Past Trips
2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001
2000 |1999 | 1998 | 1997 | 1996 | 1995 | 1994
2013 Trips
Thursday – Sunday, April 25-28: Get-On-The-Bus-Over-Nighter! - Milwaukee/Racine…AH…HA!
An extensive architectural, artistic, and cultural adventure through Milwaukee and Racine
Saturday, March 2, DPAM & Chicago Arts Orchestra: Visited the DePaul University Art Museum and attended a Chicago Arts Orchestra performance at St. Michael's church in Old Town.
2012 Trips
Saturday, November 3, Cedar Rapids: Alphonse Mucha, Grant Wood and Marvin Cone; Art Nouveau and Regionalism.
Friday, November 30th, Chicago Cultural Heritage Museums I. Selection of Heritage Museums in Chicago.
Saturday, October 20, Bridgeport Art Center and Neighborhood Studio Open House.
Friday, September 7: Chicago Gallery season openings and Roger Brown Exhibits
Thursday, August 2: Civil War 150th Anniversary Trip: Rosehill Cemetary (Civil War area) walking tour and Civil War Era Quilts from the Illinois State Museum. Members only.
Saturday, February 18: Contemporary Collections: Howard A. Tullman Personal Collection at Tribeca Flashpoint Academy and DePaul University Art Museum for: Re: Chicago & Highlights from the Permanent Collection.
Saturday, March 3: North Shore Excursion: Prints and the Pursuit of Knowledge in Early Modern Europe, Mary and Leigh Block Museum at Northwestern University, and the Illinois Holocaust Museum in Skokie.
Saturday, April, 14: Image and Text in History, Tour of the Newberry Library, Chicago Calligraphy Collective Annual Juried Exhibition and Write Now: Artists and Letterforms, Chicago Cultural Center.
2011 Trips
Friday, July 22, Member’s Only – Warm Light, Cool Shadows, The Life and Art of Ruth Van Sickle Ford, Exhibition, discussion and Book Signing with Ford biographer Nancy Hopp, Aurora Public Arts Commission, private tour of the historic Bruce Goff designed Ford Round House (pictured on page 1), designed by Bruce Goff.
Saturday, September 3, Summer of CHINA at the Milwaukee Art Museum and museum history at the Milwaukee Public Museum. .
Friday, September 9, Season Gallery Openings in Chicago.
Saturday, October 1, 2011, Nathan Manilow Sculpture Park tour and BYO Picnic, Governors State University.
Saturday, October 29, 2011, Museum Studies Tour of Aurora Museums; The Aurora Public Arts Commission/History Center, The Aurora Regional Fire Museum & Schingoethe Native American Museum at Aurora University.
Sunday, November 13, The Avalon Quartet, Beethoven Selections, The Art Institute of Chicago.
Saturday, January 29, Printpalooza, Block Museum of Art. 10
Saturday, March 19, 2011, Museum of Contemporary Art for: Susan Philipsz: We Shall Be All, 2010 Turner Prize winners’ sound-oriented installation and Jim Nutt, Coming in to Character, a retrospective of “The Hairy Who” instigator’s work & the Art Institute of Chicago for John Marin's Watercolors: A Medium for Modernism.
Saturday, April 16, 2011, 8:30 - 5:00 p.m. MEMBERS ONLY: Architecture for, as, and to display Art. Luncheon and private tour of a collection of Outsider Art housed in a specially created space designed by Award Winning architect Genie Gang, (famous for “Aqua” the tallest skyscraper designed by a female).
June 23-27, 2011, Southern Wisconsin: “Outsider, Odd, and Wonderful” TripOur Third GOTBON (Get-On-The-Bus Over-Nighter)
2010 Trips
Friday, September 10: Chicago Gallery Season Opener,
Friday October 1 - Monday October 4: "Grand, Great, Fabulous GOTBON": Long weekend trip to Grand Rapids, Michigan for ArtPrize, Meijer Sculpture Gardens, and Heritage Hill House Tours.
Saturday, October 30, Hyde Park/University of Chicago Museums: full day of Hyde Park Art Center, Renaissance Society, Smart Museum of Art and Oriental Institute.
