Public Art in the Loop (and Beyond)

These gems are hiding in plain sight all over the loop. I think a lot of 'urban dwellers' take them for granted. I certainly did, until I moved downtown and began to notice them; and until I started doing tours of the downtown area as a volunteer Greeter for the Chicago Office of Tourism. Listed below are some of my favorites. (But there are many more!) All of these are outdoors. Many others are located in the lobby of buildings that are open to the public during their normal business hours. Next time you're downtown, take a free Do-It-Yourself tour of these works. For more info and locations of Public Art in the Loop (and beyond), go to www.cityofchicago.org/publicart (You can also download the public art guide from the site.)

“Agora” (the Leg Sculptures), 2006, Magdalena Abakanowicz
Northeast corner of Michigan Avenue & 12th Street/Roosevelt Road

“Untitled Sounding Sculpture”, 1975, Harry Bertoia
Aon Center – 200 E. Randolph St.

“Flight of Daedalus and Icarus”, 1990, Roger Brown
Outer entrance to 120 N. LaSalle St. building

“Flamingo”, 1974, Alexander Calder
Federal Plaza – Southwest corner of Adams & Dearborn Streets.

“The Four Seasons”, 1974, Marc Chagall
Chase Bank Tower, Dearborn Street between Monroe & Madison – Lower Concourse

“Defense, Regeneration, Pioneers and Discoverers”, 1928, James Earle Fraser & Henry Hering
The four limestone pillars of the Michigan Avenue Bridge and E/W Wacker Drive.

“Paris Metro Entryway”, 1900/2003, Hector Guimard
East side of Michigan Avenue at Van Buren Street

“Freeform”, 1993, Richard Hunt
State of Illinois Building – 160 N. LaSalle St.

“Lions”, 1894, Edward Kemeys
Michigan Avenue entrance to the Art Institute of Chicago, Michigan Ave at Adams St.

“Buckingham Fountain”, 1927, Marcel Francois Loyau
Grant Park-East end of Congress Parkway at Columbus Drive.

“Bowman” and “Spearman”, 1928, Ivan Mestrovic
Grant Park-Entrance to Grant Park at Congress Parkway and Michigan Avenue.

“Crossing”, 1998, Hubertus Von Der Glotz
LaSalle Street between Kinzie Street and the Chicago River.
The opinions expressed here are those of the individual and not those of StreetAdvisor.
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