Opened publicly for less than a month, The Modern Wing at the Art Institute of Chicago was where my fiancé and I headed this past rainy Saturday. We’d been chomping at the bit to go since we couldn’t make the opening night invite; the new facility certainly doesn’t disappoint.
It’s immediately apparent that the other collections aren’t getting as much love as the new wing, but that’s expected when something shiny and new presents itself. Via entering through the ultra-photogenic Griffin Court (pictured), the 264,000 square-foot Modern Wing provides a centralized location for the previously-scattered 20th and 21st-century pieces. These pieces span modern European painting and sculpture, contemporary art, architecture and design, and photography.
The architecture and design collection has a small-ish section for graphic design pieces, slightly awkwardly-placed next to contemporary works of furniture design. Nice to see, however. Further unexpected was the Balcony Café, which sits on the second of three floors, overlooking Griffin Court. There you can rest your weary feet, feign being cultured while sipping your latte, and get coffee stains on books for sale which surround the area. I can’t vouch for the quality of the coffee, however, as all the seats were taken. Hmph.
While inside the museum the weather did a complete turnaround, so en route to Blues Fest, we headed out to Millennium Park across Monroe street to take in some sunshine. There you can see the Nichols Bridgeway, a 620ft.-long pedestrian bridge (completed last month) that extends from the park, over Monroe, and up to the third floor of the Modern Wing’s West Pavilion. Supposedly it’s “anti-slip” and heated, to prevent ice from forming once the winter months hit. We’ll have to go back in February and see if that’s the case.