Curate Your Own Adventure

We have had way too much fun in Chicago! One major highlight of the past few days has been seeing the musical Hamilton. It was just, wow – worth all the hype and praise it deserves. I am trying to catch up with writing my reviews. Even though it has only been two days since I’ve last posted, we have managed to visit three museums and go on two tours. Before my terrible short term memory gets the better of me, I better start writing!

We visited The Field Museum on Wednesday because I needed (not wanted) to see Sue the T-Rex. The majority of this post will be dedicated to Sue so that’s all I’ll mention for now. There is so much more to see and do in The Field Museum. We only had the energy to walk around a couple of exhibitions. As with so many large institutions, the key is quality over quantity. Select what most appeals to you and focus on seeing that rather than trying to tackle absolutely everything. On that note…

History and First Impressions

It has been quite a while since I’ve stepped foot into a natural history museum. The Field has a wonderful past. Its initial collection comprised of objects leftover from the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. The name ‘Field’ pays homage to the Chicago magnate Marshall Field who donated one million dollars to creating a permanent home for the collection. Today, they have over 40 million objects. Exhibitions, research and programs all conform to their aim – to fuel a journey of discovery to ensure a brighter future (I have paraphrased).

On entering The Field Museum, you are met with an impressive entrance hall. There are two quite imposing specimens front and centre – two fighting African elephants and Maximo, the Titanosaurus.

The fighting elephants have been in the entrance hall of The Field since 1909. The skin and tusks are 100% real and have been attached to other bits and pieces to create the correct shape. Accompanying the display is a touchscreen computer where you can discover more about the taxidermy process or the history of the elephants. There is also a small model of the elephants for visitors to touch. Both work really well and allow for multiple ways to engage.

Then there is Maximo, a cast of the largest animal to have ever walked the earth. I am a tragic for dinosaurs so I was pretty much in heaven from the get go. So you could say that I had a great first impression.

Sue the T-Rex

We headed straight to the second level to an exhibition called Evolving Planet that led to Sue – the most intact T-Rex skeleton ever to be discovered. Around 90% of the skeleton is real. Just let that sink in.

Here are some quick facts:

• Sue lived around 67 million years ago
• We don’t know if Sue was male or female
• Sue was named after Sue Hendrickson who discovered the skeleton in 1990
• Sue was found in South Dakota
• Researchers from all over the world study Sue and have discovered so much about T-Rex because of this skeleton (for example researchers have been able to determine the average life expectancy of a T-Rex – 28 years)

I virtually ran through the Evolving Planet exhibition (which is really very interesting) and the dinosaur hall (again super interesting but I was on a mission) to get to Sue. I am slightly exaggerating because I did stop and read quite a bit along the way.

Finally, we came to a darkened room with a huge poster saying Sue is this way. We first saw Sue’s real skull which is kept behind glass and very well protected. This is mostly because it is studied so much they don’t want to keep taking it off the rest of the skeleton all the time. Then, we went around a small partition and finally saw Sue.

A lovely staff member was waiting to let everyone know a light show was about to start. I was a little worried about the wording ‘light show’. When it started, I soon realised I had no need to worry. What the light show consists of is lighting up various parts of the skeleton to explore the life of Sue. Well, the life of Sue we can see etched into the bones. It is actually quite heart breaking to learn Sue probably died from starvation as the jaw bones show evidence of an infection. The show also highlights some past battle injuries. For example, there are three ribs that have been broken and were beginning to heal. This proved to be a really engaging way to communicate information through the use of lighting.

When the light show finished, we took about two hundred thousand photographs of Sue before leaving. I also explored the touchscreen information labels to learn more about the various bones and what we have discovered about T-Rex thanks to them.

Evolving Planet

Because I skipped over it, I’m now going to go back and spend a bit of time on the broader Evolving Planet permanent display. There is so much information on display you could spend days getting through it all. For this reason, I basically only focused on what looked most appealing to me.