Friday, November 5: SOFA (Sculpture, Objects, Functional Art Expo at Navy Pier) & Day of the Dead displays at the Mexican Fine Art Center Museum.
Friday May 14 Chicago Area WPA Mural Tour with Heather Becker, Lane Technical High School, Nettlehorst elementary and Chopin elementary schools. .
Friday June 25, Chicago Architecture Tours: Historic architecture (skyscrapers) of the loop rounded out with a relaxing boat tour on the Chicago River.
Sunday February 14, 2010, Chinese New Year, Chinatown Chicago, fireworks and fun!
April 2010, St. Louis Overnight Pop Culture Extravaganza with Route 66 stops on the way.
2009 Trips
Saturday September 26,
Technology and Art trip to Milwaukee. Milwaukee Art Museum, the Discovery World Museum & The Third Ward Area.
Friday September 11,
First Friday Chicago Gallery Openings, and Museum of Contemporary Art. Take Your Time by Olafur Eliasson and River North and West Loop Gallery Districts for the annual Chicago gallery Season Openings.
Friday, May 22, 2009
Art Institute of Chicago - Contemporary Gallery Opening
Opening of Contemporary Wing at the Art Institute with the exhibition: Cy Twombly The Natural World, Selected works 2001-2007.
Friday, May 1, 2009
Artropolis
Chicago Art Expo & International Antiques Fair. The Intuit Show, The Artist Project and the Bridge Art Fair.
Saturday April 4, 2009
Elmhurst Art Museum, Lazzadro Museum of Lapidary Art. (Cancelled)
Saturday February 21, 2009
The Aztec World, The Field Museum, Chicago
Tour of The Aztec World, led by School of Art Professor Jeff Kowalski, specialist in pre-Columbian art
Saturday January 24, 2009
Chic Chicago, Chicago History Museum
50 of the greatest couture treasures from the collection of the Chicago History Museum.
2008 Trips
Friday November 7th
SOFA Chicago
15th annual International Exposition of Sculptural Objects and Functional Art.
Saturday October 18th
Pilsen Open Studios 2008
60 artists and 30 spaces with open studions, galleries and cafes, Day of the Dead exhibition at the National Museum of Mexican Art.
Friday, September 5, 2008
Annual Gallery Season Opener, Chicago
Kurt Perschke's RedBall Project & River North and West Loop for Gallery Openings and shopping.
Saturday June 7
Chicago for the Printers Row Book Fair
Printers Row Book Fair, the Midwest's largest free literary event.
Friday, April 25
ARTropolis: Art Chicago and the Merchandise Mart International Antiques Fair
Citywide celebration of arts, antiques and culture.
Saturday, February 23
Winslow Homer and Edward Hopper, Chicago. Solo retrospective exhibitions of these two American art icons at The Art Institute of Chicago.
Friday, January 25
Festival of Maps, Chicago. Illinois State Museum Chicago Gallery for The Grammar of Landscape, HereThereEverywhere at the Chicago Cultural Center, and Mapping the Self at the Museum of Contemporary Art.
2007 Trips
Friday, November 2
SOFA Chicago. The 14th Annual International Exposition of Sculptural Objects and Functional Art.
Saturday, October 20
Anderson Japanese Gardens, Rockford. Incredible regional Japanese Garden gave us inspiration and prepared us for the exhibition of Japanese prints from the Richard F. Grott Family Collection.
Friday, September 7
Annual Gallery Season Openings, Chicago. Gallery Openings and shopping in River North and West Loop.
Thursday, July 26
Persian Immersian - Mirror of the Invisible World at the Goodman Theater, Persian Ceramics at the Art Institute and a meal at Reza's.
Saturday, June 23
Madison, Wisconsin Farmer's Market & Art Exhibits
Madison and the Dane County Farmer's market, Madison Museum of Contemporary Art for MMoCA Collects and the Wisconsin Triennial, Chazen Museum's Jennifer Argus Silver Wings and Golden Scales installation and Jane Hammond: Paperwork.
Friday, April 27
Artopolis
Annual Chicago Art Expo & International Antiques Fair.
