Fine Arts Building Tour

Stop 1 Exterior Details – Studebaker Carriage Company

• Founded in 1852 in South Bend, Indiana by five Studebaker brothers
• Operated a successful sales room on Wabash Avenue in the early 1870s.

Michigan Avenue Location

• In 1885, the company consolidated mfg. + showroom into a new location on Michigan Ave.
• The Studebaker’s were impressed with Architect Solon Beman’s work in Pullman, and hired him to design the building.
• Completed in 1887, the building featured a Romanesque-style facade.
• The factory was hailed as the “model carriage factory” in the U.S. or even the world.
• Carriages were assembled on the upper floors and displayed in showrooms on the lower floors.

Transition to the Fine Arts Building

• By 1895, the company’s rapid expansion required a move to a larger facility.
• Before moving over $500,000 was invested to remodel the building into a center for art, studios, offices, and theaters.
• In 1898, the remodeled building became the Fine Arts Building, a cultural hub in Chicago.
• By the turn of the century, over 10,000 students were taking music lessons in the building!

1. Carriage Advertisement – The Driveway Series, Lake Shore Drive Edition

2. Studebaker Carriage Building 1887

3. Fine Arts Building 1898

4. Studebaker Starlight Coupe

Stop 2 Lobby

5. 1852 poem titled “L’Art” by the French poet Théophile Gautier

Stop 3. Studebaker Theater

• Located in the former Studebaker Carriage Company showroom.
• Had a seating capacity of 1,550, hosting classical music, opera, and vaudeville performances.
• Known for its exceptional beauty and acoustically superior design, featuring an arched proscenium.

Historic Events

• In 1910, hosted a sold-out two-week farewell engagement with French actress Sarah Bernhardt.
• In 1917, major renovations by the Shubert Organization and architect Andrew Rebori enlarged the proscenium, rebuilt the side walls, and added new floors.
• The original 1917 ceiling remains unchanged.

Notable Performances (1957-1982)

• Operated under various organizations, including the Nederlanders.
• Featured prominent stars like:
  • Eartha Kitt in The Owl and The Pussycat
  • Martin Sheen in The Subject Was Roses
  • Henry Fonda in Time of Your Life

Closure and Renovation

• Operated for several years at a movie theatre
• Closed in November 2000 and remained empty and in disrepair for about 15 years.
• In 2021, began a major multi-million dollar renovation, including new seating, lighting, and sound systems.

Reopening & Current Use

• Reopened in 2022 and is home to NPR’s Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me!.
• Hosts other performances like:
  • Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival
  • Chicago Opera Theater
  • Chicago Repertory Ballet
  • Chicago Jazz Orchestra
  • New musicals and more “Off-Broadway” type shows

6. Original theater interior – arched proscenium and box seats on 3 levels

7. The original carriage showroom ceiling remains to this day.

8. New theater interior

9. New box seats on 2 levels

10. Original exit sign coexists with fire code compliant exit sign

11. Advertisement 1

12. Advertisement 2

Stop 4. Architect Solon Spencer Beman

13. Pullman Palace Railcar Sleeper

14. Pullman Sleeper Interior

15. Arial view of the town of Pullman

16. Pullman factory – one half!

17. Clock Tower / Administrative Offices – used as inspiration for the movie, “Polar Express”

18. Hotel Florence

19. Colonnade Apartments – built so more people had places to stay for the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition

20. Clock build up in Hotel Florence

21. Clock build up in Fine Arts Building

22. Newel posts in Pullman School

23. Newel posts in the Fine Arts Building

Stop 5. J.C. & Frank Leyendecker

24. Frank Xavier & Joseph Christian in their Paris apartment as late teenagers

25. Frank painting a canvas in the Fine Arts Building

26. Ivory Soap Ad 1910

27. Chevrolet Review Cover 1922 – Strength & Service

28. The Flapper – notice signature: F.X. Leyendecker

29. The Balance Of Power

31. Joseph Christian (J.C.) Leyendecker

33. Charles Beach – J.C.’s life partner and the nation’s first sex symbol

34. Arrow Collar Man – Charles Beach

35. Post Cover August 1932 – before the mid-century conservative turn of the nation, people celebrated these near-naked cover men.

36. First Long Suit – J.C. – Norman Rockwell was a friend of the Leyendeckers and was heavily influenced by the artwork of both brothers.

37. J.C.’s 14-room Art Deco mansion in New Rochelle, N.Y.

Stop 5. Ralph Fletcher Seymour

38. The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz – Frank Baum – William Denslow

39. Father Goose – Frank Baum – William Denslow

40. Poetry Magazine – Harriet Monroe

41. Bertram Cope’s Year circa 1919 – considered to be the nation’s first gay novel

42. The Japanese Print by Frank Lloyd Wright

43. Ralph Seymour’s Famous Etchings – Our Daily Bread

National Gallery Of Art, Washington, D.C.

44. Ralph Seymour’s Famous Etchings – A Paris Wine Shop

46. Ralph Seymour’s Famous Etchings – A Visit To Lincoln Park

47. Ralph Seymour’s Famous Etchings – FDR And The Supreme Court

Stop 7. Lorado Taft

48: Lorado Taft’s Studio

49: Spirit Of The Great Lakes

south side of the Art Institute Of Chicago

50. Fountain Of Time – Midway Plaisance in Hyde Park

51. Fountain Of Time – I Need A Xanax!

52. Fountain Of Time – Father Time

53. Eternal Silence – grave of Dexter Graves, one of the first 500 Chicagoans – Graceland Cemetery

54. Eternal Indian – Lowden State Park in Oregon, Illinois

55. Head Of Eternal Indian being restored

Stop 8. Frank Lloyd Wright

Browne’s Bookstore – Fine Arts Building

56. Taliesin – Spring Green, Wisconsin – “The Love Cottage”

57. Robie House – Hyde Park

58. Roman Brick used on Robie House and many others

59. Japanese Pavillion at the 1893 World’s Fair

60. Shoji-style window panel in Robie House

61. Meyer May house – Grand Rapids, MI

63. Meyer May Living Room

64. Meyer May Dining Room

66. Meyer May Children’s Books

notice the similarity in style to William Denslow’s illustrations

Stop 9. Ralph Clarkson and The Little Room

67. First 3D drawing of a carriage

69. Ralph painting in his studio

69. Transformation To The Little Room

70. Armenian Woman – Art Institute Of Chicago

71. Artist’s Studios Today

72. Artist’s Studios today

Stop 10. 4th Floor Venetian Court

73. Venetian Court

74. Venetian Court

75. Venetian Court

Stop 11. Doorways Of Chicago Studio

76. DOC Studio Foyer

77. DOC Photography Gallery

78. DOC Overall Studio