This did mean spending some time in the dinosaur hall seeing the Ceratopsian and Stegosaurus. I also thoroughly enjoyed the Ice Age animal room that showcases a skeleton of a woolly mammoth and saber tooth tiger. For fellow Game of Thrones fans, there are also some dire wolf skulls on display.

I did get overwhelmed by how much there was to get through in one exhibition. From the moment life started on earth until, essentially, today, you can see how we’re talking about a huge topic to tackle in an exhibition. I was very glad for the ‘you are here’ timeline scale that is on display when moving from one time period to another.

When we finished Evolving Planet, visitor fatigue set in. For the rest of our visit, I only wanted to see something light and fun.

Dioramas

I had forgotten how much I love dioramas. You can always trust an old natural history museum to have some absolutely wicked dioramas. These are no exception and were exactly what I needed after an intense walk through life on earth. I’ve included an example below.

Visitor Information

I would strongly recommend planning your visit before entering the Museum. Make sure you know what you want to spend your time and energy on. For first time visitors, seeing Sue should be at the top of your list so work from there. The Field Museum is open daily from 9.00 am to 5 pm with last entry at 4 pm. It is accessible. We did purchase our tickets online, however, if you’re visiting on a weekday outside of school holidays then this is not necessary.

The International Museum of Surgical Science is dedicated to enhancing an understanding of the history, development of, and advances in, surgery. It is the only museum in North America covering such subject matter. I wanted to visit for many reasons. Not only because of my current role, but also, because I’m genuinely interested in the history of surgery – except for when it becomes a little too gory.

The following post will start by covering the building and layout before moving into exhibitions and specific objects. Enjoy!

Museum Building

The Museum is housed in what was a lakeside mansion belonging to Eleanor Robinson Countiss and her family. Eleanor’s father was an extremely wealthy businessman who invested a lot of money in matches. The family settled in Chicago in 1887. Here, Eleanor met Frederick Downer Countiss (President of the Chicago Stock Exchange). Although he was dating her sister, the tables turned and Frederick and Eleanor married in 1910. Part of their wedding gift was a downpayment to build the mansion. Construction began in 1917. Eleanor was inspired by Le Petit Trianon in Versailles, France designing the mansion to look identical.

Today, it is one of the few surviving lakefront mansions in Chicago and the only one open to the public. For this reason, it was listed in the National and Illinois Register of Historic Places. It was acquired by the International College of Surgeons in the early 1950s and opened as a museum in 1954.

Museum Layout

When you visit, keep in mind it was once a residence. Because of this, the rooms are small and the exhibitions have to be spread over four floors. It is such a labyrinth. I couldn’t imagine living here. There are parts restricted to the public, but, don’t worry about accidentally wandering into a strange area – there is plenty of signage around.

Exhibitions

Every exhibition in the Museum feels very contained – each with their own theme that is explored in one room. This is heightened by the fact that almost every exhibition has a brochure available that covers the main theme and contains information on the objects on display. To name a few examples, there is an exhibition on anaesthesia, one on blood transfusions and another on radiology. These brochures are a great idea for visitors to either use when walking around, or, take home as souvenirs.

I do have to say one thing that I would strongly recommend the Museum re-consider – their labels. There is no consistency with the labelling throughout the entire museum. Some were A4 pieces of paper attached to the wall with edges peeling off. Something they should really look at addressing considering almost every visitor will look at them.

Although it was great to see some very familiar objects in the anaesthesia and radiology, my favourite theme was on anatomical and medical illustration. On display are old medical texts open to pages displaying the human skeleton.

Here is an example:

This image is by Bernhard Albinus, in collaboration with Jan Wandelaar, from around 1749. It is a very famous image depicting a skeleton posing in front of a rhinoceros. We know two things about the rhinoceros – her name was Clara and she was on a sixteen year tour of Europe. In other words, living her best life.

