An Engaging First Chapter: The American Writers Museum Provides a Fine Introduction to Storied Authors, Poets, Historians, Songwriters, Critics, etc. — Chicago Museum Review

Museum Review

American Writers Museum
180 N. Michigan, 2nd Floor

Chicago, IL

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(Museum Website)

As hopefully evidenced by this blog—and my other one, 6WordPortraits.com—I am a passionate advocate for cultural literacy.

I am also a writer, not just of blog articles of many ilks, but advertising copy, poems, cartoons, greeting cards and much else.

Even more so, while far from the world’s most avid reader of books, I am a fervent admirer of what others have written, in numerous realms.

Thus, per an initial visit to the new American Writers Museum in downtown Chicago, I was most impressed by the breadth of practitioners represented, ranging far beyond novelists.

Between the museum’s Writers Hall—with both pictures and placards denoting hundreds of
individuals—and a smaller section of banners highlighting Chicagoans, names like Thomas Jefferson, Sojourner Truth, Charles Schulz and Tupac Shakur can be found among those of Herman Melville, Mark Twain, Ernest Hemingway, Lorraine Hansberry and Nelson Algren.

Per a couple of friendly associates at the front desk of the museum occupying the second floor of a Michigan Avenue building, the institution’s creators and consultants have decided to focus solely on non-living writers. At least in the permanent collections, as the photographs (of writers) by 95-year-old Art Shay presently comprise a nice if small special exhibit.

Excepting scribes who haven’t yet left us for the great library in the sky, or were bred beyond U.S shores, it seemed that most writers one would expect to find were indeed hanging around the museum.

Though other than the impossibility of including everyone, I was unable ascertain why a children’s gallery spotlighted Maurice Sendak but didn’t seemingly have any mention of Shel Silverstein.

Or why an interactive display allowing patrons to indicate their favorite books and authors completely omitted J.D. Salinger and Catcher in the Rye from even being in the database. (I alerted a staff member to this oversight.)

In indicating I would write about my visit, I was graciously extended complimentary admission but—without overthinking comparisons for cultural expenditures—I would have been satisfied had I paid the standard $12.

But while far from reading every word of text about every writer, even in taking two loops around,
photographing everything—as permissible for all—and taking notes, my visit lasted less than 90 minutes.

And even in being suitably informed and impressed, and solidly recommending the AWM is well-worth your perusal, I can’t perceive the need for a return visit until the museum—which just opened in May—eventually begins its next chapter.

Without suggesting that there are yet any known plans for upgrades, expansion or revision other than a new temporary exhibit soon to open on Laura Ingalls Wilder, the front desk duo corroborated my sense that the museum seems more an exciting work in progress than completed vision. They mentioned that the proprietors themselves have spoken of it as a “first edition.”

Understanding spatial and budgetary constraints are never not a consideration, I would suggest AWM turn to its vast roster of writers, professors, etc. to create some vignette videos briefly expounding on why a specific author, poem, screenplay, etc. is considered great, unique, ahead of its time, important or whatever.

Certainly the museum hosts a nice slate of live programs—though understandably not on many weekday afternoons—and there are already several inspired interactive touches, including games aimed to elucidate on the art of writing and word choices.

In fact, or at least opinion, everything in place is attractively presented; it’s clear a lot of care went into the galleries, including not only presenting writers from disparate milieus but diverse cultural backgrounds.

But it all feels a bit cursory, and while I hope the museum delights and excites curious kids, I expect most visitors will be resigned to learning relatively little—given the limited text that can be devoted to so many worthy subjects—both about writers they already know well and those with whom they’re unfamiliar.

For example, Ernest Hemingway stands as one of the most legendary of all American writers, likely
the most famous novelist (and short story writer) to ever come out of the Chicago area and an author still presumably studied in high school and/or college literature courses.

And certainly Hem is well-represented in the American Writers Museum.

One can read about him in an interactive kiosk about writers from each state. In Writers Hall, his three-sided rotating biography provides a brief overview, a short factoid and a quote about him (by poet Robert Frost). His image with a passage from The Old Man and the Sea is included in a nice Nation of Writers multimedia display. And currently, there are four Art Shay photos of him in the temporary exhibit.

Presumably because the Oak Park born & bred Hemingway didn't spend any of his famed writing career in the Chicago area, he is not--at least to my observance--included in the Chicago Gallery.

Hem's "A Soldier Story" is part of an interactive display devoted to the craft of writing, but overall I was still left with little clarity as to what made Ernest Hemingway so stylistically novel, save for a notation that as a young reporter with the Kansas City Star, he was "forced to write a simple declarative sentence. This is useful to anyone."

