River North: Medinah Temple

NOTE.. Originally posted: March, 2009..
Reposted: August 31, 2011, with all new images...

Medinah Temple..
Address: 600 N. Wabash Ave.
Year Built: 1912
Architect: Huehl & Schmid ..
Date Designated a Chicago Landmark: June 27, 2001..
Bloomingdale has taken over this building since 2003..

One of the most distinctive buildings on the Near North Side of Chicago, Medinah Temple is considered one of the nation's finest examples of a Middle Eastern-style Shirine temple. The plethora of Islamic and Middle Eastern ornament on the temple's exterior gives it a sense of exotic fantasy well-suited to the Shrine rituals for which the building was constructed.
Some details..

To REITERATE: NOTE..
This article was originally posted: March, 2009..
Reposted: August 31, 2011, with all new images...

River North: Tree Studios, Annexes, and Courtyard

Tree Studio, State Street and Ohio Street..

Tree Studio, State Street and Ontario Street..

Tree Studios, Annexes, and Courtyard..
Address: 601-623 N. State St./4-10 E. Ohio St./3-7 E. Ontario St.

• Year Built..
  State Street building, 1894..
  Ohio Street annex, 1912..
  Ontario Street annex, 1913 ..
• Architects..
  State Street building, Parfitt Brothers, with Bauer & Hill..
  Ohio Street and Ontario Street annexes, Hill & Woltersdorf..
• Date Designated a Chicago Landmark..
  State Street building, February 26, 1997,
  Ohio Street and Ontario Street annexes and courtyard, June 27, 2001..

Intended as a home for artists at the turn of the century, the Tree Studios was constructed by philanthropists Judge and Mrs. Lambert Tree using the finest craftsmanship and details of the period.

The original 1894 building facing State Street was designed in a Queen Anne style and is lined with retail storefronts that provided rental income that subsidized the rents for the artists' studios. The 1912 and 1913 annexes built on Ohio and Ontario Streets were designed in the English Arts & Crafts style.

The building's large windows, picturesque details, and distinctive interior courtyard instantly made it a unique cultural oasis and home to many significant artists, including sculptors Albin Polasek and John Storrs; illustrator J. Allen St. John; muralist John Warner Norton; painters Ruth Van Sickle Ford, James Murray Haddow, and Pauline Palmer; and actors Peter Falk and Burgess Meredith. The nation's oldest-known artist studios, the building complex is one of the most distinctive features of the River North neighborhood..

At the entrances of the original studio building, a pair of heads, one male and one female are carved into stone ornamentation. The heads are of
- [image above] Judge Lambert Tree
- [image below] His wife Anna Field Tree [daughter of Marshall Field]

Tree Studio, State Street..

Ohio Street Annex..

Ohio Street Annex..

Ontario Street Annex, now the home of Metropolitan Capital..
Over each window, is the curved pediment, at the center of which is a tree on a shield and two lines from poem..
Art is long, Time is fleeting
So be up and doing, still achieving, still pursuing..
- A Psalm of Life, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow..

Bas Relief, Ontario Street Annex..

River North [Bas Relief on Tree Studios, Annexes and Courtyard..]

I am very curious..
What's the story behind this?
It's part of the bas relief on Ontario Street Annex of the Tree Studios, Annexes, and Courtyard, click here..

Who are these people?

One of the most annoying pay-for-parking sign, just in front of this beautiful relief work..

Tree Studio, Ontario Street Annex

RELATED LINKS..
# River North: Tree Studios, Annexes, and Courtyard..
# River North: Medinah Temple...
# River North..

Old St. Patrick's Church

Old St. Patrick's Church..
Completed: 1856
Architects: Two of Chicago’s earliest practicing architects Augustus Bauer and Asher Carter..
Location: 700 West Adams Street..
Chicago, IL 60661..

Founded by Irish immigrants in 1846, Old St. Patrck's is the first English-speaking parish in the city. It is one of the few buildings to survive the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. Its survival makes it the oldest public building in the City of Chicago.
Today, Old St. Patrick's is known for hosting an annual summer block party, which it said to be the "world's largest" [very controversial claim]..

Stained Glass Windows..
It's website informs [click here]..
Inspired by the Celtic art exhibit at the Columbian Exposition of 1893 and the Book of Kells in Ireland, Thomas A. O’Shaughnessy designed, constructed, and personally installed the 15 beautiful stained-glass windows of Old St. Patrick’s between 1912 and 1922. The 12 side windows were inspired by the Celtic designs of Ireland's Book of Kells. The final triptych windows, done in an art nouveau style and installed in the eastern facade of the church, are the “Faith, Hope & Charity” windows, also known as the Terrence MacSwiney Memorial Triptych. In 1977, Old St. Patrick's was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Terrence MacSwiney Memorial Triptych..
“Faith, Hope & Charity” windows - by Thomas A. O’Shaughnessy..

"Hope" stained glass window, by Thomas A. O’Shaughnessy.. Below are some details of this beautiful art nouveau style window..

Old St. Patrick's Church..

Just across the road from the church is the Heritage Green Park. It has this sculpture "Grainne", by Maurice Harron..

"Grainne", by Maurice Harron..
A Gift from the City of Galway, Ireland; to the Sister City of Chicago..