We feature our favorite events each week of things to do in Chicago architecture and history. This week we highlight events that will get you enjoying Chicago out of doors including an overlooked historic house tour, a live jazz performance with picnic, and a unique bike tour of historic demonstrations.
1. Tuesday’s on the Terrace: Jason Stein Quartet – JAZZ PERFORMANCE
220 E. Chicago Ave., Museum of Contemporary Art – Tuesday, August 5th, 5:30pm-8:00pm
FREE – $25 for buffet option with table, reservations required at 312.397.4034
Every week during the summer months, the Museum of Contemporary Art celebrates the history of jazz in Chicago with a free jazz concert on their terrace. This week they bring in the Jason Stein Quartet who promise to bring torrid, bop-rooted synchronicity. Make the evening into a picnic with a blanket and munchies to enjoy on the garden. Or for a fun date idea in Chicago, enjoy the Wolfgang Puck catered dinner buffet for $25 that features fresh, locally grown produce from the MCA Farmers’ Market. Cocktails via a cash bar are served on the lower terrace as well.
2. Charnley-Persky House Museum – FREE TOUR
1365 N. Astor St. – Wednesdays, 12:00pm; Saturdays, 10:00am & 12:00pm
FREE Wednesdays – first come, first served; $10 Saturdays
Chicago has incredible architecture and legacy of architects. So when two of Chicago’s architecture greats combine forces, you get a pivotal piece of architecture known as the Charnley-Persky House. Louis Sullivan designed the house with the collaboration of his draftsman at the time, Frank Lloyd Wright, in 1892 and it is now part of the Astor Street Historic District in the Gold Coast neighborhood. Tours every Wednesday at noon are free as is a self-guided walk around the ornate neighborhood with historic homes dating from the 1880s.
3. Chicago in Revolt – SPECIAL BIKE TOUR
1601 N. Clark St., Chicago History Museum – Sunday, August 10th, 9:30am-12:30pm
$25 non-members/$20 members – reservations required
With so few months of nice weather in Chicago, a bike tour is a unique way to take advantage of above freezing temperatures. The Chicago History Museum is offering some special bike tours this summer and this Sunday will take you to sites of Chicago’s best-known demonstrations, from the Haymarket Affair of 1886 to the 1968 Democratic National Convention to the more recent Occupy Wall Street movement. This is for the more active Chicago enthusiast as it is an exhilarating 10 to 15 miles of biking.
