Cliff Dwellers Club

Symphony Center, home of Cliff Dwellers Club from 1907 through 1996

The Cliff Dwellers Club is a private civic arts organization in Chicago, Illinois.

Foundation

The Club was founded in 1907 by Chicago author Hamlin Garland as "The Attic Club",[1] meeting in the ninth-story penthouse above Orchestra Hall (now Symphony Center) at 220 South Michigan Avenue. Garland's model was the New York Players Club. It was renamed "Cliff Dwellers Club" two years later.

The club's interior, the "kiva", was designed by Chicago architect Howard Van Doren Shaw, and featured the mural Navaho by John Warner Norton.[2] Charter members of the club included Garland's brother-in-law Lorado Taft, educator and author William Morton Payne, architect Frank Lloyd Wright,[3] architects A.B. Pond and I.K. Pond, the landscape architect Jens Jensen, and many other civic and cultural figures. According to the club's own history, decorated with Meso-American cartoon spot illustrations, "The opening ceremonies were exceedingly elaborate."[4]

Other members have included:[5]

Recent history

In 1996 the Chicago Symphony chose to evict the Cliff Dwellers from their long-time residence, and the club moved essentially next door, to the 22nd level of the adjacent Borg Warner building.[6]

The private club continues to operate as "a non-profit organization for men and women either professionally engaged in, or who support, the fine arts and the performing arts." Women have been admitted as members since 1984.[3]

References

  1. ↑ "Welcome". The Cliff Dwellers. Retrieved 2014-04-28.
  2. ↑ Gray, Mary Lackritz (April 1, 2001). A Guide to Chicago's Murals. University of Chicago Press. p. 20. ISBN 978-0-226-30599-8.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Schmidt, William (May 31, 1990). "Chicago Journal; In Which a Tradition Faces Eviction". The New York Times. Retrieved 2014-04-28.
  4. ↑ ,The cliff-dwellers: An account of their organization, the dedication and ...by Cliff Dwellers (Club), R.F. Seymour co., 1910, page 10
  5. ↑ Many cited in The cliff-dwellers: An account of their organization, the dedication and ...by Cliff Dwellers (Club), R.F. Seymour co., 1910, pgs 71-78
  6. ↑ McNamara, Chris (May 4, 2011). "A peek inside the Cliff Dwellers Club". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2014-04-28.