Chicago Cultural Center

Drawn by its beauty and the fabulous free public events, hundreds of thousands of visitors come the Chicago Cultural Center every year, making it one of the most visited attractions in Chicago.  

Completed in 1897 as Chicago’s first central public library, the building was designed to dazzle. The country’s top architects and craftsmen used the most sumptuous materials, such as rare imported marbles, polished brass, fine hardwoods, and mosaics of Favrile glass, mother-of-pearl and colored stone, to create an architectural showplace. The building is home to the world’s largest stained glass Tiffany dome, which was restored in 2008, and a 40-foot-diameter dome in an intricate Renaissance pattern, designed by Healy & Millet.

In 1991, the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs established the building as the Chicago Cultural Center, the nation's first and most comprehensive free municipal cultural venue.  Every year, the Chicago Cultural Center presents more than 700 free music, dance and theater events, films, lectures, art exhibitions and family events, providing a showcase where the public can enjoy and learn about the arts.

For more information about the Chicago Cultural Center and its public events and exhibitions, visit chicagoculturalcenter.org

Services

• Chicago Cultural Center Mosaic Membership