Our History

1885 – 1898: Studebaker Carriage Company

The Studebaker Carriage Company was founded in 1852 in South Bend, Indiana by the five Studebaker brothers. They quickly became known for manufacturing some of the finest carriages in the world, and had a successful repository and sales room on Wabash Avenue in Chicago beginning in the early 1870s.

In 1885, the company decided to consolidate its assembly operations and sales floor in a new location on Michigan Avenue, and hired architect Solon S. Beman to design an eight-story building for their headquarters. Upon its completion in 1887, it was hailed as the “model carriage factory in this country, if not in the world.” Carriages were assembled on the upper floors of the building, and made their way down to the showrooms on the lower four floors where they were sold.

Promotional material for the Studebaker Carriage Company’s factory and repository shortly after it was completed in 1887.

By 1895, the Studebaker company was expanding so quickly that plans were made to move to a brand new, larger warehouse and manufacturing plant on Wabash Avenue. Before moving to the new building in 1897, the company made the decision to retain ownership of the original Michigan Avenue structure and, at the encouragement of Charles C. Curtiss, invested over $500,000 to remodel the building into an artists’ haven of studios, offices, and theaters. This extensive renovation set the stage for Chicago’s most exciting center for art and culture to be born in 1898: the Fine Arts Building.

1898 – 1928: A flourishing arts community

Once the Fine Arts Building was opened in 1898, many of Chicago’s artists, musicians, craftspeople, and social clubs moved into the building’s studios. It rapidly became a hub for a wide variety of art practices and social movements, including the burgeoning Arts and Crafts movement and the women’s suffrage movement, among others.

The newly-renovated Fine Arts Building in 1903.

One of the hallmarks of this era at the Fine Arts Building was a spirit of collaboration and camaraderie. Many of the building’s early tenants were involved in the same social circles which met regularly in these studios – from the Little Room and the Caxton Club to the Fortnightly and the Chicago Women’s Club – the connections made at the Fine Arts Building allowed these artists to support, influence, and inspire each other’s work. 

For example, in 1901, the Leyendecker brothers – illustrators who had studios on the 10th floor – supervised the beginning of a large mural project for the walls over the 10th floor stair and light wells. All the panels shared a background of brilliant gold and were painted in the art nouveau style. Ralph Clarkson, Oliver Dennett Grover, Charles Francis Browne, Frederick Clay Bartlett, Martha Baker, Bertha Menzler-Peyton, and Frank Leyendecker all contributed to the panels, which can still be seen today.

The 10th-floor Art Nouveau murals today. Photo by Eric Allix Rogers.

It was during this time that many of the building’s most famous historic tenants were walking the halls: including sculptor Lorado Taft, portrait painter Ralph Clarkson, architect Frank Lloyd Wright, Wizard of Oz illustrator William W. Denslow, Poetry magazine founder Harriet Monroe, Little Review editor Margaret Anderson, political cartoonist John McCutcheon, the Chicago Little Theatre, and many others.

The Fine Arts Building studio of sculptor Lorado Taft, ca. 1910.

The Fine Arts Building was also a major center for women’s organizations in these early years, housing headquarters for the Chicago Women’s Club, the Fortnightly of Chicago, and the Cordon Club. These organizations were frequently focused on social improvement and state-building reform, most notably the improvement of state facilities for dependent children, orphans, and female prisoners, as well as legislation for compulsory education and against child labor. The Chicago Woman’s Club’s members—particularly Julia Lathrop, Jane Addams, and Lucy Flower—were so influential that they largely ushered in the Illinois Juvenile Court Law of 1899, which created the first juvenile court in the United States. The Illinois Equal Suffrage Association, led by president Grace Wilbur Trout, was headquartered in the building from 1910 through 1919 and played a major role in gaining women the right to vote. Because of the IESA’s work, Illinois became the first state to ratify the 19th Amendment in 1919.

Members of the Illinois Equal Suffrage Association passing by the Fine Arts Building during their 1910 automobile tour of Illinois. Courtesy of the Chicago History Museum.

During this time, the Studebaker Theater had been constructed in the former Studebaker Carriage Company’s showroom on the ground floor. At its opening in 1898, it sat 1,550 people. The first performance was a piano recital by Fannie Bloomfield Zeisler, and the Studebaker Theater became known as a premier music hall. In its early years, it presented operas from the Castle Square Opera Company, new comedies by Fine Arts Building tenant George Ade, symphonies, and vaudeville. 

In 1917, the Studebaker underwent a major renovation led by the Shubert Organization and architect Andrew Rebori, transforming it architecturally into the theater we recognize today. The proscenium arch was enlarged, the side-walls rebuilt and a new main floor, balcony and gallery were constructed, although the ceiling remained the same from 1898.

A blueprint of the Studebaker Theater’s 1917 renovation, by Andrew Rebori. Courtesy of the Shubert Organization.

1920 – 1978: The mid-century

With the stock market crash of 1929 and the death of Charles C. Curtiss, the Fine Arts Building’s first manager, the building entered a new era. The assembly hall on the 10th floor was renamed Curtiss Hall to honor Curtiss’ legacy in the Fine Arts Building.

