“What is the Shedd Aquarium’s Jazzin’ Science Pub Program?” by S.M. O’Connor

One of the ancillary programs for the John G. Shedd Aquarium’s 2019 Jazzin’ at the Shedd concert series is called the “Jazzin’ Science Pubs.” Once a month from June through August, this is a chance to meet a Shedd Aquarium scientist or listen to a panel discussion to learn about marine flora and fauna while enjoying a beverage. These events will take place from 7:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in Phelps Auditorium on certain designated dates during Jazzin’ at the Shedd concerts.

During the Members-only Jazzin’ at the Shedd concert, on Tuesday, June 11, 2019, one can join Dr. Bill Van Bonn, Vice President of Animal Health, and Steve Aibel, Director of Marine Mammals, for “Beluga Care and Conservation.” They will discuss the Shedd Aquarium’s beluga whales and the conservation of threatened populations of beluga whales.

On Wednesday, June 26, 2019, the Jazzin’ Science Pub will be “Celebrating Diversity: The Living Rainbow.” This is a chance to explore beauty and diversity in the aquatic animal world with special exhibit aquarist Reena Sibley.

“Coral Conservation” will be on Wednesday, July 3, 2019. Research biologist Ross Cunning, Ph.D., and aquarist Keoki Burton will discuss their work in The Bahamas.

On Wednesday, August 28, 2019, Dr. Bill Van Bonn, Vice President of Animal Health, and Steve Aibel, Director of Marine Mammals, will reprise their “Beluga Care and Conservation” presentation. They will discuss the Shedd Aquarium’s beluga whales and the conservation of threatened populations of beluga whales.

On a date to be determined, the Jazzin’ Science Pub will be “A Head Start for State-Endangered Blanding’s Turtles.” Thanks to a partnership with the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County, Dr. Matt O’Connor,[1] Senior Staff Veterinarian at the Shedd Aquarium, will discuss his efforts to help the endangered species of turtles in Illinois recover.

Tickets for Jazzin’ at the Shedd concerts are $24.95 ($19.95 for Chicago residents) or free for Members. To purchase tickets, click here, indicate whether or not you are a Member, select a date, and choose Jazzin’ at the Shedd.

The Shedd Aquarium has over 32,000 living animals representing 1,500 species on site. The address is 1200 South lake Shore Drive, Chicago, Illinois 60605. The phone number is (312) 939-2438. The Website is https://www.sheddaquarium.org/.

$5.00 Per Month IN THE GARDEN CITY Subscription Plan

$50.00 Per Year IN THE GARDEN CITY Subscription Plan

[1] In theory, all members of Clan O’Connor are related, but Dr. Matt O’Connor and I are not closely related, in so far as I am aware.

The Field Museum of Natural History in March, 2018

The Field Museum of Natural History’s entrance pavilions are at opposite ends of Stanley Field Hall, which has a north-south axis. The two porticos (porches) are each reached by two successive flights of stairs.

Both porticos of The Field Museum of Natural History are flanked by two small porches, which each have two caryatids (columns in the shape of maidens). On the facade, the wings are adorned with a colonnade of attached fluted Ionic columns. The building’s fluted Ionic columns have volutes (spiral-scroll-shaped crowns).

Each portico of The Field Museum is tetrastyle in antis with double-ranked fluted Ionic columns capped by volutes. An entablature crowned by a pediment rests atop the columns. The continuous frieze in each case is relatively plain. The wave-themed acroteria that crown the pediments are borrowed from the Palace of a Fine Arts, which housed The Field Museum until 1920 and now houses the Museum of Science and Industry.

The Field Museum of Natural History isn’t “just” a museum. Visitors can watch scientists at work through windows at the Daniel F. and Ada L. Rice DNA Discovery Center’s Pritzker Laboratory.

Mrs. Charles (Laura) Schweppe, a daughter and co-heiress of John Graves Shedd, the former partner of Marshall Field I who succeeded him as president of Marshall Field & Company, and who, under the guidance of Stanley Field founded the Shedd Aquarium, donated an exhibit of 100 bronze sculptures by Malvina Hoffman to The Field Museum. They represent every race, nation, and tribe in the human family (more or less). On January 9, 1933, the first group, Unity of Man, went on display.

In addition to the four figures Henry Hering (1874-1949) made for the corners of Stanley Field Hall, he also made the twelve plaster round lion head shield escutcheons that line it. These are replicas of the marble round lion head shield escutcheon he made for the pediment of the facade of The Field Museum of Natural History.

Christmas at Chicago’s Union Station

Credit: S.M. O’Connor Caption: This is a POLAR EXPRESS display in the Great Hall of Union Station.

Credit: S.M. O’Connor Caption: This is a closeup of the THE POLAR EXPRESS steam locomotive mock-up in the Great Hall of Chicago’s Union Station.

Credit: S.M. O’Connor Caption: This is the headlamp of THE POLAR EXPRESS steam locomotive mock-up in the Great Hall of Chicago’s Union Station.

Credit: S.M. O’Connor Caption: This Union Station Company rail car loaded with super-size gifts is part of THE POLAR EXPRESS mock-up in the Great Hall of Chicago’s Union Station.

Credit: S.M. O’Connor Caption: This is a Christmas tree in the Great Hall of Chicago’s Union Station.

Credit: S.M. O’Connor Caption: This Christmas tree in the Great Hall of Union Station in downtown Chicago has emblems of Amtrak, Metra, and historic railroad companies whose routes they now operate like Burlington.

Cinemas sculptor Alfonso Iannelli (1888-1965) Helped Design

This is the Pickwick Theatre Building, an Art Deco movie palace and office building erected in downtown Park Ridge, Illinois in 1928.

The architects were Roscoe Harold Zook and William F. McCaughey. Sculptor Alfonso Iannelli, who also worked on the Adler Planetarium, contributed to this building.

In recent years, the Vlahakis family, who’ve owned the building for 50 years, have been able to turn the building into a multiplex by adding smaller theaters around the original auditorium. The latest one, with a screen four times the size of the one in the auditorium, will open in time to screen INFINITY WARS in May, if all goes well.

The Catlow Movie Theater is a cinema that opened in downtown Barrington, Illinois in 1927. The Tudor Revival style of architecture is not confined to the facade of the cinema. As with the Pickwick Theatre in Park Ridge, Illinois, sculptor Alfonso Iannelli (1888-1965) played a role in the design and decoration of The Catlow Movie Theater.