The weekend will include art, architecture and jazz and will be led by Steve Kelly, Professor of Music, and Laurel Bradley, Director of Exhibitions & Curator of the College Art Collection.

Notes from Laurel Bradley on art activities for the weekend:

Thursday evening

· Vernissage: Navy Pier Art Fair gala (for those in a festive, dress-up mood, with $125. /person to benefit the Museum of Contemporary Art). The Opening night celebration of this important art fair, drawing dealers from all over the world to Chicago, features fabulous hors d’oeuvres, open bars, entertainment, and the exclusive opportunity to be among the first to preview and purchase art from prestigious international galleries. The Art Fair continues through the weekend.

Friday

· Art Institute of Chicago – Laurel Bradley’s personal favorites from the 19th and 20th century collections. Beginning with JMW Turner’s sublime seascape, we will “tour” 19th century art, stopping to admire Monet’s Haystacks, and George Seurat’s Neo-Impressionist masterpiece, Sunday Afternoon on the Grand Jatte before sampling Modernist experiments by Picasso, Matisse, and other pioneers in the 20th century march of ‘isms. Free time to take in aspects of the collection. Option: Special exhibition Rembrandt’s Journey: Painter, Draftsman, Etcher.

· Chicago Architectural Boat Tour

Saturday

· Museum of Contemporary Art: Some comments on the building and the permanent collection. Lee Bontecou exhibition: Walkthrough with commentary. Lee Bontecou left the “art world” and retreated to rural Pennsylvania in the early 1970s despite great critical accolades for her sculptural reliefs. This exhibition re-presents this important woman artist and displays work from the last thirty years. (See September 2003 ArtNews article)

· Downtown Walking Tour highlighting architecture and outdoor sculpture. Encounter important buildings which contribute to the city’s reputation as an architectural mecca and public sculptures by Picasso, Miro, Dubuffet and others.

· Illinois Institute of Technology campus tour. The original complex of buildings, “classic” modernist structures designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (1945-60) has been recently enriched by a new student residence by Helmut Jahn and the brand new campus center by Rem Koolhaas. Topped by a 530 foot long stainless steel clad tube (“innovative technological concept for a train enclosure”) which doubles as a train station, the campus center is the first completed building in North America by this Dutch architect and Pritzker Prize winner.

Note from Professor Kelly on Jazz Activities for the weekend:

“Chicago was the center of jazz development during the late 1920s, when it was especially a Toddlin’ town. Although the center of jazz development moved to New York when Eliot Ness cleaned up the place and the IRS sent Al Capone on a well-earned federal vacation, Chicago continued through the decades to have a lively jazz and, of course, a justly famed blues scene. Our job will be to sample some of that lively scene by visiting several of the best downtown jazz clubs. Unfortunately, since jazz clubs generally do not book far in advance, we won’t be able to tell you exactly who and what we’ll hear until closer to the time of our trip. We plan to go to “Green Dolphin Street” (named after a street in New Orleans significant in jazz history and a great jazz standard) and “The Jazz Showcase” the two top Chicago jazz venues on Friday and Saturday night. These clubs regularly book the best local and national jazz talent so you can be sure we’ll hear some high quality music. We may also have a chance to drop in on another club, “Joe ’s Be-Bop,” the “Green Mill,” or “Andy’s” on Thursday night after our dinner together. We can “debrief” about the performances at breakfast each morning and I hope have some lively discussions about the music and musicians. This being a Carleton trip, I’ll be sending along some reading and listening suggestions prior to our trip. The Alumni Office has told me, however, that an exam would not be appropriate.”