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Elmhurst Art Museum
Celebrates All About Ten!
Building’s Tenth Anniversary Gives Reason to Remember
ELMHURST, IL - Over the past
ten years, Elmhurst Art Museum has served close to 300,000 visitors
with exciting exhibitions and programs for art lovers, young
learners, curious teens and engaged adults. This year’s 10th
anniversary of EAM’s award-winning building marks only a portion of
the museum’s 27 years of operation since the non-profit was
established in 1980. Like other fledgling organizations, it traveled
from one borrowed space to another before it became what we know
today as the Elmhurst Art Museum.
“It’s hard to believe that the land
the museum occupies was actually north of Wilder Park and filled
with houses that the Museum’s foundation purchased over the years to
create what we have today,” said long-time advocate Holly Cohn. “I
remember when the street just south of the museum was closed so we
could position the art museum and the McCormick House into a park
like setting.”
The EAM Board of Directors saw the
significance in Ludwig Mies van der Rohe's McCormick House (1952)
when it came up for sale in the early 1990s. They purchased the
residence, saving it from possible demolition, and incorporated it
into the museum plan. Architect Avi Lothan of DeStefano+Partners
created the existing contemporary museum structure to attach to
McCormick House and was recognized with a Regional Distinguished
Building award from the American Institute of Architects in 1998.
“McCormick House immediately became the most significant piece in
the museum’s collection and now visitors who come to see art also
encounter a suburban residence of significant Mid-Century design,”
says museum executive director, D. Neil Bremer.
Elmhurst Art Museum will celebrate
its 10th anniversary of the building’s opening the weekend of
September 7, 8 and 9. A private open house will be held for members,
donors and community supporters on Friday evening from 6:00 p.m. to
9:00 p.m. With a special presentation by architect and museum board
member, Avi Lothan, the evening gives attendees an opportunity to
celebrate the achievement of creating the only art museum in the
western suburbs.
In honor of the 10th anniversary
celebration, the museum is asking its friends in the community to
demonstrate their support by becoming members. “Our goal is to
double our membership by June 2008 and we expect to reach our goal
because people in Elmhurst and the surrounding communities from
Chicago to Geneva and Orland Park to Northbrook have all expressed
their support for this institution,” stated Mr. Bremer. “Many people
think we are funded from tax dollars, but that is not true. The
museum is funded through donations and grants and every membership
helps to sustain us.” Information on membership and support can be
obtained at the museum during a visit.
Weekend activities are scheduled for
both kids and adults, and admission is FREE all weekend thanks to
the generosity of the Hookham Family in honor of museum founder
Eleanor King Hookham. For more information, call (630) 834-0202, x10
or visit www.elmhurstartmuseum.org for all the details.
Programs include:
Saturday, September 8, 2007
A Moment in Time
1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Visit the Museum this afternoon to meet Chicago photographer Doug
Fogelson and view his photographic series Etheria on display in the
EAM Gallery. Mr. Fogelson will speak about his photographs and how
he creates these oversized wonders at a special lecture beginning at
1:00 p.m. At 2:00 p.m., become a part of Museum’s history as
Fogelson shoots time-lapse photographs of the Museum with you as the
viewer and the participant inside! The final image will be on
display at a later date this fall.
Sunday, September 9, 2007
Family Focused Fun
1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Bring the family to be inspired by the intricate colored pencil
drawings of artist Cynthia Hellyer Heinz. Moms and dads can enjoy
her artist talk on their own at 2:00 p.m., while the kids create
their own colored pencil drawings with the EAM education coordinator
in the Hostetler Gallery.
The Elmhurst Art Museum’s
award-winning modern museum structure incorporates the Ludwig Mies
van der Rohe-designed McCormick House, one of three such residences
designed by the internationally known architect, and contains museum
galleries, an education center and a variety of outdoor sculpture.
Located only 15 miles west of Chicago and adjacent to the Metra West
train line, the Museum offers public tours and programs, guest
lectures and art classes on a regular basis. Its mission is to
enrich the lives of its visitors by broadening their knowledge,
increasing their sensitivity to the fine arts and sparking the
development of their own creative talents.
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