The Northern Illinois University Art Museum is facilitating two upcoming bus trips this fall through their Get-on-the-Bus program: Friday, Sept. 22, 2023, the NIU Art Museum will travel to Crab Tree Farm in Lake Bluff, Illinois and the Driehaus Museum in Chicago, and Sunday, Nov. 19, 2023 the NIU Art Museum will travel to the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center in Skokie, Illinois.
On Friday, Sept. 22, the NIU Art Museum will have a private tour of the Arts and Crafts collection at Crab Tree Farm in Lake Bluff. This exciting tour should not be missed, as Crab Tree Farm is not open to the public and is only open to group-organized tours.
Crab Tree Farm is the last working farm in Illinois on Lake Michigan. Previously called Ash Meadow Farm, the name changed in 1905 when Scott and Grace Durand purchased 250 lakefront acres of property in Lake Bluff, Illinois. After a fire in 1910, Mrs. Durand chose Solon S. Beman as the architect for her modern dairy farm complex.
The tour goes through 30 rooms of Arts and Crafts interiors and exhibits. No interior photography is allowed.
Later in the afternoon we will have a guided tour at the Driehaus Museum in Chicago. The Driehaus Museum showcases art, architecture and design from the late 19th and 20th century in a meticulously restored Gilded Age home.
From 2003 to 2008, the late Richard H. Driehaus supported the restoration of the building to create a publicly accessible, nonprofit museum. The museum’s collection reflects the interests, vision and focus of its founder, Richard H. Driehaus.
On exhibit is “Hector Guimard: Art Nouveau to Modernism,” which explores the life and work of the French architect. We will see furniture and design objects, jewelry, metalwork, ceramics, drawings and textiles from collections worldwide, as the Driehaus is the first major American museum exhibition devoted to Guimard since 1970.
Bus begins boarding at 7:45 a.m. on Locust Street on the north side of the NIU parking garage, between Normal and Carrol Streets on the NIU DeKalb campus with access from route 38. Departure at 8 a.m. Lunch (on your own) with many options in the River North neighborhood. Final departure at 4:30 p.m. with an estimated return arrival in DeKalb around 6:30 p.m.
Costs: Round-trip transportation and tours at Crab Tree Farm and the Driehaus Museum: $75 for NIU Art Museum members, $80 students/seniors, $90 nonmembers. NIU Art Museum registration and payment deadline for this trip has been extended to Friday, Sept. 8.
On Sunday, Nov. 19, and in conjunction with the NIU Art Museum’s food exhibition, we will visit the Illinois Holocaust Museum’s exhibit, “I’ll Have What She’s Having: The Jewish Deli.”
In addition, participants have the opportunity to view the “Interactive Holograms: Survivor Stories Experience.” This award-winning innovative exhibition allows the audience to view a hologram of a Holocaust survivor as they tell their story of survival. After watching a short introductory film, the hologram will respond to questions from the audience, inviting visitors to have a personalized, one-on-one “conversation.”
After the museum, participants will stop at Kaufman’s Bagel and Delicatessen for lunch. We will then travel to Mitsuwa Marketplace in Arlington Heights, a Japanese grocery store chain with a food court, book store and bakery as we continue to celebrate food and culture.
Bus begins boarding at 8:45 a.m. on Locust Street on the north side of the NIU parking garage, between Normal and Carrol Streets on the NIU DeKalb campus with access from route 38. Departure at 9 a.m. Lunch and other food items on your own. Estimated return arrival to DeKalb around 6 p.m.
Costs: Round-trip transportation and group tour of the Holocaust Museum: $50 NIU Art Museum members/seniors, $60 nonmembers, $45 students under 22.
NIU Art Museum registration and payment deadline for this trip has been extended to Friday, Nov. 10.
Payment for these trips may be made with check, cash or credit card. Call 815-753-1936 to register.
The Get-On-The-Bus Trips of the NIU Art Museum are great ways to meet other art lovers, keep up with what’s happening in the art world, see innovative historical exhibits, and travel without the hassle of traffic, tolls and parking. Bus trips are planned to take advantage of the best visual art offerings in the region, in correlation with the museum’s own exhibitions and by suggestion of the members of the Friends of the NIU Art Museum.
The NIU Art Museum works with Coach USA/Van Galder whose buses include large, comfortable reclining seats, Wi-Fi and restroom, and they undergo intensive cleaning and sanitation after each trip, featuring filtration of the onboard air every two minutes and a complete replacement with fresh outside air every 10 minutes. Van Galder bus drivers participate in a Greenroad program gaining points for conscientious environmental driving practices.
Please check our website go.niu.edu/artmuseumevents for our hours, program schedule and instructions on how to join virtual talks. Have our event announcements and program information delivered directly to your inbox. Sign up at go.niu.edu/artmuseumsubscribe.
About the NIU Art Museum
Serving Campus and Community by Balancing Traditional and Contemporary Art to Explore the Connections Made through Visual Culture. Part of the College of Visual and Performing Arts‘ vibrant and active arts community on campus, the Northern Illinois University Art Museum is a resource for the NIU campus, local community and beyond.
The NIU Art Museum is located on the first floor, west end of Altgeld Hall, at the corner of College Avenue and Castle Drive on the main campus of Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Illinois.
Parking on campus is now administered through AIMS Mobile Pay or Parking Pay Stations available in the Visitor Pay Lot located at 200 Carroll Ave and at accessible parking spaces in front of Lowden Hall with accessible aisles and route to Altgeld Hall. Campus parking is free on weekends and after 5 p.m. weeknights in nearby Lots 3 and 14.
The exhibitions and programs of the NIU Art Museum are sponsored in part by the Illinois Arts Council Agency, the Friends of the NIU Art Museum, the NIU Arts and Culture Fee, and the College of Visual and Performing Art’s Season Presenting Sponsors Shaw Media and WNIU/WNIJ.
Gallery Hours
10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesday
10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday
Noon to 6 p.m. Thursday
Noon to 6 p.m. Friday
Noon to 3 p.m. Saturday; and by appointment for group tours.
Exhibitions are free and open to the public.
Top photo: Crab Tree Farm, Lake Bluff, Illinois