Friday, May 4 (Members Only Trip)
Birds in Art, Culture and Nature
Member's Only Trip to the Illinois State Museum Chicago Gallery for Audubon:The Birds of America and While All the Tribes of Birds Sang. and Pete Olson led trec through Jackson Park's Wooded Isle for real-life avain encounters.
Saturday, March 3
Fiber Rich
Christian Dior's Chicago designs at the Chicago Historical Museum and Mayan textiles at the National Museum of Mexican Art (formerly the Mexican Fine Arts Center).
Saturday, February 24
Racine, Wisconsin
Cancelled due to weather
Saturday, February 10
African and African-American Legacies
Chicago Cultural Center for Lasting Foundations: The Art and Achitecture of Africa and David Philpot sculptures. DuSable Museum of African-American History for From Dreams to Determination: The Legacy of Dr. Percy and Anna Julian and 381 Days: The Montgomery Bus Boycott Story.
2006 Trips
Saturday, November 4
Springfield Outing
Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, Frank Lloyd-Wright's Dana-Thomas House, historical district in Springfield and the Museum of Funerary Customs.
Saturday, October 28
"Massive Smart Lama" tip to Chicago MASSIVE CHANGE: The Future of Global Design at the Museum of Contemporary Art and DRAWING AS PROCESS IN CONTEMPORARY ART at the Smart Museum of Art.
Friday, October 13
"20 Dirty Hands" / Galena area Pottery Studios
Visited the studios, kilns and forges of the 20 Dirty Hands Group, Galena.
Friday, September 8
Annual Chicago Gallery Season Opener
Bus drop off at River North with shuttle service to the West Loop for Gallery Openings.
Friday, September 15
Here to the Moon
Nearby wonders including Moon Project at Fermi Lab Gallery, American Science and Surplus, West Chicago Historical Museum, & the Orleans Street Gallery.
Friday, May 19
Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago for Andy Warhol and contemporary existential Chicago cartoonist Chris Ware exhibitions & River North Gallery District for the annual NIU MFA exhibition opening.
Friday, April 28
Members Only trip to Art Chicago, The Thomas Blackman international art expo and the Chicago Antiques Fair.
Saturday, April 22
Private tour of Crabtree Farm, a world-class Arts & Crafts collection on Chicago's North Shore.
Wednesday, March 15
Poet Laureate Ted Kooser Reading, Chicago.
This trip was organized in conjunction with our Poetry and Art exhibition, necessary angel.
Saturday, February 25
Pompeii in Chicago.
"Pompeii: Stories from an Eruption" at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago - an exploration of the archaeological finds of the ancient city petrified by the volcanic blast of Mount Vesuvias.
Saturday, February 18
This "Forced-March" Chicago Art Extravaganza included stops at the Smart Museum, the Renaissance Society, the Museum of Surgical Science, the Chicago Cultural Center, the Museum of Contemporary Photography, Butcher Shop/Dogmatic gallery and a special "after hours" tour of the Walsh Gallery.
2005 Trips
Friday, November 11
Pan/Sonic opening at the NIU Chicago Gallery and Pilsen neighborhood for their regular "2nd Friday" Artist Studio Openings.
Saturday, October 29
Members only trip to Cedar Rapids, Iowa to see the Grant Wood exhibit and tour Grant Wood's studio.
Saturday, October 8
A trip into Chicago to hear the curator's talk for The Art of Burma with visits to both contemporary and traditional Asian galleries.
Saturday, September 24
Chicago: Toulouse-Lautrec and Montmartre at the Art Institute & lunch at a French bistro. Images of Paris in the Photograph gallery, and Anchor Graphics presents printmaking demonstrations.
Saturday, September 10
Visiting artist lecture by reknowned photographer Joel Peter Witkin at Elgin Community College.
Friday, September 9
River North Gallery Season Opener in Chicago, with stops at the Art Institute and MCA.
Friday, July 8
Plano & Sandwich, IL: Culture Clash! Tour of Mies van der Rohe's infamous glass Farnsworth House on the banks of the Fox River in Plano followed by a tour of the 19th century Sandwich Opera House.
Saturday, June 11
Chicago for the annual Printers' Row Book Fair and also the Museum of Contemporary Photography.
