Blog Post 2: Art Institute of Chicago Museum Map Analysis

I chose to look at the map for the Art Institute of Chicago, which I had the pleasure of visiting last year. Although the museum might be overwhelming because there is almost a million square feet to explore, the artwork is organized amongst different connected buildings – Michigan Avenue Building, The Modern Wing, McKinlock Court, Rice Building, as well as the “Bridge” – and sectioned off within by lower, first, and second levels. Each floor and building has its own theme, whether it is Indian and Southeast Asian art or European sculpture, or by a specific time-sensitive movement such as Impressionism and Post-Impressionism. I recall that only the first floor connected the entirety of the museum, and one must take the stairs or elevator to the second floor to navigate the rest of the rooms for each building. The museum building structure itself offers an abundance open space and windows for ample lighting. Some rooms are dedicated to specific styles of art, such as ancient Greek and Roman sculptures, while other rooms strategically arrange a mixture of installations, wall art and displays. I believe this establishes a mood that encourages visitors to either be more interactive – like with the “rope room” installations – or to stand back, interpret the paintings, and read the brief artist and movement history. The Modern Wing is engulfed in 20^th– and 21^st-century art throughout all levels, which is an immersive experience that stands as a representation for how art has changed from a period like Impressionism to contemporary art like Andy Warhol. I think walking from one room to another definitely opens visitors’ eyes to how many different ways people went about expressing their art and culture throughout the centuries. One part of the museum may have ancient armor or trinkets from the Renaissance that are so long-standing that they give us a sense of awe and removal from our present surroundings, while the next room may room recently curated drawings and paintings from the past year. The structure of the museum and wide array of subjects portrayed shows us that art is timeless – objects from ages ago tell a story that we can connect with our present-day lives, especially with the brochures, tours, and multimedia tools to accompany the visit. Having to go back to the first floor to enter a different building, or crossing the bridge and looking out the windows at the view in Chicago, pulls us back to reality and leaves a lasting effect when comparing the past to the present. An alternate system of categorization might arrange all the same styles of art in the same room, regardless of time period. This might not seem like a “rational” way of organization in terms of providing art history education, but it would give an interesting perspective on modernist interpretations of an art style that was founded in an entirely different context.