National Museum of Mexican Art , musem in chicago

National Museum of Mexican Art

 Found in Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood just south of the Loop, the National Museum of Mexican Art represents the Mexican-American community of the city. Founded in 1987 by a handful of public school teachers, the Institution was started with just $900.

Exhibits at the National Museum of Mexican Art include Mexican and Mexican-American visual and performing artists, with a permanent collection of over 5,000 works. Visiting artists and special events add more highlights to the National Museum of Mexican Art, especially during the spring time.

National Museum of Mexican Art Overview:

 

 The NMMA is a Chicago jewel of a cultural center and the only Latino museum in the nation to have achieved accreditation by the American Association of Museums.

It houses more than 5,000 artifacts ranging from photography and ephemera to folk art and ancient Mexican art from the Classic era. Their mission ranges across the full breadth of Mexican culture. They write, "The Museum defines the Mexican culture as "sin fronteras" (without borders) and presents the Mexican culture from ancient times to the present and how it has manifested itself on both sides of the border."

 Gathering of Black Towns / Encuentro de Pueblos Negros :

 

The Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum might not seem like something that belongs in Chicago, but it features works of Mexican artists in an attempt to preserve a record of the Latino culture which is prevalent in the city. Here you’ll find paintings and sculptures by Hispanic artists.

Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum is just one specialty museum in Chicago. If you’re interested in Mexican art, it’s a good spot to add to your trip schedule. The art here ranges from historic to modern, to give you a good taste of how Mexican art has evolved.

History of National Museum of Mexican Art:

 

The National Museum of Mexican Art (Formerly known as the Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum) is a museum which features Mexican, Latino, and Chicano art and culture. The museum was founded in 1982 by Carlos Tortolero. Located in the neighborhood of Pilsen in Chicago, Illinois, the current building in Harrison Park opened on March 27, 1987. The museum is the only Latino museum accredited by the American Association of Museums. The mission of the museum is to display Mexican culture as one sin fronteras (without borders).

view National Museum of Mexican Art :

 

 The museum boasts several galleries, some of which hold permanent collections while others showcase temporary exhibits. Pieces range from ancient Mexican art to present-day, and include works from both unknown and world-famous artists. The current featured exhibit (running until August 2010) explores the influence that Mexican muralists have had on artists from the United States. Entitled Translating Revolution: U.S. Artists Interpret Mexican Muralists, the collection contains works from American artists who traveled to Mexico pursuing art, some of whom stayed a lifetime and became Mexican citizens. Pieces include photography, prints, and paintings with a wide range of subject matters. Art lovers will enjoy seeing the work of the Tres Grandes (The Three “Big Ones”), Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco, and David Alfaro Siqueiros. The museum boasts pieces by these three artists who became famous for their murals and socially and politically inspired art. You may also have the fortune of seeing the work of Frida Kahlo, one of the most influential Mexican painters of the 20th century.

Art Institute of Chicago , museum in chicago

Art Institute of Chicago,,,,,

The Art Institute of Chicago is one of Chicago's most famous cultural gems and is a must-see for Chicagoans and visitors alike.

The Art Institute is located on Chicago's famous Michigan Avenue and is part of Grant Park. It has been at this address since 1893 and houses the third largest art collection in the nation admired by millions of visitors each year.

History of Art Institute of Chicago :

 