This room also contains a model of the first anatomical theatre located in Padua Italy. It has made me want to visit and see the theatre for myself. I can only imagine just how intimidating it would be to stand in the middle and look up at all the rows.

Hall of Immortals

The Hall of Immortals is a permanent display containing large stone sculptures of figures deemed significant in the history of surgery. I was so glad to see one female represented, Marie Curie. Alongside Curie are Wilhelm Rontgen, Joseph Lister and Louis Pasteur.

Behind each sculpture is a label providing visitors with a brief biography and the reason why they have been included. Going back to what I said before, out of everything in the Museum, these sculptures would benefit the most from an improvement to the labels.

Highlight Objects/Groups of Objects

There is no doubt that the Museum has an impressive collection of amputation kits. They pop up quite a bit in different exhibitions including nursing, anaesthesia and wound healing. I have included a couple of images below of kits that date back to the Civil War era.

Another object that I love is this iron lung. The history of polio treatment is like something out of a horror story. Imagine being in this machine with just your head poking out as it essentially breathed for you when your muscles became too weak.

This blood transfusion device (on the left) dates back to 1665. Christopher Wren used such a device to inject medicines into dogs. Richard Lower continued Wren’s work with equipment inspired by this device and successfully transferred blood between two dogs.

A collection of bladder, uterine, kidney and gallstones.

These three microscopes date back to the 1700s and 1800s. The one on the right dates back to the 1700s and is a simple microscope. The other two are compound microscopes from the 1850s.

If you really want to read something that’s worse than fictitious horror, then read some early treatments for gynaecological issues. Seeing this gynaecological table used between the 1900s and 1940s is that much more terrifying after reading various descriptions of ‘treatments’ and ‘procedures’.

Visitor Information

The International Museum of Surgical Science is open between 9.30 am and 5 pm on weekdays and from 10 am on weekends. It has a fantastic little gift shop. The museum is fully accessible and easy to get to on public transport (we went with route 151 that operates from the downtown area).

First thing’s first, there are two very good reasons why I wanted to visit The Art Institute of Chicago:

As you can see, I’m a fan of the film Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. I’ve also always wanted to see the work American Gothic by Grant Wood. Both did not disappoint. Now for a few more details about our visit.

Ticket Tip

We arrived at The Institute when it opened, 10.30 am. It was a particularly rainy and grim day so I was expecting quite a crowd. As soon as we entered the building, it became clear that pre-booking our tickets was the right move. The line (for a Monday) was almost out the door! We were able to walk past the huge crowd and go straight into the exhibitions. Cannot stress enough how grateful you’ll be if you pre-book.

In saying this, you do have to select a date when booking tickets online. If you don’t like feeling locked in, fair enough. It is, however, worth it.

Maps

Right at the entrance of The Institute is an information counter where you can find visitor maps. I did find the map a bit confusing as it often didn’t match the actual layout. For example, on the map there were a few long straight corridors that looked easy to follow. However, the corridors ended up having a few twists and turns along the way. For this reason, I strongly recommend following the signs displayed in The Institute and referring to the map for specific highlights.

Tours

We had hoped to join an overall highlights tour so we could get orientated and not miss anything significant. Unfortunately, it seems as though these tours are few and far between. There was a highlights tour available, but, just of the modern gallery.

We had a look at the events page handed to us at the entrance and were a little confused by the highlight tours. In terms of overall tours, they all seem to be quite late in the afternoon with none in the morning. I much preferred how the Philadelphia Museum of Art and Getty Museum operated with a morning highlights tour. If you are hoping to catch one, double check times on the website before visiting.

Audience

The Institute has made a concerted effort to appeal to a wide audience. There are monthly free teen hang out sessions and teen audio guides on offer. How popular they are is a good question. We also noticed a very large number of visiting education groups. One thing is clear, The Institute attracts a huge international audience.

Chances are, no matter where you’re visiting from, your age or learning style, there will be something on offer to suit. That is except for highlight tours.

