Chicago Rebuilt:
Seeing Yesterday’s City Today

Ryan Chester, Chicago-based Architect with a passion for drawing

September 15, 2026. at The Cliffdwellers (202 S. Michigan Ave)

• Doors open: 5:00 pm, Cash Bar
• Lecture: 5:45 pm, Optional Buffet Dinner 7:00 pm
• Entry fee for the lecture only: $10.
• Lecture and optional dinner $56 – Reservation required for the dinner only.
• reservations @ reservations@cliff-chicago.org or call 312/922-8080 ext. 103

“Chicago Rebuilt” began as 40 drawings of Chicago buildings which have been demolished.  They have been drawn in contemporary context as though they had not been demolished together with written descriptions by historian Vincent Michael and photography by Tom Rossiter.  More about the speaker and this presentation

WE'RE GOING BACK TO WISCONSIN!!!!!

Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church in Wauwatosa.

Designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright in 1956, and completed in 1961, it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The church is one of Wright's last works with construction  completed after his death. The design is informed by traditional Byzantine architecture reinterpreted by Wright to suit the modern context. The church's shallow scalloped dome is similar to that of his Marin County Civic Center in California.

After lunch at the famous Mader's Restaurant, we will head to the Milwaukee Art Museum to see

"Gertrude Abercrombie: The Whole World is A Mystery." As the only Midwest venue for this nationally touring exhibition, MAM brings together nearly 80 paintings from major museums and private collections. The exhibition reveals an artist whose spare, dreamlike imagery including moons, owls, cats, solitary figures, and doors leading to unknown places. Her art became a language of introspection and imagination.

Constructing Spanishness at the 1933-34 Century of Progress International Exposition: Daniel H. Burnham Jr.'s development of the Spanish Village

Martha Frish, architectural historian

Tuesday, June 2, 5:45pm

Kyle's Place, 65 E Huron Street (at Rush St.)

The focus of the talk is about Burnham Jr.’s romanticizing what he saw while in Spain, into what was actually produced in the Exposition, as pictured on the photograph here. His diaries and archive materials serve as valuable records at conveying his perception. (Click the image for a larger view)

Martha Frish has worked for FEMA on Section 106 architectural history projects and as a Senior Program Officer at the National Trust for Historic Preservation. She has also served on the faculty in the Historic Preservation Program at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and at the DePaul University. She is currently a freelance historian, doing architectural, social and cultural research on behalf of clients, contributing significantly to Inmaculada Álvarez Martínez’s ongoing thesis project on the Spanish Village at the 1933-34 Century of Progress Exhibition.