Fine Arts Building (Chicago)

This article is about the Chicago Historic Building. For other uses, see Fine Arts Building (disambiguation).
Fine Arts Building
Fine Arts Building Facade, 2023
Fine Arts Building (Chicago) is located in Chicago Loop
Fine Arts Building (Chicago)
Location410–418 S. Michigan Ave., Chicago, Illinois
Coordinates41°52′35.2″N 87°37′28.6″W / 41.876444°N 87.624611°W / 41.876444; -87.624611
Built1885
ArchitectSolon Beman
Architectural styleRomanesque
NRHP reference No.75000653
Significant dates
Added to NRHPAugust 11, 1975[1]
Designated CLJune 7, 1978
Art Nouveau murals on the Fine Arts Building's 10th floor

The ten-story Fine Arts Building, formerly known as the Studebaker Building, is located at 410 S Michigan Avenue across from Grant Park in Chicago in the Chicago Landmark Historic Michigan Boulevard District. It was built for the Studebaker company in 1884–1885 by Solon Spencer Beman, and extensively remodeled in 1898, when Beman removed the building's eighth (top) story and added three new stories.[2] Studebaker constructed the building as a carriage sales and service operation with manufacturing on upper floors. The two granite columns at the main entrance, 3 feet 8 inches (1.12 m) in diameter and 12 feet 10 inches (3.91 m) high, were said to be the largest polished monolithic shafts in the country.[3] The interior features Art Nouveau motifs and murals by artists such as Martha Susan Baker, Frederic Clay Bartlett, Oliver Dennett Grover, Frank Xavier Leyendecker, and Bertha Sophia Menzler-Peyton dating from the 1898 renovation. In the early 20th century, the Kalo Shop and Wilro Shop, firms owned by women and specializing in Arts and Crafts items, were established in the renamed Fine Arts Building.[4]

True to its name, it houses artists' lofts, art galleries, theatre, dance and recording studios, interior and web design firms, musical instrument makers, and other businesses associated with the arts. It also holds offices of the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras,[5] the Jazz Institute of Chicago,[5] and the Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival.[6] The Fine Arts Building was designated a Chicago Landmark on June 7, 1978.[7]

  1. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
  2. ^ Schulze, Franz & Harrington, Kevin (2003). Chicago's Famous Buildings (5th ed.) Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0-226-74066-8.
  3. ^ See building No.3 on illustration Looking West from Michigan Boulevard
  4. ^ Bulletin of the Bureau of Labor 1904 p 1603.
  5. ^ a b "Fine Arts Building". Fine Farts Building. Retrieved 2007-05-18.
  6. ^ Rabinowitz, Chloe. "Details Announced for THE 5th CHICAGO INTERNATIONAL PUPPET THEATER FESTIVAL". Broadway World. Retrieved 2023-02-09.
  7. ^ "Fine Arts Building". City of Chicago. Archived from the original on 2007-06-07. Retrieved 2007-05-18.