Union League Club of Chicago’s Post

The Union League Club of Chicago has an internationally recognized art collection. Almost 800 works strong, it is comprised of paintings, sculptures and drawings including: "The Discovery" 1905, Clara Taggart MacChesney Clara Taggart MacChesney was born in Brownsville, California and began her art studies in San Francisco at the California School of Design, before moving to New York City. She later moved to Paris, where she enrolled in the Académie Colarossi. MacChesney exhibited watercolors at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, and was awarded a medal for her work. Her painting is watercolor on board and is one of her many works that features figures, scenes and landscapes of Holland. "The Discovery" is located on the fourth floor. To learn more visit: www.ulcc.org

Tuesday | July 30 11:30 a.m. Correction: Parole, Prison, and the Possibility of Change Since 1978, Illinois has had no parole process for early release of persons who were imprisoned for crimes committed in their teens or twenties, even when, decades later, they have matured, become rehabilitated and pose no threat to public safety. Please join the Administration of Justice Subcommittee, in partnership with the Chicago Bar Association, as we welcome noted author Ben Austen. Austen’s newest book is Correction: Parole, Prison, and the Possibility of Change. Austen’s book looks unblinkingly at our nation’s system of incarceration. A system, that purportedly promotes rehabilitation and rewards inmates who turn their lives around. However, that system appears to no longer work as it was intended. Following the luncheon program, please join Ben Austen for a book signing of Correction: Parole, Prison, and the Possibility of Change (Flatiron Books, 2023). Members: Login to make your reservations.

Join our winning team - Union League Club of Chicago is hiring!! * Hospitality Management * Private Clubs * Member & Guest Service Satisfaction * Art & Culture Apply here or ulcc.org We look forward to working with you.

Member Spotlight: Mark Wojcik ✨ Occupation: Law Professor at the University of Illinois Chicago School of Law (previously known as The John Marshall Law School). School(s): B.A. cum laude, Bradley University; J.D. cum laude, University of Illinois Chicago School of Law; LL.M. (in Trade Regulation), New York University School of Law. What prompted you to join the ULCC? Another law professor and Club member told me that joining the Club was the present you gave yourself when you became a tenured professor, so that's what I did. And my office is less than two minutes away! What did you learn about the Club after joining?  The Staff really cares about the members and making sure that everyone has a great experience every time they come to the Club. What is your fondest ULCC memory? My law school organized a wonderful reception at the Club to celebrate my inauguration into the Chicago LGBT Hall of Fame. It was a spectacular evening for me and my husband. #clublife #members

Summer. Time to sit back and unwind. And enjoy warmer weather, longer days and evenings outdoors with friends. All summer long the Club has unique and unforgettable events where you can socialize, network and have a good time. There are summertime drinks especially crafted by our bartenders, summertime menus expertly created by our Chefs and summertime entertainment thoughtfully curated by our member events team. From Beer and Wine tastings to an afternoon in the park with our 2nd Act Lunch group, it’s time to sit back and unwind and enjoy summertime Chi at the Union League Club of Chicago. #summer #summertime #summertimechi #clublife

Untitled Painting by David Sharpe The ULCC's piece is from Sharpe’s early “Organic Abstraction” period with influences like Vassily Kandinsky and Paul Klee (Expressionism), Joan Miro (Surrealism) and the Pop Art movement, but also of his slightly older Chicago-based contemporaries like Ed Paschke, a group referred to as the “Chicago Imagists,” and their style as Imagism. ___________________________________________________________ David Sharpe was born in 1944 in Owensboro, Kentucky. He studied at the School of the Art Institute and worked in Chicago until 1970. He began showing his work as an undergraduate in 1964. He moved to New York city in 1970 where he still lives today. The Union League Club of Chicago's piece is dated 1972. Sharpe's work was recognized very early in his career for its formal sophistication and maturity, which some critics suggest provided him with the confidence and credibility to develop it in relatively dramatic, stylistic shifts, recognized for their command of color, handling of paint, complex compositions, and wide array of formal strategies. His work can be organized into three relatively distinct bodies: 1) Organic Abstraction, such as our piece, which mixes the traditions of Kandinsky, Klee, Miró, and Pop Art (1967–1973); 2) Abstract Landscapes from the early 1970s–1979, and 3) Abstract Representational work (late 1970s). Speaking of his early paintings, former MCA Chicago curator Lynne Warren wrote that Sharpe's work represents "an important body of abstract work" completed while Chicago Imagism was the predominant style in the city in the late 1960’s. The New Art Examiner’s Jane Allen described Imagist work as an organic blend of Imagism and mainstream American abstraction. Art in America’s Joanna Frueh suggested Sharpe’s formal experiments were a quest to realize the inspiration experienced by early modernists and the Abstract Expressionists within an independent language that rivaled, but did not imitate them - think Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, Arshile Gorky, Mark Rothko. Sharpe has exhibited at the Whitney Museum of American Art, Art Institute of Chicago, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago (MCA), The Drawing Center, Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, Indianapolis Museum of Art, and Chicago Cultural Center, among others. #art #artist #chicago #expressionist #abstract #clublife

Who's Who in Club History Meet me on Kedzie John Hume Kedzie was a lawyer, an astronomer and later a real-estate developer. He was also the first Director of the Union League Club of Chicago. Kedzie was admitted to the bar in 1847, but after moving to Chicago and noticing the need for the growing city to expand past its limits, he turned to real estate development. With partners Luther L. Greenleaf, Cyrus P. Leland and John P. Wilson, he formed the Ravenswood Land Company. The company purchased two hundred acres of land near the Chicago and Great Western Railroad tracks in what is now Ravenswood, on the Northwest Side of the city, The company also planned and developed land in South Evanston. Kedzie and his partner Luther Greenleaf were benefactors to the city of Evanston, helping to found the Evanston Free Public Library in 1873. He served as the first president of the library board. Kedzie was outspoken in his opposition to slavery during the days of antebellum. He belonged to the abolitionist wing of the Republican party as it formed and came to power. In 1886, he wrote “Speculations: Solar Heat, Gravitation And Sun Spots,” diving into the scientific theories and observations surrounding the sun and its effects on Earth. Kedzie Street, which runs north and south through several neighborhoods including Mount Greenwood, Lawndale, Logan Square and North Park, is named after him; As well as Kedzie Avenue in Evanston. #chicago #chicagohistory #kedzie #clublife

The Union League Club of Chicago is known for its extensive art collection that represents the Club’s support of the arts for more than a century. Once a year, the Art Committee celebrates our own member's artistic works with an invitational exhibit. Members show off and explain the inspirations for their winning pieces in our third floor gallery. #art #arwork #artists #artcollection

Chicago Bears President and CEO Kevin Warren, along with Fox Chicago's Lou Canellis, joined members and guests for a conversation about the Bears upcoming season and beyond, today at Union League Club of Chicago in partnership with Lincoln Forum. Warren's goals are to bring multiple super bowl trophies to the city, build the best and most cost-efficient stadium for the franchise, while also impacting the community and ultimately have fans be proud the Chicago Bears are their team. #chicago #chicagobears