Nestled in the heart of the chic-est shopping strip in Chicago, the Terra Museum of American Art, 664 N. Michigan Ave., is a recent staple among art institutions in the Windy City. But despite having opened at its Magnificent Mile location just 17 years ago, the Terra is closing its doors for good Oct. 31. Before it does, one last exhibit pays tribute to the city it has called home over the years.

“Chicago Modern, 1893–1945: Pursuit of the New,” presents the works of several Chicago-based artists from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Placards to the paintings include exotic birth places where many of the artists originated, such as Latvia, Holland and Russia. But several, if not most, of these foreign born creators finished their careers and their lives in one place — Chicago.

The exhibit fittingly begins with a painting by J. Jeffrey Grant, depicting Michigan Avenue from above, almost as if Grant had taken 20 steps to the left and painted the vistas from the Terra’s third floor windows. Although many of the paintings don’t contain recognizable Chicago landscapes, they all fall under the unifying influence of the Windy City. The exhibit portrays the city as a bohemian art community and, being a resident of the area, introduces a personal aspect to the art that is rarely present in museums today.

“I grew up near Chicago and I left for a few years,” said Margot Backus, an English professor at the University of Houston who was viewing the exhibit. “To come back and see this, it’s an enriching experience. (The Chicago focus) gives the exhibit more depth.”

Although it seems calculated for the Terra to end its stint by showcasing artwork from Chicago, Elizabeth Kennedy, the exhibit’s curator, said the move was anything but. “Chicago Modern” is part of a larger series called “Modern Matters,” discussing early American modernism, and the five other installments in the series were shown at other institutions.

“When we were putting (‘Modern Matters’) together we had exhibits for Paris and New York and we said ‘We need to talk about Chicago,'” Kennedy said. “It turns out to be a nice symmetry in a way for all the years it’s been in downtown Chicago.”

The term “modern art” is a loaded one because the modern and contemporary are always changing. Modern is often associated with the abstract, but “Chicago Modern” attempts to question this logic by exhibiting art that was modern for its specific time. The result is a collection that is surprisingly fresh but far from today’s standards of avant garde.

“We wanted to reclaim the context of the time,” Kennedy said. “(The abstract) is not how painters in the ’20s and ’30s were thinking about modern art. They thought they were being modern. To be modern (can be) many different things. It could be figurative or surreal, and abstract as well.”

Even for a seasoned art fan, “Chicago Modern” presents lesser known artists to great affect. There is a certain excitement upon viewing “a classic” painting, but it is intriguing in a different way to view an exhibit filled with seemingly exchangeable names.

“I like seeing examples of artists I’ve never seen before,” said Sarah McKibben, a patron at the exhibit and Irish language and literature professor at University of Notre Dame. “You look at it more carefully and you feel more free to analyze it.”

To the untrained eye, “Chicago Modern” is full of unknown artists, but Kennedy is quick to point out they were not chosen simply for being unfamiliar.

“(Curating the exhibit) was about the quality of the art,” Kennedy said.

“There were certainly artists there that were famous during their lifetime and have been eclipsed over the years. These are the artists that were prominent at the time.”

The exhibit thus creates the sense of stepping inside the Chicago art world during the early 20th century. Many pieces that were important to the modernist movement at that time are on display, not just the ones that get referenced to this day. Juxtaposed styles and artists also allows patrons to see how living and studying in Chicago influenced the movement.

While the Terra Museum will cease to exist next month, the Terra Foundation for the Arts will continue by sponsoring exhibitions, teaching initiatives and symposiums worldwide, as well as run its sister museum in France.

“(Closing) wasn’t planned from the beginning, but as things evolved we thought this way we could better promote our mission statement, which is to spread knowledge of American art,” said Elizabeth Glassman, director of the Terra Museums, and president and CEO of the Terra Foundation for the Arts.

Kennedy said the new outfit for the foundation will be similar to what it does now, with one noticeable change.

“It will be very similar to having a museum but with less interaction on a daily basis with the public,” Kennedy said.

Up to 50 paintings and 350 works on paper from the Terra’s permanent collection will be on loan at the Art Institute of Chicago in late 2004. But before then, be sure to stop in at the Terra to see one of Chicago’s finest in its last hurrah.4

Communication junior Lindsay Sakraida is a PLAY editor. She can be reached at [email protected].