Programs
Current Exhibits
Have you visited an exhibit at the Chicago Public Library? It's fun. Come listen to a lecture, browse a gallery and experience the Library in a new way.
Bedrock: The Stuff of Life, an Installation by Claire Ashley
Harold Washington Library Center
North Exhibit Case, 8th Floor
September 1, 2008 – November 15, 2008
In honor of Chicago Artists' Month we are proud to present an installation piece by Claire Ashley. In "Bedrock: the Stuff of Life", the artist layers large amounts of material from her life to create a bedrock or foundation of stuff, a poetic portrayal of domesticity, familial support, and nurturing. Claire Ashley is a native of Scotland and currently teaches at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She will give an Artist Talk on October 18 at 2pm.
Harold Washington Library Center
Congress Corridor, 6th & 8th Floors
August 1, 2008 – November 1, 2008
This fall, the Chicago Public Library has selected The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe for its award-winning program One Book, One Chicago. In Wolfe’s distinct and energetic reportorial style, The Right Stuff delves into the lives of the seven astronauts chosen for Project Mercury, our nation’s first manned space-flight project which was announced by NASA 50 years ago this October.
This group of rarely-seen images gives readers of The Right Stuff and other aerospace enthusiasts a chance to see photographs, technical drawings and renderings of X-vehicles and space vehicles from The Right Stuff era and beyond. Through this exhibit, we hope to convey a sense of the drama, excitement and ingenuity that characterized our country’s earliest forays into space and that continue to characterize the exploration that is possible today.
Follow this very special exhibition from the Congress Corridor up to the 6th and 8th floors of the Harold Washington Library Center, where related artifacts and models are on display. These innovative and exceptional craft have served to redefine again and again our knowledge of aerospace and what is possible.
Images and objects for this exhibit were provided by Boeing, NASA and the Motorola Foundation.
State Street: That Great Street
Harold Washington Library Center
The Chicago Gallery, Third Floor
June 27, 2008 through June 21, 2009
This exhibit explores Chicago’s world-renowned State Street. Known for its famous shopping meccas, lively entertainment and stunning architecture, State Street has attracted Chicagoans and tourists since the mid-19th century. The development of State Street and changes on the street over the last 150 years, as shown in this exhibit, reflect general trends and issues related to America’s large cities.
Chester Commodore, 1914-2004: The Work and Life of a Pioneering Cartoonist of Color.
Woodson Regional Library
Vivian G. Harsh Exhibit Gallery
May 24 - December 31, 2008
This major exhibition showcases the career of the late Chester Commodore--one of the country's most influential African American cartoonists--through the collection of 125 selected items including original cartoons, photographs, awards, letters and other memorabilia.
Called to the Challenge: The Legacy of Harold Washington
Harold Washington Library Center
Harold Washington Exhibit Hall, Ninth Floor
Ongoing 
This exhibit highlights three themes from Washington's personal and political legacy – his life, his image, and his work. Harold Washington, 42nd Mayor of Chicago, was the city's first African American Mayor. He was a reformer who changed Chicago politics and a person who never lost sight of the place from which he came and the influences that inspired him. This exhibition, drawn largely from the Harold Washington Archives & Collections of the Special Collections & Preservation Division of the Chicago Public Library, highlights three themes from his personal and political legacy – his life, his image, and his work.