Open House Chicago afternoon

Our friend Betsy had a family emergency and had to leave town but Tim met us for lunch at D'Agostino's and to continue our Open House Chicago tour with an itinerary Betsy put together for us. Slice of pizza and a beer for $9. That's a deal these days. Now, let's explore Ukranian Village.

Stop No. 5 - Intuit Art Museum, 756 N. Milwaukee Ave. - Intuit Art Museum (IAM) champions the diverse voices of self-taught art.

Have to say I wasn't impressed with this stop.

Stop No. 6 - Kenar Studio, 1007 N. Wolcott - Kenar Studio is the private studio of renowned artist Jerzy S. Kenar, who specializes in interactive installations and sculpture. The studio, established in 1980, serves as a showroom for many of Kenar's unique pieces. His work appears locally at Harold Washington Library and O'Hare International Airport, as well as in many locations and private collections around the world.

Well, unique is a word for it.

It was interesting to hear from Kenar (at right) discuss the art that was on the patio and the meaning behind it.

Stop No. 7 - Holy Trinity Orthodox Cathedral, 1121 N. Leavitt St. - Holy Trinity is one of just two churches designed by Louis Sullivan. It is the oldest Orthodox parish in Chicago, founded in 1892, and the Cathedral for the Orthodox Church in America: Diocese of the Midwest. Holy Trinity was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976 and named a Chicago Landmark in 1979.

Pretty church but I had to agree with Tim - we didn't see much Louis Sullivan.

I love when churches have candles for parishioners to light.

Stop No. 8 - St. Nicholas Ukranian Catholic Cathedral - 835 N. Oakley Blvd. - The parish, founded in 1906, quickly outgrew a small wooden church. The current building was modeled after the 11th-century St. Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv, Ukraine. The edifice has 13 green cupolas topped with gold crosses rising 167 feet into the sky, representing Christ and his 12 apostles. St. Nicholas is recognized for its magnificent icons, mosaics and stained-glass windows designed by Munich Studio of Chicago. Hanging from the highest dome in the center of the cathedral is a brilliant nine-tiered golden chandelier from Greece equipped with 480 lights.

Wow.

Beautiful window.

More candles.

Stop No. 9 - Sts. Volodymyr and Olha Ukranian Catholic Church - The Church of Sts. Volodymyr and Olha in Chicago is built in a pure Byzantine style. It was the only eastern rite church chosen for WTTW "Most Beautiful Places in Chicago" special. Its shape, its emphasis is on rounded arches and domes, and even the fact that it faces East has meaning.

So pretty. Just one vlock from themother Catholic Ukranian church we visited.

The dome was amazing...

as were the windows.

Stop No. 10 - Ukranian National Museum, 2249 W. Superior - The Museum was founded in 1952 and stands as one of the finest achievements of the Ukrainian American community. Its exceptional collection of folk art, fine art, and extensive archival materials bring broad appeal for diverse audiences.

This was another unexpected stop but when we walked out of the church, it was right across the street. These tools, used to make pysanku, the Ukranian eggs, was donated by a woman, Vera Samycia, who I interviewed when I worked in Pioneer Press' Park Ridge office. She gave me an egg at the end of the interview, which I keep in my little china cabinet. It's one of my favorite feature stories.

A collection of Vera's eggs.

Stop No. 11 - St. Helen Roman Catholic Church, 2315 W. Augusta - This Polish parish was formed in 1913, and in the early 1960s commissioned the present church building which blends Art Deco, Modernism and traditional styles with a Biblical fish motif. The spacious interior and ceiling are designed to draw all eyes to the altar, which is illuminated by light coming through slits in the walls. The stained glass contains mostly geometric patterns in small fragments of bright, unfiltered colors.

Very modern for a Catholic church. Those triangles on the ceiling represent the 12 disciples.

Interesting to see stained glass windows that don't depict Bible scenes.

More candles.

The baptismal area had its own little chapel. The font is shell-shaped and the water theme carries into the floor with fish depicted in the tile.

We did so much walking and took a few wrong turns along the way. There was another stop on the itinerary Betsy made for us but we were tired. We had a drink at Fatpour and called it a day.

Open House Chicago morning

What a perfect fall day we had as we drove into the city Saturday to explore during Open House Chicago. We started in the Near South Side.

