A dozen Chicago architects have created drawings based on the theme of the Illinois prairie to aid the Illinois chapter of the Nature Conservancy, an international not-for-profit conservation organization.
Their 12-by-12-inch drawings will be auctioned at a benefit Saturday at the Naperville Polo Club.
The architects include Ralph Johnson, Margaret McCurry, Daniel Wheeler, Christopher Rudolph, Douglas Garofalo, Rick Phillips, John Syversten and Joseph Valerio.
Other participating designers are William James, Leonard Kutyla, Peter Frisbee and Mark Vanderpoel.
Their designs, which will be on display through Friday at the Crate & Barrel North Michigan Avenue store, also are a tribute to the 125th anniversary of the birth of Frank Lloyd Wright, whose earth-hugging architecture often took its inspiration from the Midwest prairie.
Proceeds from the event will go toward the preservation of the Indian Boundary Prairies in south suburban Markham.
According to the conservancy, the 252-acre grassland contains more than 200 species of native plants and ”more species of prairie butterflies than any other site in Illinois.”
The owners and managers of the Indian Boundary Prairies are the Nature Conservancy, Northeastern Illinois University and the Natural Land Institute. The conservancy`s Illinois chapter also wants to use benefits from the auction to add 63 acres to the Markham prairie.
The Naperville benefit, called ”Polo for the Prairie,” will include a polo match, live music and dinner. It begins at 1 p.m. Tickets are $75. Call 312-822-0080.
– Through Sept. 11, the State of Illinois Art Gallery presents ”Computer Art: Pushing the Boundaries.”
The show covers a wide range of contemporary computer art, including holograms, videos with computer-generated images and two computers that
”talk” to each other.
The gallery is on the second floor of the State of Illinois Center in downtown Chicago. Call 312-814-5322.
– President Bush last week awarded New York-based AT&T the 1992 National Medal of Arts for its longstanding record of corporate patronage of the arts. In 1991, AT&T donated more than $350,000 to Illinois cultural organizations, including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum and the Goodman Theatre.
– Beginning Sept. 12 and continuing through October, the Field Museum of Natural History offers 12 one-day adult field trips around the Chicago area.
The trips cost up to $40 for museum members ($47 for non-members). They are open to anyone 18 years or older.
The trips go to places such as the inland waterways of the Chicago area
(Sept. 27), the 31,000-acre Horicon Marsh in east-central Wisconsin (Oct. 10) and the Indiana Dunes (Oct. 11). They are led by naturalists. Call 312-322-8859.
– The Field Museum is again offering half-price admission on days when the Chicago Bears play at nearby Soldier Field.
The promotion is called ”Field Goal!” Present your Bears game ticket and you get a half-price ticket to the museum.
In past years, according to a Field spokeswoman, the promotion has netted the museum 200 to 300 extra visitors for each Bears game.
