Saturday, March 7, 2009

The Ordinary but Extraordinary - The Art Institute, Southside Community Art Center, The Mexican Fine Arts Museum and the Little Black Pearl Workshop

The places I will talk about are our ordinary, but extraordinary for their beauty, run-of-the-mill places that just about everyone knows about if you live in Chicago. However, I'm gonna tweek it a little bit. I will attempt to talk about the activities available for each individual group, if possible, or as a whole. Next, I will talk about the places that are not your usual and provide links to locations, websites that offer more information and pictures to these locations. Enjoy the ride!
The Art Institute:

The Art Institute of Chicago is one of the oldest institutions of art and culture and was founded in 1879 as both a school and museum. It houses art of different forms and varieties. Check out the exhibit on African Art and African American artists. If you're interested in architecture, please don't forget to visit it's minatures display on the lower level. For kids and families, there is the Kraft Center that gives daily art demonstrations and classes. Finally, for teens, it is a great place to see photography, art and other cultural icons of American and Chicago if you are the creeative sort.

Little Known Fact:

The Art Institute was built on the rubble from the Chicago Fire of 1871 and from those humble beginnings has grown into a world premier art institute including art objects from around the world, an art school and library, and a wide variety of exhibits and programs for the public.

The Southside Community Art Center:

The City of Chicago boasts of about 10,650,09 African Americans according to the census bureau of 2000. The number of African Americans living on the Southside of Chicago probably includes the majority of that number. African American Culture on the southide has hidden treasures. One such treasure is the The Southside Community Art Center. Housed in a mansion on south 35th Street, it is not the most impressive looking but is one of the most interesting. It has been in existance since the early 1940's. It was created from President Roosevelt's Federal Art Project. In fact, Dr. Margaret Burroughs, who founded the Dusable Museum of African American History, recalled in her early twenties meeting Eleanor Roosevelt who had come to cut the ribbon for the new art center.
Little Known Fact:

The Southside Community Art Center is home to many well-known African American Artists such as Archibald Motley, Gordon Parks, Dr. Margaret Burroughs, and Charles White to name a few.

New To Chicago




Most natives of Chicago have a sense of what to do in and around Chicago but sometimes even as natives we don't really know the intricacies of what this beautiful city has to offer for everyone. "Everyone," includes kids, teens, adults, African Americans, Latinas, Whites, Indians, and every other culture here. I would like to take the time to explore this for you and offer many places and activities for the urbane and those interested in the many cultural excursions and fun that exist in that "toddling town, Chicago!!"