Friday, April 8
Chicago: Intuit, the center for Outsider Art with an exhibit of visionary work and then a guided tour of the former home and studio of Chicago Imagist artist Roger Brown.
Saturday, March 12
Evanston: Northwestern University Library's annual Chicago Hand Bookbinders, the Leigh and Mary Block Gallery of Art for a William Morris Design exhibition and the Evanston Art Center for Invisible Worlds.
Saturday, February 5
Vietnam Veterans Art Museum and Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum in Chicago.
2004 Trips
Friday, November 12
NIU Chicago Gallery for the Artist's reception for Collaborations, with stops at the Cultural Center and Museum of Contemporary Art.
Friday, September 10
River North Gallery Season Opener in Chicago, with stops at the Art Institute and MCA.
Friday, July 30
Millennium Park, the Art Institute (Seurat and the Making of the Grande Jatte) and the Chicago Cultural Center (exhibits by Roger Brown and Fred Wilson)
Saturday, June 5
Hyde Park Art Fair, Chicago
Friday, May 7
ArtChicago 2004 Art Expo at Navy Pier
Saturday, April 24
Oriental Institute with NIU Professor Emeritus Avra Liakos
Saturday, April 17
NIU Chicago Gallery for the Global Matrix panel discussion.
Wednesday, March 24
Art Institute of Chicago for Rembrandt's Journey and the Print Study Room.
Friday, March 19
Rockford College for Sandy Skoglund Lecture and Reception
Saturday, February 21
"New Twists in Fiber Tour" to the Smart Museum, Hyde Park Art Center, MCA and River North galleries in Chicago.
Saturday, February 14
Art Institute of Chicago / NIU Chicago Gallery
With symposia by NIU Art History faculty Joshua B. Kind, Jeff Kowalski, and Catherine Raymond.
Saturday, January 17
Newberry Library in Chicago for Elizabeth I: Ruler and Legend.
With symposia by NIU Art History faculty Ann Van Dijk, Mary Quinlan and Rebecca Houze.
2003 Trips
Thursday, December 18
Sheboygan and Milwaukee, Quilts of Gee's Bend
Wednesday, November 5
Bill Viola Lecture, Chicago
Wednesday, November 5
Eric Fischl Lecture, Chicago
Friday, October 17
SOFA at Navy Pier, Chicago
Thursday, October 9
Christo and Jeanne-Claude Lecture in Rockford, IL
Friday - Sunday, October 3- 5
Saint Louis Art and Museum Weekend Trip
Friday, September 5
River North Gallery District Season Opener, Chicago
Friday, July 11
Himalayan and American Adventure, Chicago
May 9
ArtChicago 2003 Art Expo at Navy Pier & Caribbean dinner
April 12
Buddhism and Art symposium, NIU Chicago Gallery
April 5
Buddhist Centers and Temples; Artist Gallery Talk
March 2
Frida, Diego & 20th Century Mexican Art & Pilsen Mural Tour
February 1
New Year's in China Town and Collectible Gallery Talk
2002 Trips
November 24
Medici, Michelangelo & Late Renaissance Florence, Art Institute
October 25
SOFA at Navy Pier & Design France: Generation 2001 opening at the NIU Gallery.