 In 1866, a group of 35 artists founded the Chicago Academy of Design in a studio on Dearborn Street, with the intent to run a free school with its own art gallery. The organization was modeled after European art academies, such as the Royal Academy, with Academians and Associate Academians. The Academy's charter was granted in March 1867.
Classes started in 1868, meeting every day at a cost of $10 per month. The Academy's success enabled it to build a new home for the school, a five story stone building on 66 West Adams Street, which opened on November 22, 1870.
When the Great Chicago Fire destroyed the building in 1871 the Academy was thrown into debt. Attempts to continue despite of the loss, using rented facilities, failed. By 1878, the Academy was $10,000 in debt. Members tried to rescue the ailing institution by making deals with local businessmen, before some finally abandoned it in 1879 to found a new organization, named the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts. When the Chicago Academy of Design went bankrupt the same year, the new Chicago Academy of Fine Arts bought its assets at auction.
In 1882, the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts changed its name to the current Art Institute of Chicago The same year, they purchased a lot on the corner of Michigan Avenue and Van Buren Avenue for $45,000. The property's building was leased, and a new building was constructed behind it to house the school's facilities.
With the announcement of the World's Columbian Exposition to be held in 1892–93, the Art Institute pressed for a building on the lakefront to be constructed for the fair, but to be used by the Institute afterwards. The city agreed, and the building was completed in time for the second year of the fair. Construction costs were paid by selling the Michigan/Van Buren property. On October 31, 1893, the Institute moved into the new building. From the 1900s (decade) to the 1960s the school offered with the Logan Family (members of the board) the Logan Medal of the Arts, an award which became one of the most distinguished awards presented to artists in the US.
Between 1959 and 1970, the Institute was a key site in the battle to gain art & documentary photography a place in galleries, under curator Hugh Edwards and his assistants.
As Director of the museum starting in the early 1980s, James N. Wood conducted a major expansion of its collection and oversaw a major renovation and expansion project for its facilities. As "one of the most respected museum leaders in the country", as described by The New York Times, Wood created major exhibitions of works by Paul Gauguin, Claude Monet and Vincent van Gogh that set records for attendance at the museum. He retired from the museum in 2004.[5]
In 2006, the Art Institute began construction of "The Modern Wing", an addition situated on the southwest corner of Columbus and Monroe. The project, designed by Pritzker Prize winning architect Renzo Piano, was completed and officially opened to the public on May 16, 2009. The 264,000-square-foot (24,500 m2) building makes the Art Institute the second largest art museum in the United States. The building houses the museum's world-renowned collections of 20th- and 21st-century art, specifically modern European painting and sculpture, contemporary art, architecture and design, and photography.

 One of the Thorne Miniature Rooms:

 

 number of other works. Located on the lower level are the Thorne Miniature Rooms which 1:12 scale interiors showcasing American, European and Asian architectural and furniture styles from the Middle Ages to the 1930s (when the rooms were constructed).[8] Another special feature of the museum is the Touch Gallery which is specially designed for the visually impaired. It features several works which museum guests are encouraged to experience though the sense of touch instead of through sight as well as specially designed description plates written in braille.[9] The American Decorative Arts galleries contain furniture pieces designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and Charles and Ray Eames. The Ancient Egyptian, Greek, and Roman galleries hold the mummy and mummy case of Paankhenamun,[10] as well as several gold and silver coins.

In addition to paintings, the Art Institute offers a Richmond Barthé "Boxer" (the Cuban featherweight, "Kid Chocolate"), 1942

 

 In his piece "The Octoroon Girl", (1925) Motley challenges the conventional image of an African American. While the woman in the painting fits the mold of "whiteness," she actually is 1/8 black. Breaking away from the traditional views of blacks was indicative of the time period. References such as octoroon or mulatto were used to describe how much "black blood" a person possessed. Motley takes this concept from a negative connotation to one that is independent of social status

Art Institute of Chicago - overview :

 

On May 16, 2009, the Art Institute opened the Modern Wing, the largest expansion in the museum's history.The 264,000-square-foot (24,500 m2) addition, designed by Renzo Piano, makes the Art Institute the second-largest museum in the US. The architect of record in the City of Chicago for this building was Interactive Design. The Modern Wing is home to the museum's collection of early 20th-century European art, including Pablo Picasso’s The Old Guitarist, Henri Matisse's Bathers by a River, and René Magritte’s Time Transfixed. It also houses contemporary art from after 1960; new photography, video media, architecture and design galleries including original renderings by Frank Lloyd Wright, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Bruce Goff; temporary exhibition space; shops and classrooms; a cafe and a restaurant, Terzo Piano, that overlooks Millennium Park from its terrace. In addition, the Nichols Bridgeway connects a sculpture garden on the roof of the new wing with the adjacent Millennium Park to the north and a courtyard designed by Gustafson Guthrie Nichol. In 2009, the Modern Wing won a Chicago Innovation Awards.