Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
233 S. Wacker Dr. (enter on Jackson Blvd.).
&
312/875-9696.
www.the-skydeck.com. Admission $9.95
adults, $7.95 seniors, $6.95 children 3-12. May-Sept daily 10am-10pm; Oct-Apr daily 10am-8pm. Bus: 1,
7, 126, 146, 151, or 156. Subway/El: Brown, Purple, or Orange line to Quincy, or Red or Blue line to Jackson;
then walk a few blocks west.
THE LOOP SCULPTURE TOUR
Downtown Chicago is a veritable “museum without walls.” Examples of public
art—in the form of traditional monuments, murals, and monumental contem-
porary sculpture—are located widely throughout the city, but their concentra-
tion within the Loop and nearby Grant Park is worth noting. The best known
of these works are by 20th-century artists, including Picasso, Chagall, Miró,
Calder, Moore, and Oldenburg. The newest addition is a massive elliptical
sculpture by British artist Anish Kapoor in Millennium Park (his first public
commission in the U.S.).
With the help of a very comprehensive booklet,
Loop Sculpture Guide
($3.95
at the gift shop in the Chicago Cultural Center, 78 E. Washington St.), you can
steer yourself through Grant Park and much of the Loop to view some 100 exam-
ples of Chicago's monumental public art. It provides locations and descriptions
of 37 major works, including photographs, plus about 60 other nearby sites.
You also can conduct a self-guided tour of the city's public sculpture by fol-
lowing our “Loop Sculpture Tour” map (p. 173).
The single-most-famous sculpture is
Pablo Picasso's
Untitled,
located in
Daley Plaza and constructed out of Cor-Ten steel, the same gracefully rusting
material used on the exterior of the Daley Center behind it. Viewed from vari-
ous perspectives, its enigmatic shape alternately suggests that of a woman, bird,
or dog. Perhaps because it was the button-down Loop's first monumental mod-
ern sculpture, its installation in 1967 was met with hoots and heckles, but today
“The Picasso” enjoys semiofficial status as the logo of modern Chicago. It is by
far the city's most popular photo opportunity among visiting tourists. At noon
on weekdays during warm-weather months, you'll likely find a dance troupe,
musical group, or visual-arts exhibition there as part of the city's long-running
“Under the Picasso” multicultural program. Call
&
312/346-3278
for event
information.
GRANT PARK
Thanks to architect Daniel Burnham and his coterie of visionary civic planners—
who drafted the revolutionary 1909 Plan of Chicago—the city boasts a wide-open
lakefront park system unrivaled by most major metropolises. Modeled after the
gardens at Versailles, Grant Park is Chicago's front yard, composed of giant lawns
segmented by
allées
of trees, plantings, and paths, and pieced together by major
roadways and a network of railroad tracks. Covering the greens are a variety of
public recreational and cultural facilities (although these are few in number and
Oprah in Person
Oprah Winfrey tapes her phenomenally successful talk show at Harpo
Studios, 1058 W. Washington Blvd., just west of the Loop. If you'd like to
be in her studio audience, you'll have to plan ahead: Reservations are
taken by phone only (
&
312/591-9222
), at least one month in advance.
