The history of the Chicago Cultural Center, "the nation's first and most comprehensive free municipal cultural venue," offers insight into the shifting relationships between culture, politics, and money in the third-largest city in the United States.
Built in the 1890s to house the Chicago Public Library, a block-long Beaux Arts building across from Millennium Park was reborn as the Chicago Cultural Center in 1991. Throughout its lifespan, the building has offered a broad range of free public services, much of it targeted to artists and audiences underserved by other major institutions in the city.
Read the full story: From library to cultural center in Chicago
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