SINGLE AND SUCCESSFUL
PREVIOUS RESIDENCE: Owned a two-story brick Victorian in DePaul.
WHAT THE CURRENT HOME HAD TO HAVE: Even more space, a yard and the flexibility to combine work and home.
———-
Before Wicker Park became an enclave for local artists, it was home to a number of ethnic groups, beginning with Jews at the turn of the century, followed by Poles and, more recently, Hispanics. As the neighborhood changed, so did the ownership and utilization of its buildings, and many have a rich and diverse history.
For Mary O’Shaughnessy, it seemed fitting that the property she chose to house her living space and art gallery was a structure immersed in the heritage of the community.
“I liked the idea of locating a gallery devoted to Chicago and Midwest artists in a building so true to the Chicago tradition of changing ethnic neighborhoods,” she says.
Built in 1903, the three-story institutional brick building first served its Jewish neighbors as a Talmud Torah, an afternoon Hebrew school. A few years later, it became the Marks Nathan Jewish Orphan Home and then was transformed into a meeting hall for the Polish Army Veterans. In 1987, O’Shaughnessy opened the Wood Street Gallery on the second floor and transformed the 7,000-square-foot ballroom on the third floor into her home.
The design of her private quarters reflects her own development and the many aspects of her personality. O’Shaughnessy is the descendant of a North Shore family. In keeping with her traditional upbringing, she designed a library on the second floor that replicates a classic men’s club complete with mahogany paneling and bar.
But conventional roots only partially define this multifaceted woman. O’Shaughnessy’s creative spirit is expressed as a sweeping, steel staircase rises to a soaring loft with 15-foot ceilings.
“Here I can be inventive,” she says, alluding to her training in set design, interior design and architecture. “I designed the space to be flexible enough that I could change things easily by putting objects around or adding architectural elements.”
Her fondness for the Midwest explains “the vistas” she has painted. She likens her walls to the winter prairies she finds so beautiful. “The outer wall is blue-gray, the color of winter sky,” she says. Inner walls (of partial heights) “are of three different hues of the same color of cut corn–a light, medium and dark.” A bathroom wall suggests the waters of Lake Michigan
Within that context, O’Shaughnessy creates a series of scenarios. Objects are used as symbols for a town, the townspeople, homes, industries and everyday materials, she says, referring to one side of the room crowded with collections of dough trenchers, bowls of green and cadmium orange and little wooden molds.
Her engaging sense of humor is apparent throughout. A grouping of offbeat figures is affectionately called “the usual suspects on the other side of the tracks” and a corner filled with greenery offers her a “park.” A collection of foreign dolls inherited from her mother and aunt is displayed as a “chorus line.” In the bathroom, a confessional piled high with towels stands beside the shower because, says O’Shaughnessy, who was raised Catholic, “this is where you come clean.”
Such a delightful perspective serves O’Shaughnessy well as she explores unique ways of presenting the art and objects that bring her so much pleasure.
———-
RESOURCES:
PERSONALITY PLUS
Pp. 20-23: Architects–Environ Inc.
Pp. 20-21: Dining room: Chinese dining table–Joe Agati, Chicago; chairs and dolls’ heads–personal collection.
Pg. 21: Entryway: Staircase–by Anton Bayer’s Blacksmith Ltd.; door frame–painted by Brad Schenkel.
Pg. 22: Bathroom: Brass sinks–handspun by Ed Fernandez; mirrors–Chiaroscuro; cabinetry–Patrick Sullivan Woodworking.
Detail of loft: 17th Century Italianate chest and two Portuguese lamps–personal collection; “Little Imps” painting by Eleanor Spiess-Ferris–personal collection; figures–West End Antiques, Wilmette; red box–Charles Jacobson Inc., Los Angeles.
Pg. 23: Detail of loft (top photo): Greek urn–personal collection; African mask–West End Antiques, Wilmette; sculpture–by Christopher Furman; robot lamp–by William van Ant; African bowl–personal collection.
Bedroom (middle photo): Bed and “The Drowning Man” painting by Eleanor Spiess-Ferris–personal collection.
Detail of loft (bottom photo): Great chair and ottoman–Marshall Field’s; rug–Village Carpet, Winnetka; “Studies of Color” paintings–by Mary O’Shaughnessy. (Home Design Magazine, Page. 66.)
