A few weeks ago, I went to Chicago for the 10th annual SAMA (Society of American Mosaic Artists) conference.  It was a crazy week filled with workshops, volunteering, meeting new people, learning about different mosaic materials and techniques… the list goes on.   Needless to say, I didn’t get a whole lot of sleep.  I did, however, have one fabulous week.

One of my all-time favorite parts of the conference was the walking tour of Chicago mosaics, located in the heart of the downtown Loop area.  Who knew Chicago had such a rich and wonderful mosaic history?  Well, our tour guide for one — art and architecture historian Rolf Achilles, professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and curator of the Smith Museum of Stained Glass Windows at Navy Pier.  Rolf was absolutely amazing – not a single question was asked that he didn’t know the answer to, nor a single comment or observation made by our group that he couldn’t elaborate on in wonderful detail.

The sites of the mosaic walking tour included:

• “The Flight of Daedalus and Icarus” and “LaSalle Corridor with Holding Pattern” mosaics by artist Roger Brown, at 120 N. LaSalle
• “Four Seasons” mosaic by artist Marc Chagall, at Chase Tower Plaza, S. Dearborn & W. Monroe
• The mosaic mural by artist Jacob Lawrence, in the Chicago Public Library at 400 S. State St.
• “Joliet and Father Marquette’s Travels in Illinois” mosaics by artist Jacob Holzer, in the Marquette Building at 140 S. Dearborn
• The Chicago Cultural Center mosaics by Jacob Holzer, at 78 E. Washington, on the corner of Michigan Ave.
• The ceiling of the Marshall Field & Company Building (now Macy’s) by artist Jacob Holzer, at 111 N. State St.
• Floor mosaics in The Auditorium Building, by architects Adler & Sullivan, at 430 S. Michigan Ave.
• The Monadnock Building, by Burnham & Root (northern half) and Holabird & Roche (southern half), at 53 W. Jackson
• Hotel Burnham / The Reliance Building, by architects Burnham & Root, at 32 N. State St.
• “Miro’s Chicago”, by artist Joan Miro, between 69 and 77 W. Washington

View Tour of Mosaics in the Loop in a larger map

Mosaic Tour Recommendations

For the Mosaic Art Enthusiast:

An example of the mosaics that adorn the lobby of the Marquette Building in Chicago. These Tiffany Glass mosaics were created by artist Jacob Holzer.

For the mosaic enthusiast on a tighter time frame, I’d recommend limiting the tour to the first six sites on the list – “The Flight of Daedalus & Icarus”, “Four Seasons”, the lobby of the Marquette Building, the Cultural Center, the Marshall Field Building ceiling (take the escalators all the way up to the top of the atrium to get an up-close view), and Jacob Lawrence’s mosaic in the Chicago Public Library lobby.  In my opinion, these make the biggest visual impact and you can enjoy the beauty of them without necessarily hearing the history behind and context around each one (although admittedly that’s great info to have, so do your research beforehand if you can).

Marc Chagall's "Four Seasons" mosaic in Chicago

Of these sites, my personal favorite was Chagall’s “Four Seasons”, depicting Chicago scenes in spring, summer, fall, & winter.  I love the colors – simple in scope and playful like crayola watercolor – as well as the bold, hand-drawn style of the lines forming figures and buildings.  The busy and almost random mish-mash arrangement of scenes conveys the liveliness of the city and makes every inch of this piece an adventure.  Each second, a new and lovable detail popped out at me which had passed by unnoticed just the moment before.

For the Contemporary Art Fan:

Fans of modern art should hit the first three on the list – 120 N. LaSalle (don’t forget to go in the lobby and check out Roger Brown’s smaller mosaic inside!), Chagall’s “Four Seasons”, and Jacob Lawrence’s mural in the library – as well as the last item, Miro’s “Chicago”.

The vivid colors of Jacob Lawrence's mosaic mural welcome you to the Chicago Public Library on 400 S. State St.

To supplement your mosaic tour, within a few blocks of the Miro you’ll find some other modern art sculptures of interest, including a large steel sculpture by Picasso just across the street in Daley Plaza.  A block northwest is a smaller sculpture by Jean Dubuffet made of white fiberglass called “Monument with Standing Beast”.  And if you want to hike several blocks south and a block east, you’ll see another modern art classic – the giant red arching  “Flamingo” by Alexander Calder.  This sculpture is known as a “stabile” – the static, standing cousin of the “mobile”, a form of sculpture invented by Calder himself.

For the Architecture Buff:

If you’re into architecture, the Auditorium Building, the Monadnock Building, and the Reliance Building are right up your alley.  All three were built between 1886 and 1895, and each is an historical landmark in its own right.

Mosaic floor and stained glass details from the Auditorium Building

Some quick information about each building:

• The Auditorium Building – completed in 1889, 10 stories
  • Originally a multi-purpose building containing a civic opera house with perfect acoustics, an office block, and a hotel
  • When completed, it was the tallest building in Chicago and the largest building in the U.S.
  • Original plans for the auditorium contained no box seats; they were later added, but are still not the best seats in the house
  • Decorative motifs on the inside, including mosaics and stained glass, were precursors to the European movement of Art Nouveau in architectural design
• The Monadnock Building – completed in 1893, 17 stories
  • Possibly the world’s first skyscraper (depending on definition)
  • Historically significant because the north and south halves were built using different methods of construction (load bearing masonry vs. steel frame), embodying the transition from one era to the next
  • To support its own weight, walls of the north half are 6 feet thick at the base
• The Reliance Building – completed in 1895, 14 stories
  • The first skyscraper to have glass windows make up the majority of its surface area
  • Stylistic precursor to the “all glass” look of 20th century skyscrapers
  • Use of so many large bay windows made possible by steel frame construction

Giant thanks to both SAMA and Rolf Achilles for arranging this fabulous tour and sharing their extensive knowledge with us.  I hope you all have a great time checking these out.  Let me know if you visit any of these places and want to share your thoughts, or if you have other sites you’d like to suggest we all see.  Don’t be shy – please leave a comment!  Thanks for reading.  :-)