Driehaus Museum in Chicago reactivates an ornate historic auditorium for the arts

The John B. Murphy Memorial Auditorium was built in 1926 for the American College of Surgeons (ACS) in Chicago. Designed by the firm Marshall and Fox, it borrowed heavily from the Chapelle de Notre Dame de Consolation in Paris. The auditorium was attached to the 1883 Nickerson Mansion, also owned by the college from 1919 until 2003, when the late philanthropist Richard H. Driehaus purchased the grand home—known as the “Marble Palace” in its day for its lavish interior.

After a five-year restoration process, Driehaus opened the mansion as a museum largely dedicated to the art and design of the Gilded Age, while the auditorium stayed in the possession of the college. “The idea was always there to join these two back together with a common purpose,” says Anna Musci, who was recently named the museum’s executive director, and this week the museum announced it had purchased the auditorium with plans to hold public lectures and other arts events there.

Via The Art Newspaper

Image: Inside the Murphy Auditorium Photo: Allen Bourgeois

The Milwaukee Art Museum Is Back! Full Reopening Set for July 15

After more than a year closed and a soft reopening, the Milwaukee Art Museum will finally reopen in full on July 15. 

“This is a fantastic opportunity for the community to reconnect with many of their favorite works of art that they haven’t seen in over a year,” said Robert Stein, Deputy Director and Chief Experience Officer, in a press release.

The July 15 reopening will line up with a couple of new exhibits at MAM. The first is a three-part exhibition called “American Memory: Commemoration, Nostalgia, and Revision,” which explores elective editing of historical narratives in America’s past through drawings, prints, and paintings from the Museum’s collection. Another new exhibit will be “First Impressions: Early Printed Books in Europe,” which features 25 objects that were created during the first century after the adoption of the printing press. 

Via Milwaukee Magazine

Intuit staff, board and friends mourn loss of founder Susann Craig (1936-2021) 

Susann Eickmeyer Craig, visionary Chicago art collector and a founder of Intuit, passed away peacefully on June 28, 2021, at Providence St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica, Calif. 

In 1991, Craig joined a handful of Chicago art enthusiasts who came together to found Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art. She served on the board of directors for 29 years before being elevated to life trustee status in 2020. Craig received the museum's highest award, the Visionary Award, in 2018. Before her death, she was delighted to learn that a gallery at the museum will be named in her honor.

Via Intuit PR

Cashing in on the NFT craze

Why are digital files of artwork, videos and tweets selling for insane amounts of money? CBS Sunday Morning Correspondent David Pogue explains in a video the origin and volatility of the market for NFTs (non-fungible tokens), and why content creators and speculators are generating a digital gold rush.

Via CBS