Fine Arts Building

Brief information

The Fine Arts Building did not begin as a temple of culture, but as the home of the Studebaker company: automobiles were sold and serviced here, while the upper floors housed manufacturing. As a result, today’s galleries, studios, theaters, and workshops occupy the shell of a building originally designed for a very different kind of work.

The most noticeable turning point came in 1898. Architect Solon Beman removed the then upper, eighth floor and added three new ones, bringing the building to its present height. Thus, within a single facade and interior, Studebaker’s industrial and commercial past converged with the building’s later artistic life.

What to notice right away

At the main entrance, it is worth noticing the two granite columns. In the original description, they stand out not because of ornamentation, but because of their construction: they are polished monolithic shafts of unusually large size. They immediately show that the building aspired to look impressive even during the period when it served the Studebaker company.

Inside, the Art Nouveau motifs and frescoes that appeared after the 1898 remodeling are important. They can be compared with the Studebaker Theater: the auditorium has preserved the appearance of the 1917 reconstruction, but the ceiling remains from the original 1898 theater. Another trace of the space’s adaptation is the history of the Little Theatre of Chicago: it emerged not in a purpose-built auditorium, but in a fourth-floor storage room converted to seat just 91 people. The building can be read through such transformations: commerce, manufacturing, storage, and stage performance did not replace one another here without a trace, but left behind different types of rooms and finishes.