The Cultural Center is one of Chicago’s most visited and venerated venues for public gatherings and cultural events. In 1893 the building opened to house Chicago’s first central public library, an architectural marvel designed to display Chicago’s rising status as a booming metropolis.

One major attraction in the Center’s impressive neoclassical structure is the pair of stained glass domes on the building’s North and South sides. Each containing tens of thousands of pieces of glass, they include the world’s largest dome designed by Louis C. Tiffany.

In 1991 the venue became the Chicago Cultural Center, the nation’s first free municipal cultural center, and today attracts hundred of thousands of visitors annually. The Center offers over 1,000 exhibitions and programs each year covering the whole spectrum of the arts, including performances of dance and theater, art exhibitions, music concerts of all types, and film screenings. The building houses the official reception venue for the City of Chicago, where the Mayor has welcomed royalty, diplomats and heads of state from across the globe.