ML - Michigan Avenue

2013 - Issue 5 - September

Michigan Avenue - Niche Media - Michigan Avenue magazine is a luxury lifestyle magazine centered around Chicago’s finest people, events, fashion, health & beauty, fine dining & more!

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Culture Clubs As ChiCAgo's most prominent privAte Clubs work to AttrACt A new generAtion of members, we exAmine their riCh legACies— And their role in the soCiAl future of the City. BY SETH PUTNAM T he rustle of suits. The clink of fine china. The kerplunk of a rubber ball careening off a glass wall. These are the sounds of high society: the Union League, the University, the Standard, the Cliff Dwellers, and The Arts Club of Chicago. They're the urban oases—the squash courts; the guest rooms; the cigar, wine, and golf societies; and the dining rooms—where the landscape of the city has been imagined, negotiated, and shaped for more than a century. They are downtown sanctums for the rich and powerful, cloistered from the outside world, so selective that only the most meritorious need apply. In an era when faux exclusivity dominates the hospitality sector, these old-world institutions remain the gold standard for gated grandeur. Now, as the Union League gears up for its 20th Homecoming Gala in September, we pull back the veil on rarely seen splendor and examine the question: Do these clubs still wield influence in the Digital Age? Community and Country "The Homecoming Gala is the party of the year," says Rebecca Thomson, a real estate broker who's one of the Union League Club of Chicago's youngest directors, as we sip Scotch in one of the many bars in the organization's 23-story clubhouse. Situated on Jackson Boulevard, it practically sits in the shadow of the Board of Trade and boasts a membership comprised largely of investors and financiers in addition to the attorneys, physicians, insurers, politicians, and other professionals who frequent the social clubs of Chicago. It's a Tuesday afternoon in June, the day after the Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup. Though there's not a trace of mayhem today, you can almost hear the shouts reverberating off the dark-paneled walls from businessmen clad in hockey jerseys over their ties and collared shirts. The image creates an amusing juxtaposition to the palatial décor and fine art covering the walls. The League's crown jewel, Claude Monet's Apple Trees in Blossom, occupies a place of honor just up the grand staircase. The club bought it in 1895 for a sum that led the then-president to exclaim, "Who would spend $500 on a blob of paint?" (It was not displayed until his tenure ended.) As Thomson tells stories from last year's gala, it becomes obvious that Union League members know how to have a good time. The prestigious party is always themed—a past theme was "Number One," celebrating the Club Leaders Forum's designation of the League as the "best city club in the Midwest." Each of the myriad rooms offers its own spin on the theme, and the hospitality staff is so agile that, throughout the night, rooms will periodically shut down and reopen under a completely different interpretation. (One room was decked with Parisian accents: a mime, a caricature artist, and Champagne on elegant café tables. Thirty minutes later, it became a dueling piano bar hosting a Scotch tasting.) Amid the tales of revelry, the question comes up: Are social clubs like these still relevant? For Thomson, the answer is an emphatic yes. "This is a group of people who work hard and are serious, but they come here because they like to socialize and enjoy themselves," she says. "It's not only a place 130 MICHIGANAVEMAG.COM 130-137_mA_feAt_Culture_sept_13.indd 130 8/7/13 6:43 pm

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