I realize that the only real way to understand what makes a writer great is to read what he or she has written. Though the American Writers Museum does have a Readers Hall that allows one to peruse some great books, the idea isn't to sit there and read all day.

And there are so many great writers represented, I know the current set-up doesn't much allow for deep insights on any, let alone all. But that's where short video vignettes would be nice.

In the Writers Hall, there are multiple video on-demand stations, but at present all have the same
content. Ideally, this could be expanded upon over time, including with greater insights about the writers who adorn the walls.

Perhaps this may get burdensome on busy days, but there are already handy stools provided for those who wish to sit and watch the clips.

Specifically about Hemingway, a museum devoted to him--besides his birthplace museum--just closed in Oak Park, so maybe the AWM can look into getting some materials or tapping into additional subject matter experts. 

Regarding the special exhibit, Capturing Stories: Photographs of Writers by Art Shay, viewing Shay's pictures--ranging from Hemingway to Shay's noted compadre Nelson Algren to George Plimpton, Art Buchwald, Masters & Johnson, Roger Ebert and even Dolly Parton--should certainly accompany any visit to the AWM, and while the gallery isn't particularly extensive, could well provide reason enough to prompt one before a TBA exhibit end date next spring.

I am sorry to have--by just days--missed the exhibit containing the full scroll of Jack Kerouac's manuscript for On the Road, but I had actually seen it elsewhere. As of this writing there's no information on the Laura Ingalls Wilder exhibit on the museum website, but I was told it is starting soon.

As anyone who has written anything knows--so basically everyone--a lot of good thoughts, ideas and phrasing can go into the first draft, but invariably some spell-checking, editing, refinements or even wholesale rewriting can create vast improvements.

Without meaning it as an exact parallel--the AWM is certainly further along than a "first draft"--this also describes the American Writers Museum.

It is a wonderfully welcome addition to Chicago's cultural landscape, and deserving of bringing in visitors old and young from near and far. If not yet a masterpiece, it represents a fantastic beginning.

And I can't wait to see what happens next.

Holocaust Museum's 'Light & Noir' Exhibit Shows How Hollywood Émigrés Persisted, Prospered and Took Action -- Museum Exhibit Review

Exhibition Review

Light & Noir

Exiles and Émigrés in Hollywood, 1933-1950

Illinois Holocaust Museum, Skokie

Thru Jan. 10, 2016

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Understandably, viewing the permanent collection at the Illinois Holocaust Museum in Skokie--the third largest in the world--is a rather grim, wrenching experience.

First-hand accounts by Holocaust survivors who relocated to Skokie, raised families, stood up to Neo-Nazis and made it their mission to create the museum provide a modicum of uplift among the horror, as do displays about heroes who risked their lives to save others, but detailing an event that claimed 6 million Jewish lives--and just as many others--can't help but be harrowing.

So while a special exhibit highlighted by movie memorabilia may not at first blush sound in keeping with the museum's abiding themes and tone, Light & Noir Exiles and Émigrés in Hollywood, 1933-1950 manages not only to be complementary, it provides a nice bit of counterbalance to the gravity of the permanent exhibit.

Photo credit on all: Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune

Not that learning about the Holocaust shouldn't leave one somberly affected, but while directly alluding to the devastation Hitler wrought on Europe and particularly Jews, the new exhibit ties in more to messages of perseverance and--in this case, creative--rebellion.

Even in exploring Light & Noir with a hardcore Film Noir fan, we got through it in under an hour, and thus were able to well-fit in a 90-minute docent-led tour of the permanent exhibit on the same visit. 

I have seen the main portion of the museum several times, but never had taken a tour, which I found rewarding. Tours begin at 2pm, and I would recommend that anyone coming to see Light & Noir plan their visit to accommodate this duality (if not also a deeper intake of the permanent exhibit than a tour provides).

Billy Wilder's application for American citizenship

Organized, curated and initially presented by Los Angeles' Skirball Cultural Center, which focuses on Jewish heritage, Light & Noir alludes to but doesn't provide much background on Hitler's rise and the Jewish persecution that prompted actors (Hedy Lamarr, Peter Lorre, Conrad Veidt, etc.), directors (Billy Wilder, William Wyler, Otto Preminger, Fritz Lang, Ernst Lubitsch, Michael Curtiz), producers, composers and more to flee Germany, Austria and other countries under duress.

