Chicago, Milwaukee and Racine
Celebrate the Memorial Day weekend in America's Heartland
May 26 - 30, 2006
Sponsored by The Newark Museum




This 5 day 4 night trip back to America's Heartland includes: roundtrip airfare on United Airlines, accomodations at the Crowne Plaza Silversmith Hotel in Chicago, tickets for Crumbs from the Table of Joy, Chicago Architecture Boat Cruise, Daily Breakfast, 4 Lunches and 2 Dinners.    
 
Trip Price: $1900.00 (Double Occupancy), details below.



Experience the rich and innovative quality of the Chicago’s museums, architecture, public sculpture on our five day trip planned over the Memorial Day weekend.  We tour   the renowned collection at the Art Institute of Chicago, the Andy Warhol exhibit at the Museum of Contemporary Art and the highly anticipated Egyptian exhibit, Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs at the Field Museum.  We spend a day in nearby Wisconsin at the Milwaukee Art Museum to admire its dramatic new wing and its extensive American art collection and the Racine Art Museum to enjoy one of the most significant collections of contemporary craft in North America.  The tour is limited to 24 persons and is sure to sell out fast. SEND A DEPOSIT NOW TO GUARANTEE A PLACE!






1.  Friday, May 26     
We depart from Newark at 9:25am on our United Airlines flight to Chicago’s O’Hare airport, arriving at 11:00am. We travel directly to the city where we have lunch (included) and begin our exploration of this veritable museum of modern architecture. It is the birthplace of the skyscraper, and architectural enthusiasts will delight in the abundant examples of designs by noted Chicago architects, such as Daniel Burnham, Louis Sullivan, Mies van der Rohe and Frank Lloyd Wright.  A noted architectural and art authority will guide the group during our stay.  Along the way Chicago’s outdoor art world  will be strikingly visible.  Sculpture works by Calder, Picasso, Miro, Dubuffet  and Chagall will complement the architecture. We check in to our hotel, the Crowne Plaza Silversmith Hotel, within easy walking distance to the world renowned Art Institute, Millennium Park/Grant Park, and the Sears Tower. This boutique hotel has been artfully restored in the Prairie style of architecture, celebrated in the work of  Frank Lloyd Wright. Tonight we have a welcome dinner. (L/D)



2.  Saturday, May 27     
We begin the day at Millennium Park, the award-winning center for art, music, architecture and landscape design. Our guide provides insight into the striking Frank Gehry-designed Music Pavilion, the  interactive Crown Fountain and the hugely popular Cloud Gate sculpture.  We walk through the peaceful blooming new Lurie Garden, an oasis in the center of a bustling city.  You’ll be amazed at the overall design of Millenium Park, once a vast urban parking lot and railroad depot.  We continue to the Art Institute of Chicago, one of the world’s leading museums, where our guide will give us an overview of the collections. From ancient Chinese bronzes to the latest work by today’s artists; from Rembrandt paintings to African woodcarvings, the collections include some of the finest art ever produced. On display are paintings, sculptures, prints and drawings, photographs, Asian art, art of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas, textiles, decorative arts, and architectural fragments and drawings.  After the overview you’ll be prepared to explore the vast building on your own.    
Tonight we have tickets for Crumbs from the Table of Joy at the Goodman Theatre, Chicago’s oldest and largest not-for-profit theatre. Established in 1925, the Goodman has been home to a repertory company, student productions of the Goodman School of Drama, and a resident producing company. Lynn Nottage, the award-winning author of such plays as Intimate Apparel and Fabulation, makes her Goodman debut with this thoughtful, touching and funny play. It’s 1950 and Godfrey Crump has just lost his wife. But finding solace in Father Devine and the Peace Mission Movement, he pulls up stakes and moves his teenage daughters to be close to the Mission. Told through the eyes of his 17-year-old daughter Ernestine, Crumbs from the Table of Joy aims straight at the heart in a story where “we all escape somewhere and take comfort sometimes in things we don’t understand.”  (B)  



3.  Sunday, May 28     
We spend the day in nearby Wisconsin to explore two exceptional mid-west museums.  We begin at the Milwaukee Art Museum.  We see an exhibition of Nineteenth-Century French Prints, a thriving period of art history, beginning with the Romantic work of Delacroix, through Barbizon artists such as Corot and Millet, to the pre-modern innovations of Degas and Cézanne.  The MAM ‘s exciting new addition, designed by Spanish-born architect Santiago Calatrava, makes a strong architectural statement, with an exciting yet functional building.  We have lunch at the Museum overlooking Lake Michigan.  We continue to the Racine Art Museum which houses one of the most significant collections of contemporary craft in North America. With major exhibitions of new work, as well as pieces from the permanent collection, the Racine Art Museum focuses on ceramics, fibers, glass, metals and wood, which represents original and compelling artistic expressions. We return to Chicago in the late afternoon. (B/L)



4.  Monday, May 29     
We have tickets at the Field Museum for the highly anticipated  Egyptian exhibit, Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs. Expanding on the blockbuster 1977 exhibit, there are more than 130 priceless artifacts, including treasures from the tomb of the celebrated “boy king” Tutankhamun (King Tut) and riches from other tombs discovered in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings and additional ancient sites. All the artifacts in the exhibition are 3,300 to 3,500 years old. There are 50 major artifacts excavated from King Tut’s tomb, including his royal diadem (crown).  More than 70 artifacts from other royal graves will be showcased as well. The exhibition will draw visitors back in time with innovative technology – allowing you to see and hear about the fascinating times in which the young king lived.  
After our visit we continue to the Navy Pier for lunch prior to our Architecture River Cruise. You’ll marvel at the soaring towers of Chicago’s Loop while enjoying sparkling river vistas on a narrated cruise on the city’s famed waterway.  More than 50 historic and architecturally significant sites are seen on the cruise.  We complete the day with a visit to the Smith Museum of Stained Glass Windows, the first museum in the United States dedicated solely to stained glass windows. Among the displays is a beautiful collection of 17 Tiffany Studio windows.  Tonight we have a farewell dinner. (B/L/D)  



5.  Tuesday, May 30     
After breakfast we check out of the hotel and visit the Museum of Contemporary Art. The MCA’s exciting collection presents the finest, most thought-provoking artworks created since 1945. We see an exhibit  organized by the Walker Art Center, which  will include more than 20 examples of iconic works by Andy Warhol, bringing together his serial images of celebrities  and other evocative images.  We then have lunch before transferring to the airport for our 4:00pm flight arriving at Newark at 7:17pm.(B/L)





This engaging experience includes:

  • Roundtrip airfare on United Airlines
  • Four nights accomidations at the Crowne Plaza Silversmith Hotel in Chicago
  • Daily Breakfast, 4 Lunches, 2 Dinners
  • One Theatre Production
  • Chicago Architecture Boat Cruise
  • All admissions per the itinerary
PROGRAM PRICES  
Per person (double occupancy) from New York: $1900.00  
Single Supplement: $399.00  
Air Taxes: included