Stop No. 1 - the Wheeler Mansion, 2020 S. Calumet - This is the only surviving historic mansion on Calumet Avenue. The Wheeler Mansion was built in 1870 for Calvin T. Wheeler, a banker and member of the Chicago Board of Trade. Over the years, the mansion has been home to a publishing company, a warehouse for the Murphy Butter and Egg Co., and more. The current owner acquired the property in 1997 for $10,000 then spent 18 months restoring the vacant and crumbling building. Wheeler Mansion reopened in 1999 as a boutique hotel with 11 guest rooms and suites. In 1998, it was designated a Chicago Landmark.

I'd love a dining room table this big.

Beautiful stained glass and woodwork.

A sink in one of the guestrooms.

Each guestroom was decorated uniquely. Most weren't my style but this one was ok.

Stop No. 2 - Glessner House, 1800 S. Prairie Ave. - H. H. Richardson's last surviving work in Chicago was commissioned by John and Frances Glessner. The house was saved from demolition in 1966 thanks to efforts that resulted in the creation of both Glessner House and the Chicago Architecture Center.

The house is full of the Glessner family's personsl belongings. It would be fun to go back and take the full tour.

Stop No. 3 - Second Presbyterian Church, 1936 S. Michigan Ave. - This National Historic Landmark has been the church home to many leading citizens of Chicago, including the Pullmans, Blackstones, and Armours. Following a devastating fire in 1900, the congregation hired Howard Van Doren Shaw and Frederic Clay Bartlett to rebuild the interior in the Arts and Crafts style. Stunning memorial windows made by William Morris & Co., Tiffany Glass and Decorating Co., Tiffany Studios, McCully & Miles, and Louis J. Millet enhance the Church's interior. Original Bartlett murals, light fixtures and 175 angels grace the space. Restoration work toward the goal of a fully restored interior continues with the recent return of the restored "Jeweled Window" by Louis Comfort Tiffany (1893) and ongoing restoration of important murals by Frederic Clay Bartlett (1901-1903).

The Tiffany window that was recently restored is on the right. Standing 16 feet high and 8 1/2 feet wide, the window is one of nine in the church designed by famed stained glass artist Louis Comfort Tiffany’s firm. It is made of 12,000 pieces of glass, with 1,000 “jewels” consisting of rough-cut chunks of glass designed to capture and refract the light like a diamond. It was donated to the chirch by Marshall Field.

Stunning.

Another beautiful window. This was made by Tiffany Studios in 1903, called the "Peace Window."

Baptismal font.

One of the church's many angels holding up the chandelier.

Stop No. 4 - Pui Tak Building in Chinatown, 2217S. Wentworth - Chinatown's most iconic building is the former home of the On Leong Merchant Association, the group that spearheaded the Chinese community's move from Van Buren and Clark streets to its present location in 1912. The firm of Michaelsen and Rognstad was chosen to design the 1928 building. Red, symbolic of joy, and jade green, symbolic of affluence, are the building's dominant colors. The building was landmarked in 1993 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2025.

We hadn't planned on stopping in Chinatown but we needed to kill some time before meeting our friends, Tim and Betsy, for lunch. This was a view of the Chinatown "gate" from the building's third floor.

Looking south on Wentworth Ave.

Scary sky

It looked threatening, but it didn't rain.

October sunset

This picture doesn't quite capture how pretty the sky was.

Four years older

Facebook always asks for "now" pictures to compare with "then" pictures. Sometimes I put a recent picture in but I rarely post them to my feed. Here's the latest - Andy and me four years ago and at Tower Hill last month. My "now" hair could be better but it was a church camp picture (no curling iron, no hairspray). We seem to be holding up pretty well.

Scrapbook surprise

I usually flip through scrapbooks before I buy them resale to make sure all the pages are empty. I was gathering things for my upcoming scrapbook weekend and stumbled across these pages in an album I'm planning to use for E's wedding photos. At least I only lost two pages.

Hop Toi night

Andy was out of town so it was women only last night at Allison's church mahjong. My group had an interesting night with Hop Toi. According to the internet, Hop Toi is an American mahjong superstition "during the initial tile deal when a player's tile draw bridges two different walls—specifically, taking the last stack or tiles from one wall and the first stack or tiles from the adjacent corner wall. Hop is said to mean 'shut in' and toi means 'table,' symbolizing locking in good fortune or dragons." So when that happens, the player who is taking the tiles, says, "Hop Toi, I believe" and that person is expected to win that round.

Well, we had Hop Toi in three of the four games we played and the person who had Hop Toi won their round each time! Here's my mahjong when I had Hop Toi. I'm a believer.

And here's the duck I chose to add to our collection.