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LOBBY
From the center of the main lobby there is a Lower Level complex and a second floor. A mosaic mural by Jacob Lawrence entitled Events in the Life of Harold Washington adorns the north wall of the main lobby. This work depicts many of the late mayor's accomplishments as a member of the Civilian Conservation Corps, soldier, lawyer, U.S. congressman and mayor of Chicago. Pages of books spread across his desk represent the stages in his life.
Furniture pieces and paintings from the Grand Army of the Republic Collection, part of the Chicago Public Library's collection of art and artifacts, occupy three corners of the lobby. In the Lower Level complex there is DuSable's Journey (pictured above), created by Houston Conwill, artist; Joseph DePace, architect; and Estella Conwill Majoza, poet. This art piece traces the water routes traveled by Jean Baptiste DuSable, Chicago's first settler, from his home in Haiti in the Atlantic Ocean through various waterways leading to the Great Lakes. Quotations, from Harold Washington's first and second inaugural speeches, encircle the map.
Also on the Lower Level is the Cindy Pritzker Auditorium, a 385-seat auditorium paneled in African cherry, a reception hall, a video theater and meeting rooms.
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