Friday, September 25
Behind the Scenes: The Field Museum and Luncheon
(Ticketed Event: $125)
Come explore the mystery of the hidden collections with a private, docent-led tour of Behind the Scenes: Anthropology Collection at The Field Museum. This unique trip will focus on the collections traditionally closed to the general public that are kept in the heart of the museum. The Field Museum was founded to house the biological and anthropological collections assembled for the World''s Columbian Exposition of 1893. These objects form the core of the Museum''s collections which have grown through world-wide expeditions, exchange, purchase, and gifts to more than twenty million specimens. The collections form the foundation of the Museum''s exhibition, research and education programs, which are further informed by a world-class natural history library of more than 250,000 volumes.
The Field Museum was incorporated in the State of Illinois on September 16, 1893 as the Columbian Museum of Chicago with its purpose the "accumulation and dissemination of knowledge, and the preservation and exhibition of objects illustrating art, archaeology, science and history." In 1905, the Museum''s name was changed to Field Museum of Natural History to honor the Museum''s first major benefactor, Marshall Field, and to better reflect its focus on the natural sciences. In 1921 the Museum moved from its original location in Jackson Park to its present site on Chicago Park District property near downtown where it is part of a lakefront Museum Campus that includes the John G. Shedd Aquarium and the Adler Planetarium. These three institutions are regarded as among the finest of their kind in the world and together attract more visits annually than any comparable site in Chicago.
After spending the morning at The Field Museum, guests will enjoy a gourmet lunch at Blackbird Restaurant. After lunch, a motorcoach will transport guests back to the Hyatt Regency Chicago.
Saturday, September 26
The Art Institute of Chicago: The Modern Wing Museum Tour
(Ticketed Event: $70)
Come and be one of the first to experience the new Modern Wing within The Art Institute of Chicago. You will have the chance to experience the museum at this exciting time with a private, docent-led tour of the Beyond Golden Clouds: Japanese Screens from the Art Institute of Chicago and the St. Louis Art Museum exhibition in the new Modern Wing of The Art Institute of Chicago. Part utilitarian and part fine art, the Japanese folding screen has captured the imaginations of those in the West since the 16th century. This exhibition will bring the scope of the significant permanent collections of Japanese screens at the Art Institute and the St. Louis Art Museum to the public eye.
Designed by Pritzker Prize–winning architect Renzo Piano, the Modern Wing provides a new home for the museum’s collection of 20th- and 21st-century art. Now a decade in the making, this 264,000 square-foot building makes the Art Institute the second largest art museum in the United States. The building houses the museum’s world-renowned collections of modern European painting and sculpture, contemporary art, architecture and design, and photography. The extraordinary scope and quality of these collections are a revelation; each displayed more comprehensively than ever before. The Modern Wing allows the Art Institute to take its rightful place as one of the world’s great collections of modern and contemporary art.
After spending the morning in the Modern Wing, a motorcoach will transport guests back to the Hyatt Regency Chicago.
