Art Institute Chicago
Visited: July 3rd 2017
Address: 111 South Michigan Avenue, Chicago, IL
“WHAT I LIKED: the touch gallery and TacTile kit are unique and well done!
WHAT I MISSED:the verbal description texts on the audio guide and app
Please click IN SHORT for a summary”
This year’s 4th of July weekend found us, a group of friends, on our way to Lake Michigan with a first stop in Chicago.
The windy city treated us well and offered its architectural beauty in bright sunlight and a mild breeze, a perfect day for a walk through the city. After admiring its famous architecture, its public art, and the beautiful Millennium Park, we moved on to explore the famous Art Institute of Chicago.
The Museum
The Art Institute of Chicago was founded in 1879 and is one of the oldest and largest museums in the United States. Its collection is encyclopedic, featuring African Art, Ancient and Byzantine Art, Asian Art, Architecture and Design, European Decorative Art, European paintings, Modern and Contemporary Art. Some of the highlights include Georges Seurat's A Sunday on La Grande Jatte — 1884, Pablo Picasso's The Old Guitarist, Edward Hopper's Nighthawks, and Grant Wood's American Gothic, just to mention a few.
More highlights can be seen here.
Over the years the ever growing collection made several extensions of the building necessary, the latest addition being the Modern Wing by architect Renzo Piano. This wing houses the museum's world-renowned art collections of the 20th and the 21st century; specifically, modern European paintings and sculptures, contemporary art, architecture, design, and photography.
Entrance
We entered the building through its Michigan Avenue entrance which is guarded by two magnificent bronze lions. The numerous ticket counters help to move the long lines of visitors swiftly into the huge museum.
I asked the staff at different counters for the Touch Gallery and the TacTile Kit. These TacTiles, which are touch objects of several pieces of art works, are specifically described on the museum’s website, featured for visually impaired people (VIP) wishing to visit the museum. Most of the staff members had never heard of of the Touch Gallery or the TacTile Kit. But the staff was very helpful and interested and guided us to the Family Resource Center where we were given directions to the Touch Gallery and were handed the coveted TacTile Kit.
Left: Entrance to Touch Gallery
Right: TacTile Kit
A brief note: I recommend entering the museum through the Modern Wing. The lines are shorter and the Touch Gallery and the Family Resource Center are located next to the entrance.
Elizabeth Morse Touch Gallery
To the left of the Modern Wing entrance, you will find a small gallery dedicated to blind and low vision visitors. Four copies of original sculptures from the collection are waiting to be explored by touch, accompanied by descriptive texts and a braille labels. The sculptures are made of the same materials as the originals and hence give you a good sense of the texture and temperature of the art objects.
I could not read the labels very well as the font was too small for me, so a fellow visitor read them. In my mind it would be very helpful to find these objects on the app and audio guide and listen to the accompanying text while touching the sculptures.
Above: Touch object: Bust of Wallace L. de Wolfe by Marco Zim
Below: Accompanying label
TacTile Kit
At the Crown Family Resource Center I was handed a TacTile Kit. It consists of a bag with five segments, containing a photograph of the artwork, a large print description, a description in braille, and a tile with a relief reproduction waiting to be explored with your fingertips.
Artworks represented include: Pierre Auguste Renoir's Two Sisters (On the Terrace), 1881; Ardriaen van der Spelt and Frans van Mieris's Trompe-L'Oeil Still Life with a Flower Garland and a Curtain, 1658; Joan Miró's Personages with Star, 1933; a Japanese screen by Tosa Mitsuoki, Flowering Cherry with Poem Slips, c. 1675; and the marvelous Aztec Coronation Stone of Motecuhzoma II, 1503.
Top: P.A.Renoir: Two Sisters, with wall label to the right
Middle: TacTile, a relief with raised lines and forms
Bottom: Touching the TacTile in front of the original painting and listening to the audioguide
I greatly enjoyed the TacTiles as they provided a unique way to experience art and it helped me to better understand and enjoy the different works. As with the Touch Gallery, it would be perfect to have the descriptions on the app as well, so to be able to listen while touching the TacTile.
Labels, Audio Guide and App
Being short on time, I used the app on my smartphone as audio guide. As usual, I downloaded the app beforehand and was already familiar with it when I visited the galleries. The app is easy to navigate and it gives you the opportunity to see the artwork on the screen, listen to a description and read the transcript. The app also facilitates locating the artwork in the many galleries by using a map. My enthusiasm was somewhat tempered, because I found it difficult to use the number block and the screen contrast was insufficient for my condition.
The audio guide one can rent is a straightforward device. You can enter the numbers and listen to the descriptions. Having said this, I still prefer the app as it offers more features.
Above: Label with Audio Guide Symbol
Bottom: App
The labels in the galleries differ in font size and contrast. While you will encounter labels that are easy to read and are accompanied by a readily identifiable audio guide symbol, other labels are more challenging due to small fonts and poor contrast. If you are on your own, the friendly guards in the galleries are most willing to assist you.
Last, but not Least
I had the pleasure of seeing the current exhibition “Gauguin: Artist as Alchemist” and I absolutely loved it. It is a well curated colorful exhibition of Gauguin´s many talents as a painter, sculptor, woodworker, and magician – he could transform any found material into art. The audio guide accompanying this exhibition is very comprehensive and fun to listen to. The labels are generally well presented with a nicely sized font on a well contrasting background color.
Before leaving, we took a short break at the Caffè Moderno overlooking Griffin Court. Unfortunately we had no time left for a visit to the museum shop.
We will definitely come back!
