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Lorado Taft Midway Studios

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Lorado Taft Midway Studios (red rectangle) is just south of the Midway Plaisance. Fountain of Time (red oval) is in the southeast portion of Washington Park immediately west of the Midway Plaisance. (Chicago Park District in green, University of Chicago in pink)
Lorado Taft Midway Studios
View from northeast.
Lorado Taft Midway Studios is located in Illinois
Lorado Taft Midway Studios
LocationChicago, IL
Built1906
ArchitectTaft,Lorado, Pond and Pond
Architectural styleNo Style Listed
NRHP reference No.66000317
Significant dates
Added to NRHPOctober 15, 1966[1]
Designated NHLDecember 21, 1965[2]
Designated CLDecember 1, 1993
Lorado Taft at work on Fountain of the Great Lakes in 1913 in his Midway Studios

The Lorado Taft Midway Studios consist of a converted and relocated barn that became the art studio of Lorado Taft, one of the early 20th century's most important sculptors.[3] It sits in the Woodlawn community area of Chicago, Illinois, and is owned by the University of Chicago.[2]

In 1906, Taft moved his main studio from the Chicago Loop to a brick barn near the Midway Plaisance. Later, he connected a pair of frame barns to the main building to serve as male and female dormitories. The structure was redesigned by the architectural firm of Pond and Pond to contain 13 studios for Taft and affiliated sculptors.[4][5]

The building was designated a National Historic Landmark on December 21, 1965,[2][6] and listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 15, 1966.[1] It is one of the four Chicago Registered Historic Places from the original October 15, 1966 National Register of Historic Places list (along with Chicago Pile-1, Hull House & Robie House).[1] On December 1, 1993, it was named a Chicago Landmark.[3]

Today, the building is home to the university's Department of Visual Arts, and has been renovated to be classrooms, offices, and studios for students and faculty.

  • Entrance
    Entrance
  • View from southeast
    View from southeast

Notes

  1. ^ a b c "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
  2. ^ a b c "Taft, Lorado, Midway Studios". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Retrieved 2008-06-11.
  3. ^ a b "Lorado Taft's Midway Studios". City of Chicago Department of Planning and Development, Landmarks Division. 2003. Retrieved 2007-05-11.
  4. ^ "Guide to the University of Chicago Department of Building and Grounds Records: 1892-1965". University of Chicago Library, Series II, Subseries 3: Buildings (J-R, Box 13, Folder 3 ed.). University of Chicago. 2006.
  5. ^ Taft, Ada Bartlett (1946). Lorado Taft: Sculptor and Citizen. Mary Taft Smith. p. 28.
  6. ^ Blanche Higgins Schroer (April 3, 1976) National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Lorado Taft Midway Studios, National Park Service and Accompanying 10 photos, exterior and interior, from 1975 and undated
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