Highlights

Apart from a few glitches, The Institute is an incredible place to explore. Here are the twelve highlights recommended. Note: we didn’t get around to seeing all of them.

1. Andõ Gallery

2. The Assumption of the Virgin, El Greco, 1577

This work was originally above an altar in Toledo. It depicts angels welcoming Mary as she rises from her grave.

3. Armour for Man and Horse

4. A Sunday on La Grande Jatte, Georges Seurat, 1884

Imagine spending your afternoon relaxing on the La Grande Jatte island in the Seine River. This work is a prime example of pointillism – using patterns of small coloured dots to build an image. The term pointillism appears on the artwork label but is not explained. It continues to frustrate me how art galleries write their labels, but, I won’t go down that path yet again.

5. Stacks of Wheat, Claude Monet, 1891

6. Sky above Clouds IV, Georgia O’Keeffe

7. American Gothic, Grant Wood, 1930

Artist Grant Wood was in Eldon, Iowa when he found a house built in the style of Carpenter Gothic. It inspired him to paint this work. In the image are his sister (Nan Wood) and dentist (Dr McKeeby). They are portrayed here as clinging onto the old America – a couple stuck in the past and conforming to their gendered roles. You have probably seen this image parodied many times.

8. Nightlife, Archibald J. Motley Jnr., 1943

A work highlighting the vibrancy of African American culture in Chicago. Motley plays with artificial light to capture the liveliness of the scene.

9. America Windows, Marc Chagall, 1975

After World War II, Chagall began experimenting with stained glass. These windows are a merge of Chicago and wider American identity.

10. The Old Guitarist, Pablo Picasso, 1903-1904

Painted during a time when Picasso preferred cool blue tones, the Old Guitarist represents Picasso’s sympathy for the downtrodden in society.

11. City Landscape, Joan Mitchell, 1955

This painting reflects the lights of a metropolitan city. The use of colour is quite striking and it definitely captures the effect of all city lights combining together at night.

12. Liz #3, Andy Warhol, 1963

Personal Highlights

While I agree with the twelve highlights on the map, there are some others that stood out to me. Hence why we didn’t get around to seeing all the ‘official’ highlights.

1. Nighthawks, Edward Hopper, 1942

I absolutely love this work. It captures the emotion of loneliness so well by being both beautiful yet sad to observe. I had this image as my desktop background for so long when I was younger so it was really great to see in person.

2. Thorne Miniature Room Gallery, Mrs James Ward Thorne

This is quite an amazing collection to stumble across in the basement. Originally, Thorne created these displays of miniature rooms to showcase her collection of miniature furniture. Over time, and due to exposure at World Fairs, she was commissioned to create more. In total, 68 rooms were donated to The Institute and continue to be on permanent display. It’s hard to judge their size from the images but think of a small room from a standard dollhouse.

3. Artist’s Studio “Foot Medication”, Roy Lichtenstein, 1974

It’s a fun painting that spoke to me because of all the walking we’ve done this holiday.

4. Summer, Joan Snyder, 1970

I’m always drawn to paintings/images that portray colour palettes. That’s pretty much why I’ve included this work on my list.

Additional Information

The Art Institute of Chicago is open daily from 10.30 am to 5 pm (Thursday until 8 pm). It is a fully accessible museum with a couple of cafes and museum shop onsite. If you are visiting more than one museum in Chicago I’d recommend looking into a CityPass card. Finally, the Museum is located on the edge of Millennium Park. So, after, or before your visit, take the time to wander through the park and see other sights such as Cloudgate.

Greetings from Chicago where it is currently 1°C and snowing! Definitely a change from the desert heat of Las Vegas. Due to the weather, we decided that visiting a museum would be wise. The American Writers Museum, located on Michigan Avenue, is dedicated to celebrating the influence of American writers on American history, culture, and identity.

I really want to focus on the Museum’s interactives. In order to do that, however, I’m going to start with an overview of the Museum and its exhibitions.