In another venue, such context might be more desired, but given the main exhibit in Skokie, the temporary exhibition can rightly focus primarily on what the exiles and émigrés accomplished after reaching Hollywood (including, as referenced in the title, contributing substantially to the development of the Film Noir genre).

As it was explained that Jewish film moguls such as Carl Laemmle, George Zukor and Louis B. Mayer left Europe for Hollywood well before the rise of Nazism, and that even before life was made unbearable for Jews, studios were recruiting German talent due to the achievements of F.W. Murnau and others, I'm a bit fuzzy about who may have been "pulled in" rather than or ahead of being "pushed out."

But the seminal talents cited above not only helped create numerous wondrous movies, many made a point of castigating the Nazis in their films--and beyond.

Outfits worn in Casablanca by Paul Henreid, Ingrid Bergman
and Humphrey Bogart

Likely the exhibit's marquee gallery is one devoted to Casablanca, a stridently anti-Nazi film directed by Michael Curtiz in 1942, while World War II was still ongoing and death camp atrocities largely unknown. 

Original film props are on display, as well as clothing worn by Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman and Paul Heinreid.

In an adjoining gallery recreating the talent agency office of influential émigré Paul Kohner, I enjoyed noting a copy of Casanlanca's script (not an original), which was written by Philip G. Epstein, Julius J. Epstein and Howard Koch. As my friend Dave informed me, the Epstein brothers are the Grandfather and Great Uncle, respectively, of Chicago Cubs President Theo Epstein. (Hopefully someone has made a point of inviting him to the exhibit.)

Dress and shoes worn by Marlene Dietrich in A Foreign Affair

Photography wasn't allowed in the special exhibit, but some of the main "Oh, wow!" items are shown here via pictures from the Chicago Tribune (by Erin Hooley).

These include a dress and shoes worn by Marlene Dietrich in A Foreign Affair, directed by Billy Wilder, and a dress donned by Joan Crawford in Mildred Pierce, directed by Curtiz.

The exhibit also includes the Oscar statuette Wilder won for writing the Sunset Boulevard screenplay. 

Displays about anti-Nazi films, including Confessions of a Nazi Spy (starring Edward G. Robinson) and To Be or Not To Be (directed by Ernst Lubitsch) added thematic heft, enhanced by exposition about anti-Semetic backlash. (Though Charlie Chaplin doesn't himself fit into the scope of the exhibition, his The Great Dictator could have been well-represented in the anti-Nazi films section as well.)

Dress worn by Joan Crawford
in Mildred Pierce

I also found it interesting, and perplexing, to note that with the rise of McCarthyism and the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC)--which was started to uncover citizens with Nazi ties but transitioned to hunt those suspected of ties to Communism--some of the exiles who were persecuted out of Europe were persecuted to return.

So while Bogie's suit and Dietrich's dress may well be what most catch one's eye, and fancy, there is quite a bit of informative insight that gives the exhibit instructional depth.

Although it fits well into the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center--both figuratively and literally, as it makes the fullest use of exhibition space on the lower level I've yet seen--Light & Noir may not be extensive enough to warrant more than an hour's drive on its own...or the museum's $12 admission.

But it makes for a rather unique, engaging and both light & noir complement to the permanent exhibit, and especially when combined for an enlightening afternoon, it is well-worth your while to make it to the museum by January 10.

Click here to learn more about the Light & Noir exhibit and some special programs being held in conjunction.

Exploring the 'Wonders of the 1893 World's Fair' is Worthwhile, Rest of Field Even Better (including Excellent Contemporary Art by Bunky Echo-Hawk) -- Museum Exhibit Review

Museum Exhibit Review

Opening the Vaults:
Wonders of the 1893 World's Fair
The Field Museum, Chicago
Thru October 7, 2014
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(Museum visit overall: @@@@1/2)

I have long been fascinated by the World's Fair of 1893, which welcomed more than 25 million people to Chicago's South Side at a time when the U.S. population was less than three times that figure.

Dubbed the Columbian Exposition, as it commemorated--albeit a year late--the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus' arrival in the New World, the Fair is famed for its colossal White City.

My mind is always boggled when I see photos of the conglomeration of mammoth--though mostly intentionally disposable--classically-designed buildings that once stood in Chicago's Jackson Park.

It's almost as if ancient Rome rose--largely from the imaginations of Daniel Burnham and Frederick Law Olmsted--and fell within a matter of years, with scant traces of remaining evidence. 

But three of Chicago's greatest cultural institutions today trace back to the Columbian Exposition.

No, I am not referencing the Ferris Wheel on Navy Pier, though George Ferris' giant wheel built on the Midway (the first use of that term) was the first of its kind, an engineering marvel, the centerpiece of the fair and perhaps its greatest lasting worldwide contribution.