This era is marked by the proliferation of community organizations in the building, many of which held regular meetings, lectures, hosted visiting artists, and presented concert performances. The Cordon Club, a women’s organization, held offices in the building until 1960, and featured artist talks, exhibitions, literary discussions, and more. The Musicians Club of Women regularly held concerts in Curtiss Hall. The Alliance Francaise, which held offices and a French library in the building until 1967, put on performances, held meetings, and more.

Notably, the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras moved into the Fine Arts Building in 1960, and the Harrington Institute of Design followed shortly after in 1962. These organizations had a huge impact, welcoming thousands of students into the building through the following decades, and the Harrington Institute spread to occupy space in four floors of the building until it moved out in 2002. The CYSO is still a major part of the Fine Arts Building today.

Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras students leaving the Music Room on the Fine Arts Building’s 8th floor, ca. 1964. Courtesy of the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras.

The Studebaker Theater hosted a variety of groups and touring productions during this time. Some notable productions from this time included James Kirkwood and Mercedes Gilbert in “Mulatto” by Langston Hughes in 1936; Ethel Barrymore in “The Corn is Green” in 1943; Mae West in “Catherine the Great” in 1945; and Yul Brynner in “Lute Song” in 1947. Beginning in 1944, the Central Church hosted Sunday services in the Studebaker. From 1950 – 1955, the Studebaker became home to NBC Studios’ Cavalcade of Stars, which was broadcast live from the theater.

A woman walking by the entrance to the Studebaker Theater in the Fine Arts Building, ca. 1956. Courtesy of the Chicago History Museum.

In 1956, the Studebaker Theatre Company was founded by Bernard Sahlins. Sahlins’ goal was to create a permanent repertory company in the Studebaker, presenting classic and contemporary plays with Chicago talent. Due to financial difficulties, in 1957 the company shuttered, however less than two years later Sahlins would become one of the founders of The Second City. Following this, the Studebaker went on to feature touring productions, with prominent stars including Martin Sheen, Eartha Kitt, Henry Fonda, Claudette Colbert, Peter O’Toole, Rex Harrison, and many more.

In 1978, the Fine Arts Building was named a Chicago Landmark as an “exemplification of the cultural, economic, social, and historical heritage of the City of Chicago.”

1979 – 2020: A new millenium

During the late 20th century, the Fine Arts Building had found itself in a precarious period, and by the late 1970s the building was nearly 60% vacant. Artist Tom Graham purchased the building in 1979 and filled it with a new generation of tenants. The building became a haven for musicians, especially string instrumentalists, with many fine string instrument makers, dealers, and restorers including Bein & Fushi, William Harris Lee & Co, Carl Becker & Sons, John Becker, McLaughlin Violins, and Guadagnini Violins. Other prominent tenants who moved in during this era included Performers Music, a longstanding sheet music store, Selected Works Used Books, the Chicago Human Rhythm Project, Joel Hall, and others.

In 1995, Tom and his wife Mary Graham founded the Fine Arts Building Cooperative Gallery, which operated from Studio 433 until 2006. The gallery frequently featured Chicago artists and Fine Arts Building tenants, including Anita Miller, Catherine Keebler, Serene Wise, Lou Ann Burkhardt, Richard Laurent, Larry K. Snider, James Tansley, Grace Cole, and many more. Tom and Mary Graham, themselves artists, also frequently participated in the gallery’s group shows.

In 1982, M&R Amusement Company converted the Studebaker Theater and the Fine Arts Building’s smaller World Playhouse theater into the Fine Arts Theatres multiplex. At first, the new multiplex mainly showed art and independent films, but when M&R sold their theater chain to Loews in 1988, it switched to playing mostly Hollywood films. The complex was closed in November 2000, which resulted in the Studebaker sitting dark for about 15 years.

Preparation of the Fine Arts Theatres marquee in 1982. Moonlighting, with Jeremy Irons, was the first film screened in the multiplex.

In 2015, work began to revitalize the Studebaker Theater, and the theater began hosting occasional opera, symphony, and ballet performances.

2021 – today: Looking to the future

In 2021, a major renovation of the Studebaker Theater began, bringing all-new seating, a dual-level production booth, state-of-the-art lighting and sound systems, and more to the Studebaker. The renovation brought modern technology and systems to the theater, while preserving and highlighting the Studebaker’s iconic historic architecture. Since its grand reopening in 2022, the Studebaker has been home to NPR’s “Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me!” and has featured performances from local organizations such as the Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival, the Chicago Opera Theater, the Chicago Jazz Orchestra, as well as new musicals in development.

The Studebaker Theater in 2023, following its recent major renovation. Photo by Mikel Pickett.

In 2023, the Fine Arts Building celebrated its 125th anniversary year, and was recognized by Mayor Brandon Johnson when he proclaimed October 13 as Fine Arts Building Day in Chicago. The building is continuing its legacy as one of the most vibrant and vital landmarks in Chicago art, architecture, and culture, and is home to some of the most prominent artists and arts organizations in the city. Prominent tenants who are writing the contemporary history of the building include the Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival, the Chicago Opera Theater, the Jazz Institute of Chicago, the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras, John Becker, William Harris Lee & Co, Bein & Fushi, Performers Music, Exile in Bookville, Matt Bodett’s Press Here Center for Mad Culture, Cecilia Beaven, and more. Visit our Directory to discover all of the incredible artists who call the Fine Arts Building their creative home today.

The Fine Arts Building in 2023, with banners celebrating its 125th anniversary in the foreground. Photo by Alexander Attea.