Overview

The Museum is all located on one level. The exhibitions are organised so that you start where you purchase your tickets and work your way back around to the entrance in a circle. There are five permanent displays and a temporary exhibition space. This post will cover interactives in A Nation of Writers: John and Cathie Estey and the Mind of a Writer Gallery. I didn’t find the interactives in the other three permanent display areas as engaging.

Here are two overview images of the A Nation of Writers gallery.

This exhibition chronologically covers the life and work of 100 American writers. Each has a photograph and label that can be rotated to discover more information. Some have interactives while others have more in-depth thematic panels.

The Mind of a Writer Gallery is a more open space with different activities throughout. It was slightly more difficult to capture the entire exhibition so I have no overview images.

A Nation of Writers: John and Cathie Estey

Surprise Bookshelf

The Surprise Bookshelf is located on the righthand side of the gallery. As you can see, the entire wall is covered in illuminated boxes. Visitors can rotate each box to discover a surprise about the author or text on the front of the box. The surprise could be a photograph, sound or even smell.

One of my favourites was The Gastronomical Me by M. F. K. Fisher written in 1943. When the box is rotated it emits a very sweet strawberry scent. There is also a box for Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton, 1990. Inside is a piece of amber with an insect inside. It asks the question should we tinker with nature?

The boxes are a fun idea that encourage visitors to interact with such a diversity of texts. I did, however, feel bad for opening the boxes with sound because they are very loud.

Welcome to Sleepy Hollow

This was my favourite interactive in the whole museum. On the panel are descriptions of three characters from the novel Sleepy Hollow written by Washington Irving. Accompanying each description is a flipbook containing different visual representations of the characters from drawings, film and television. Visitors are asked to compare what is written with the images in front of them and decide which character looks most like the description from the book.

The Social Ladder

Here visitors can explore how two female protagonists from Edith Wharton’s The House of Mirth and Theodore Dreiser’s Sisters Carrie climbed and fell off the social ladder. When the wheel rotates, it reveals another step each took towards their rise or fall. These steps were mostly influenced by external factors. For example, as one moved to New York, the other was impacted by false rumours and jealously.

Touch the Past

In her novel series Little House, Laura Ingalls Wilder describes growing up in the northern Midwest during the mid-1800s. In this interactive, visitors can touch some of the fabrics mentioned in her works.

Whodunit?

No spoilers here, I promise. Basically, this tests trivia skills asking visitors to try and guess who invented the various genres on display. To discover the answer, visitors must lift the tab.

There are a few more interactives in this space, but, these really stood out to me as being the most engaging.

Mind of a Writer

Story of the Day

A really cool interactive where visitors can contribute to a story. The interactive consists of eight typewriters and some spare paper. The idea is that you write a line or two then leave your story for someone else to finish. The only rule is to be clean. That hadn’t been followed, but, it was interesting to read some pretty bizarre stories.

Build a Routine

Does your daily routine match that of a famous writer? Select your fuel, habits, favourite things and companions and the machine will tell you who matches your routine. For fuel, I was matched with John Steinbeck. Turns out there is a shared appreciation of cheese and doughnuts.

Dialogue Generator

If you are looking for inspiration for dialogue between characters then this is a great interactive. After selecting two characters and a scenario, you can then type out some dialogue. There are only four lines to fill, two for each character, so no pressure. We selected a dog talking to a doctor trying to solve a crime. It can get weird and wonderful.

Wordplay

Now this was a lot of fun. You can either play by yourself or against someone. After selecting a genre, a passage of text appears on the screen missing a few crucial words. The race is on to fill in the blanks in the text. For every word you guess correctly you get some points. When the timer runs out, whoever has guessed the most words correctly wins. A great game to test your knowledge of words.

Make Meaning

The final interactive I want to mention is this one. Visitors can select a common phrase and learn all about its history and first use in literature.

Museum Information

The American Writers Museum is open daily from 10 am to 5 pm. It is a completely accessible museum.