October 18
"20 Dirty Hands" Ceramics Studios Tour, Galena & area
September 13
River North Gallery District Season Opener, Chicago
September 7
Sketching & Photo Trip to the Sandwich County Fair
August 11
Gerhard Richter Retrospective, Art Institute of Chicago
July 20
Milwaukee Art Museum new addition
July 12
Racine, WI: Wustum Museum & Frank Lloyd Wright's Johnson Wax headquarters
June 7
Sheboygan, WI: Kohler Art Center & Kohler Design Center
May 10
Art Expo at Navy Pier, dinner in Greek Town
April 20,
Mies in America, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago
April 13
West Loop Galleries
March 24
Photography Exhibits: Ansel Adams, ITT, Art Institute, Chicago
February 2
Chihuly in the Park & Retro Curators Talk at the NIU Chicago Gallery
2001 Trips
December 1
"Cleopatra" at the Field Museum, Chicago
November 2
"Day of the Dead" at the Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum in Chicago
October 30
"VanGogh & Gauguin" at the Art Institute, lunch at a French Bistro
October 5
SOFA at Navy Pier & Ah Leon Reception at the NIU Chicago Gallery
September 23
Graceland Cemetary Tour, Chicago Architecture Foundation
September 7
River North Gallery Season Opener, Chicago
July 13
Absolut Chicago Reception for the MFA Show at the NIU Chicago Gallery
May 15
Art Institute of Chicago for "Off the Easel", Terra Museum for "Rockwell Kent"
May 11
Art Expo at Navy Pier, dinner at Gaylords
February 9
Print Shop Tour, Chicago
February 3
"Doppelganger" Curator's Talk, NIU Chicago Gallery
2000 Trips
December 2
"Tao, Arts of China", Art Institute of Chicago
November 3
SOFA at Navy Pier, Virginia Scotchie Reception at the NIU Chicago Gallery
September 8
River North Gallery District Season Opener, Chicago
July 29
"Pharaohs of the Sun" at the Art Institute & Philip Glass' "Akhnaten" Opera
July 14
Absolut Chicago MFA Reception, NIU Gallery
June 10
Galena, IL: architecture & home tour & Jim Post's Mark Twain Production
May 14
Dead Sea Scrolls, Field Museum, Chicago
May 12
Art Expo at Navy Pier, dinner in China Town
March 4
Oriental Institute, Robie House, University of Chicago
February 27
Norman Rockwell exhibit at the Chicago Historical Society
February 5
Chicago Art Museums & "Blink" Curator and Artist's Talk at the NIU Gallery
January 30
Evanston Art Center, "Sculpture on the Grounds"
1999 Trips
December 4
Evanston Art Center, "Holiday Market"
November 5
SOFA at Navy Pier & Lynda Lowe Reception at the NIU Chicago Gallery
September 18
Rockford Art Museum for the Ben Mahmoud exhibition and reception
September 11
River North Gallery District Season Opener, Chicago
June 18
Spring Green, WI: Frank Lloyd Wright's "Taliesen"
May 16
"Chicago Public Arts Program" Mural Tour
May 7
Art Expo at Navy Pier & dinner at Wishbone
April 17
DJ Bennett Studio Tour, Lake Forest
March 6
"Art of the Motorcycle", Field Museum, Chicago
January 30
Chicago Art Museums & "Dysfunctional Home" Curator and Artist's Talk at the NIU Gallery
1998 Trips
November 14
Univ. of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana: Krannert Art Center & Glass-blowing Demo
November 7
Mary Cassatt, Lunch at Russian Tea Time, NIU Alumni Association
October 16
"Brush with Nature" Reception at the NIU Gallery
October 9
SOFA at Navy Pier
September 11
River North Gallery District Season Opener, Chicago
July 17
Oak Park, IL: Frank Lloyd Wright's home & studio & Unity Temple
June 6
57th Street Art Fair, Hyde Park
May 8
Art Expo at Navy Pier & Tom Skomski Reception at the NIU Gallery
April 18
Oak Park, IL: Frank Lloyd Wright's home & studio & Unity Temple
March 21
Lynda Lowe Madera Studio Tour, Wheaton
January 31
Chicago Art Museums & "Corporeal Substance" Curator and Artist's Talk at the NIU Gallery
1997 Trips
October 17
SOFA at Navy Pier & Yih Wen Kuo Reception at the NIU Gallery
October 4
Nathan Manilow Sculpture Park at Governor's State University
September 21
John Fraser Studio Tour, St. Charles
September 5
River North Gallery District Season Opener, Chicago
July 13
Art Fair on the Square, Madison, Wisconsin
July 11
Iowa City Printmaking Tour with Mauricio Lasansky & David Driesbach
May 9
Art Expo at Navy Pier, Chicago
April 19
Chicago Art Galleries & Regina Silveira Gallery Talk at the NIU Gallery
February 8
Newly Reopenend MCA, Charles R. Macintosh Exhibit, "Addendum" panel discussion
1996 Trip
September 6
River North Gallery District Season Opener, Chicago
1995 Trip
September 8
River North Gallery District Season Opener, Chicago
1994 Trip
September 9
River North Gallery District Season Opener, Chicago