Creative Monday Boost
Come with me to see the amazing the Art Institute of Chicago
Hello, dear friends,
Happy Monday! I’ve gotten a jolt of ideas for this newsletter and our upcoming Winter Camp season. One of them is to start a Monday note on art and creativity — so here we are! ⭐
Why Monday? Because I was starting to notice the flood of newsletters on Friday, more than I can digest in a day, and realized, Monday is when I really need a boost. Monday is when I need a friend, a treat, a nudge of care, an interesting read, a counterbalance of art. How about you?
Why creative? Because art and creativity nurtures us. It’s a sometimes overlooked area of daily life that can help boost our spirit, slide our perspective, comfort us, excite us, help us feel more human. Whatever our energy level is today, art is there for us — to soak in our fellow humans’ exquisite creations or create ourselves. Think of how transformative listening to a piece of music can be. Or gazing at a painting. Or picking up a pen to jot down a few lines that mirror your feelings.
Why boost? As the Oxford dictionary notes, boost is “a source of help or encouragement leading to increase or improvement” — I’m hoping this helps your day and week ahead, in some small way.
Creative Monday Boost #1: Art Institute of Chicago
Come along with me and discover a source of amazing art available 24/7
I visited Chicago earlier this month and went to the Art Institute of Chicago for the first time. Wow. Wow. Wow.
I love art museums. I thought the Art Institute of Chicago would be nice, but it’s one of the best art museums in America, one of the best I’ve ever visited in the world.
I dare say I enjoyed it more than The Met in New York City or the Louvre in Paris because it wasn’t as crowded; it felt spacious and open for curious lingering without needing to jostle for a peek. (The floor layout is maddeningly confusing, but no place is perfect.)
The Art Institute of Chicago has a jaw-dropping pile of famous artwork: paintings by Vincent Van Gogh, the iconic American Gothic, Edward Hopper’s Nighthawks (the painting of an American diner at night, with a few people lingering at the counter), Monet’s Water Lilies, stunning Marc Chagall stained glass windows, and on and on.
I loved the Andō Gallery, a dimly light, mystical room with 16 square wood columns. Designed by Japanese architect Tadao Andō, the gallery was his first U.S. project. On my recent visit, the gallery housed The Great Wave, a legendary Japanese woodblock print by Katsushika Hokusai.
It turned out that The Great Wave was on display as a collaboration with the Chicago Public Library. Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow — a phenomenal novel that includes The Great Wave in its story line and on its cover — is the Chicago Public Library’s One Book, One Chicago 2024 selection, a sort of citywide book club from September to November. How very cool!
I learned later that The Great Wave hasn’t been on display for 5 years “because, like all prints, it is susceptible to light damage and must rest a minimum of five years between showings to preserve its colors and vibrance.”
Like people, prints need rest, too.
And there’s more.
Out of all of this magnificent art, my favorite was a special exhibit highlighting Georgia O’Keefe’s time in New York, called “My New Yorks.”
Georgia is known for her luscious flower-like paintings, zoomed in on the shades of the petals, and her desert lanscapes and motifs from her time in New Mexico. I didn’t realize she also lived in New York for many years and drew inspiration from the rhythm of the city and its skyline.
The “My New Yorks” exhibit featured her familiar style alongside the lesser-known paintings of Manhattan buildings and skylines of the East River, a place I know myself now thanks to visits to NYU Langone and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, both located on the east side of Manhattan. But Georgia O’Keefe’s skyline, from the 1920s and later, featured gray smokestacks, factories billowing puffs, cluttering the air, not how I know the city now in 2024.
When I mentioned my Art Institute of Chicago visit to a friend and colleague, she noted that its website was superb — she uses it in her medical humanities classes. This fabulous website means that you too can view these amazing artworks without a flight to Chicago.
So this is my first Creative Monday Boost to you:
When you need a little respite and nurturing this Monday or anytime, go visit the Art Institute of Chicago online.
Visit the “My New Yorks” exhibit — scroll down to see the incredible paintings by Georgia O’Keefe of New York buildings and skylines, as well as her luscious abstract painting and desert landscapes.
Listen to clips of the audio tour — this is a lovely, immersive, and low-energy way to gaze at artwork and hear about it.
Wander through the Art Institute of Chicago collection — it’s a great website, and it will draw you in.
I hope this is a creative nudge, a Monday hug, a bit of a boost.
Enjoy!
To our journeys,
Brianne
