago Architecture Foundation. I applied and graduated with the class of 2003.
MoonPie
“The first year I gave the historic tour, I led a group to the Auditorium Theater. As we stood in front, someone, probably a Roosevelt student, proceeded to ‘moon’ us. The story got around. At my first Docent Appreciation Night, docent president Charles Stanford awarded me the MoonPie Award, which included an actual MoonPie.” (MoonPie, a popular confection in the South, consists of two graham cookies with a marshmallow filling and dipped in a flavored coating.)
“Now I only lead the river tour,” she continues. “It’s not for a lack of wanting to do more, but because I’m so busy with my teaching responsibilities. I live along the river, at Cityfront Place, overlooking the Melas fountain. I pay attention to colorful people who entertain us along the river. I’ve chatted with the man we river docents affectionately know as Riveracci. He twirls around on the bridge waving his brightly colored suits as river tours go by. I also enjoy the man who blows bubbles over the boats as they go under the Columbus Avenue bridge. I call him the Bubble Man. Also, Andrew David, the talented street singer who has endeared himself to all of us who live downtown during this pandemic.”
Photography
Susan is an avid photographer. She helped plan CAC’s popular photography architecture river tour, which is often the first tour on weekends. She contributes her photos to the docent online publication The Bridge. “I’m continuing to develop my photography website, https://srophoto.myportfolio.com/. Also, I’m looking for a way to publish my book of Chicago photos and commentary based on what I’ve learned as a docent. I feel very blessed that I can live downtown, lead tours, and take photos. I hope I can do it for a long time.”
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How lovely to read the well-written story of a very impressive docent! Thank you Susan and Brent!
Great life story!! Thank you!
I went to a faculty recital at NU last year and was excited to see Susan perform, but I had no idea she was also accomplished as a photographer (one of my interests) and has also been known to ride a bike along the lake, like me! CAC is lucky for every moment you can spare as a docent, Susan. Bravi!