Tom Dunne

Art Institute Presents IRELAND: CROSSROADS OF ART AND DESIGN, Opening Today

Ireland: Crossroads of Art and Design, 1690-1840, will open at the Art Institute of Chicago on St. Patrick's Day, today, March 17, 2015, with a special ribbon-cutting featuring bagpipes and local dignitaries. It will be the first major exhibition to showcase the decorative and fine arts of 18th century Ireland, bringing together more than 300 objects – many never before seen in public – lent by public and private collectors across North America. The exhibition, which continues through June 7, 2015, will provide an extraordinarily rich overview of Ireland's creative legacy. To add to the Gaelic atmosphere of the show, a temporary Irish pub will be created in the museum's Café Moderno where guests can hoist a beer after they visit the exhibition.