Past Events

Opening Reception: Steve McQueen
October 2012
Celebrating the opening of Steve McQueen, this VIP event, hosted by the Leadership Advisory Committee and the Evening Associates of the Art Institute of Chicago, featured a private reception with the celebrated artist and filmmaker. The special evening also included McQueen’s talk and film screenings in Rubloff Auditorium, an exhibition viewing, and the evening’s After Dark.

Highlights Tour: An Insider’s Look at Film and Photo in New York
September 2012
The Evening Associates got an inside look at Film and Photo in New York. Artists such as Morris Engel, Louis Faurer, Robert Frank, Helen Levitt, Paul Strand, and Weegee, reveled in the genre of street photography and created some of America’s first avant-garde cinema. Katherine Bussard, assistant curator of photography, guided guests through the everyday scenes they captured between the 1920s and the 1950s, as well as the bustling, illuminated nightlife of New York.

Louis Faurer. New York City, c. 1949. The Art Institute of Chicago; Gift of Gordon Lee Pollock. © Mark Faurer.

Highlights Tour: American Road Trips (the Route 66 Tour)
August 2012
Did you know the infamous Route 66 begins just steps from the Art Institute of Chicago’s Michigan Avenue entrance…?  Call it what you will, the Will Rogers Highway, Main Street of America, or the Mother Road. It’s the Route 66 visit! From Chicago to Los Angeles, Route 66 runs right through the heart of the country and it starts right here at the Art Institute of Chicago. The Evening Associates enjoyed a road trip through the museum’s collections and a true taste of Americana.

Edward Hopper. Nighthawks, 1942. Friends of American Art Collection.

Highlights Tour: Pop Art and Roy Lichtenstein
July 2012
The Evening Associates got a closer look at the pieces that made art pop with a special tour of the 160 drawings, paintings, and sculptures in the exhibition, Roy Lichtenstein: A Retrospective. Roy Lichtenstein was deeply immersed in art history and popular culture. And the Art Institute of Chicago has worked for more than five years to bring together the largest group of Lichtenstein's works ever assembled and show the full scope of his process, interests, and ambitions.

Roy Lichtenstein. Look Mickey, 1961. The National Gallery of Art. Dorothy and Roy Lichtenstein, Gift of the Artist, in Honor of the 50th Anniversary of the National Gallery of Art. © National Gallery of Art.

After Dark: Lichtenstein

June 2012
The Evening Associates collaborated with After Dark for a late-night exploration of the museum. Guests enjoyed special tours of Roy Lichtenstein: A Retrospective hosted by the Evening Associates then rocked out to bands, DJs, and performances by acclaimed theatrical ensemble Collaboraction.

Night Heist: Fashioning the Object
April 2012
The second annual Night Heist benefit, hosted by the Evening Associates Board of Directors, returned as one of Chicago's hottest and most eagerly anticipated social events of the year. Hundreds of guests gathered for a private preview of Architecture & Design’s special exhibition, Fashioning the Object: Bless, Boudicca, Sandra Backlund; musical performances by Hey Champ, DJ Hugo Seda, and Edith Yokley; an animated photo booth courtesy of the Tribeca Flashpoint Media Arts Academy; flash mob dance performers organized by Dance Chicago; cocktails; and more.

Behind the Scenes: Award-Winning Gardens of the Art Institute
April 2012
Evening Associates went behind the scenes with the man behind the award-winning gardens, Tom Wolfe. Tom, the landscaping and grounds foreperson, has been responsible for the lush lawns, towering trees, and abundant urns for more than 30 years. He constructs his masterpieces with a mix of 70/30 native seasonal plants and purchases them from local growers. He is keen to work with the season, environment, and region to support the ecosystem.

Unveiled: International Poster Fair
March 2012
The Evening Associates welcomed the return of the International Vintage Poster Fair, the world's oldest and largest sale and exposition of original vintage posters, at the Chicago Cultural Center. The year's feature exhibition, "Seven Deadly Sins," showcased the infamous vices—wrath, greed, sloth, pride, lust, envy, and gluttony—depicted through original vintage posters.

Highlights Tour: Love in Paris
February 2012
Love was in the air as Evening Associates took a romantic tour of the Art Institute. Famous Impressionist works took center stage as the this tour of amour celebrated Paris, the city of light and lovers, known to be one of the most romantic places on earth.

Highlights Tour: Tropical Escapes
January 2012
Because January is the coldest month of the year in Chicago, Evening Associates warmed up at the Art Institute while enjoying the beach, sun, and sand in artworks from the warmer latitudes.

Unveiled: Andy Warhol’s “Empire”
December 2011
In December, young Chicagoans gathered to celebrate a once-in-a-lifetime viewing of Andy Warhol’s groundbreaking conceptual film, Empire. The film, projected across Millennium Park onto the Aon Center, was shot in one, continuous take over the course of a single evening in 1964.  The silent film features time-lapse footage of the Empire State Building as its stately elegance is transformed by dusk, nightfall, and finally, darkness. This extraordinary evening also featured a private viewing of the special exhibition, Light Years: Conceptual Art and the Photograph, 1964-1977, before it opened to the public.