But the original wheel didn't survive past 1906, yet two of Chicago's best museums--the Field Museum and the Museum of Science and Industry--were and are housed in the only remaining large-scale main-campus structure of the Columbian Exposition: the Palace of Fine Arts.

Following the Fair, the grand building at the north end of Jackson Park housed the Columbian Museum of Chicago, which would subsequently be renamed the Field Museum of Natural History after major benefactor Marshall Field. In 1921, the Field Museum moved to its present location a few miles north and the Museum of Science and Industry would move into the former Palace of Fine Arts during Chicago's next World's Fair, 1933's Century of Progress Exposition. 

Although the origins of the Art Institute of Chicago predate the Columbian Exposition, its main building was built to initially house the World Congress Auxiliary of the Exposition--several miles north of the fairgrounds--and the art museum moved in immediately after.

Over the years I have bought books about the 1893 World's Fair, seen museum exhibits & displays and watched short films and documentaries. (I recommend Expo: Magic of the White City.)

Still, I've been intrigued by the Field Museum's Opening the Vault: Wonders of the 1893 World's Fair exhibit ever since it opened last October, even if I only got to it last week. (Exhibit website)

I enjoyed the exhibit but only recommend it conditionally. 

Focused on artifacts displayed at the fair that are now part of the museum's holdings, the exhibit does little to showcase the grandeur of the White City itself, or the communal melting pot of the Midway, save for a few large photos and slides. 

I've always been more intrigued by the scale and architecture of the Columbian Exposition, and the visitors it attracted, than I've ever wondered much about what was displayed within the huge White City buildings. 

So in showcasing examples of botany, taxidermy, fossils and anthropology that were displayed at the 1893 Fair, the exhibit introduced me to aspects of the Exposition I hadn't ever much considered, while showcasing how the event gave birth to one of the world's great museum collections. 

I valued learning that the 1893 World's Fair was the 19th century's largest user of electricity and that some of the Field Museum's key early employees--such as taxidermist Carl Akeley, who would develop its vast zoology holdings--were individuals who had showcased their talents at the fair.

The anthropology section of the exhibit was forthright in explaining how backwards thinking in that realm was in 1893, when "savages" were put on display for spectators to observe.

Gamelan musical instrument from the Javanese Village of the 1893 World's Fair

I enjoyed reading about how 60 Labrador Inuit people who lived in a village on Fair grounds said essentially, "Forget this," and left due to degrading conditions and treatment.

And the musical instruments that were part of the Fair's Javanese Village--populated by a community from Indonesia--are the most beautiful artifacts in the current exhibit. 

So if your interest in the Columbian Exposition is as mine, and you value learning anything about it, the Field's Opening the Vaults should be worth your time.

That said, rather than pay the museum's standard "Discovery Pass" admission of $25, which includes general admission plus one special exhibit (e.g. Wonders of the 1893 World's Fair), I was able to avail myself of one of a handful of "Discount Days" for Illinois residents. (The next one listed is this Monday, June 9.)

Only having to pay $11 for the special exhibit, and using the CTA rather than pay at least $19 for the on-site parking garage, my expenditure was about 1/3 of what it easily could have been.

I don't know if for $44, I would have found the World's Fair exhibit quite as worthwhile.

And for whatever price you may pay, even if you're a Columbian Exposition aficionado I wouldn't visit the museum simply for this exhibit.

Allot some time for several of the Field's permanent collections; I greatly enjoyed seeing and photographing those on Ancient Egypt, the Ancient Americas, a modern African community and a terrific contemporary Native American artist named Bunky Echo-Hawk.

And it's always fun to see Sue, the Field's prized T-Rex. 

Japanese jar used for tea storage

In fact, I likely enjoyed the permanent exhibits more than the one I paid to see.

It was interesting how the World's Fair contributed to the Field's early collections, but much else is more visually and intellectually compelling, such as the wonderful collection of Native American masks, totem poles and more. 

Bottom line, if you go to the Field for the World's Fair exhibit, see more than just it. And if you go the Field for the rest of the museum, the exhibit may only be worth your time and money if you have a particular interest in the Columbian Exposition. 

Especially the parts I likely wouldn't have seen even if I was there in 1893.

(Along with photos of the 1893's World's Fair exhibit--in spite of a security guard erroneously telling me photography was forbidden; good thing I argued and had him ask someone who knew better--photos from other Field Museum exhibits are below. You may need to click to see them past the page break.)