Cultural Excursions Organized by the MLA
The MLA has organized five cultural excursions that will take place during the 2019 MLA Annual Convention in Chicago. The excursions give registrants an opportunity to experience the city’s art, literature, history, and wine.
Space is limited, and there is an additional fee for each excursion. To participate, select an excursion and payment option when you complete your convention registration form. Convention registrants may also sign up a limited number of guests per excursion for an additional fee (the fee is the same for convention registrants and guests); guests must be signed up and accompanied by a convention registrant to attend an excursion. Please see the descriptions below for more information.
We regret that we cannot provide refunds for cancellations received after 1 December 2018.
If you have already registered for the convention and wish to attend an excursion, log back in to your registration form and select the excursions you wish to add. Follow the prompts and submit your payment for the new items.
Art Institute of Chicago
- Thursday, 3 January 2019
- 11:00 a.m.–12:00 noon
- $40 per person
- Modern Wing Entrance
159 East Monroe Street
Founded in 1879 as both an art museum and a school, the Art Institute of Chicago is now recognized as one of the leading art institutions in the world.
TOUR DETAILS
Join one of the Art Institute’s professional lecturers for a one-hour private gallery tour created just for MLA attendees. Discover a variety of artwork from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries that relates to the 2019 MLA presidential theme, Textual Transactions, and explore the museum’s Renzo Piano–designed Modern Wing.
The tour concludes at 12:00 noon. You are welcome to remain at the Art Institute for lunch and continue exploring the galleries or save your ticket to return to the museum later that same day. On Thursdays the museum stays open until 8:00 p.m.
The Art Institute is less than a mile from the Hyatt Regency and approximately one mile from the Sheraton Grand. The museum is accessible by bus; take the 3 or 6 line to Michigan and Monroe.
Visit the Art Institute of Chicago Web site for more information.
Chicago Shakespeare Theater
- Thursday, 3 January 2019
- 12:30–4:30 p.m. (performance is 1:00–3:30 p.m.)
- $50 per person
- Navy Pier, 800 East Grand Avenue
The Chicago Shakespeare Theater (CST), located on Chicago’s vibrant Navy Pier, uses its year-round season, innovative programming, and belief that Shakespeare is for everyone to engage with audiences of all ages and backgrounds.
EXCURSION DETAILS
Enjoy a matinée production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, directed by Joe Dowling, former artistic director of the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis and the Abbey Theater in Ireland. Dowling directed this same play in 1999 for the CST’s inaugural season on Navy Pier and has returned with a brand new production for the theater’s twentieth anniversary. Stay after the show for a thirty-minute discussion moderated by CST’s director of education and communications, Marilyn Halperin. Excursion participants are then invited to a private backstage tour of the theater following the discussion.
The excursion ends at 4:30 p.m.
The theater is approximately one mile from both the Hyatt Regency and the Sheraton Grand hotels and is accessible by bus (take the 124 line to Navy Pier Terminal).
American Writers Museum
- Friday, 4 January
- 2:00–4:00 p.m.
- $20 per person
- 180 North Michigan Avenue
The American Writers Museum, which opened in 2017, is the first museum in the United States devoted to the nation’s writers. Following a visit to the Dublin Writers Museum in Ireland, Malcolm E. O’Hagan asked why there was not a similar museum dedicated to American writers and decided to correct that omission. With a curatorial team made up of authors, editors, poets, historians, educators, and other specialists, many of whom are MLA members, the museum has created a variety of interactive exhibits that support its mission to engage the public in celebrating American writers and exploring their influence on our history, identity, culture, and daily lives.
EXCURSION DETAILS
Join museum president Carey Cranston on a private tour through the exhibits. Discover how the museum came to be, which creative writers and literary luminaries contributed to the project, what went into creating the exhibits, and much more. Engage in discussion about the various exhibits, the curating process, and the future of the museum.
The tour concludes at 4:00 p.m. You are welcome to remain at the museum and continue exploring until the museum closes at 5:00 p.m.
NOTE: Immediately following this excursion is a new event: American Writers Museum: An Evening Conversation. From 4:00 to 5:00 p.m., Carey Cranston will be joined by AWM Content Leadership team member Donna Seaman, AWM subject matter expert Ivy Wilson, and AWM designer and curator Andy Anway for an entertaining and informative conversation about the history and making of the American Writers Museum. Light snacks and beverages will be provided.
We are offering a special $5 registration fee for anyone who is registered for the American Writers Museum excursion to attend this event. The regular registration fee for this event is $20 per person. Write to registration@mla.org if you wish to attend.
The American Writers Museum is less than a mile from both the Hyatt Regency and the Sheraton Grand hotels and is accessible by bus (take the 124 line to Michigan and Randolph).
Private Wine Tasting at the Chopping Block
- Friday, 4 January
- 3:30–5:00 p.m.
- $60 per person
- Merchandise Mart Plaza, suite 107, first floor, entrance at the corner of Kinzie and Wells Streets
The Chopping Block is a recreational cooking school with a mission to get the country to cook. Shelly Young opened her first school in 1997 in a small cottage and now boasts two Chicago locations with multiple classrooms, nineteen chefs, and hundreds of classes.
EXCURSION DETAILS
Join the Chopping Block’s advanced sommelier Mary Ross for an engaging and informational tasting and history tour of four specially selected wines. Discover a new favorite pairing, refresh your oenological vocabulary, or simply relax and enjoy a glass with friends.
All excursion attendees must be at least 21 years old.
The excursion ends at 5:00 p.m. Attendees are welcome to shop in the Chopping Block’s market after the tasting.
The Chopping Block at Merchandise Mart is less than a mile from both the Hyatt Regency and Sheraton Grand hotels and is accessible via the Brown Line or Purple Line to the Merchandise Mart station.
Newberry Library
- Saturday, 5 January
- 9:00–11:00 a.m.
- $20 per person
- 60 West Walton Street
The Newberry, an internationally recognized independent humanities library located in the heart of Chicago’s Gold Coast neighborhood, has an extensive noncirculating collection of rare books, manuscripts, and other printed material spanning six centuries.
EXCURSION DETAILS
Enjoy a librarian-led tour of the new From the Stacks exhibition, a permanent exhibit featuring a rotating display of highlights from the Newberry’s collection located in the new Hanson Gallery. Learn about the Newberry’s history, collections, conservation practices, and fellowships and explore the Newberry’s newly renovated ground floor and gallery space. The second part of the excursion includes a private behind-the-scenes tour of the library’s reading rooms and research areas.
The excursion ends at 11:00 a.m. Attendees are welcome to continue exploring the reading rooms, bookstore, and galleries until the Newberry closes at 5:00 p.m.
The Newberry is just over a mile from both the Hyatt Regency and Sheraton Grand hotels and is accessible by bus (take the 151 or 22 line to East Walton Street) or via the Red Line to East Chicago Avenue.