In a word: "Wow!"

Has anyone heard about the new Modern Wing at the Art Institute of Chicago? Maybe you haven't. But it's a much-hyped addition to this city, even getting play in the New York Times. The new wing officially opened at 10 a.m. today, kicking off a week of free admission to what is now the second largest art museum in the country.

That "free admission" part was the kicker for us, of course, so we wanted to visit sometime in the coming week. But Opening Day festivities and their vague promise of "family activities" convinced us to tentatively throw it into our plans for today.

We were going to focus on the kids' programs in the Chicago Architecture Foundation's Great Chicago Spaces and Places festival, primarily the (billed as) all-ages treasure hunt through the Chicago Cultural Center and Millenium Park and the build-a-Chicago-landmark-out-of-Legos workshop. We were going to work the Art Institute in here or there.

And that's how close we came to missing one heck of an experience.

Fortunately for us, the treasure map we got on our first stop at the cultural center made clear that the hunt wasn't going to be any fun for Levynn; it was just too detailed, better suited for adults. So we decided to walk across Michigan Ave. to Millenium Park and let the kids run around in the grass.

Most of the grass is in Pritzker Pavillion, the park's outdoor concert venue, and guess what was happening there? The School of the Art Institute of Chicago was holding its commencement ceremony, and Renzo Piano - the Pritzker Prize-winning architect who designed the aforementioned Modern Wing - was receiving an honorary degree.

That's him speaking at the podium.

Not far behind us was the beginning of the Nichols Bridgeway, a Piano-designed bridge that connects Millenium Park to the Modern Wing on the other side of Monroe Street.

See it?

We had promised Levynn we would cross it today, at the very least, so we decided to do it right then. We're so glad we did - and these great views from the bridge are not the only reason.

That's the top of Pritzker Pavillion in the background. (And that's Tribune architecture critic Blair Kamin in the dark jacket and white shirt, filming an interview with someone as we walked across.)

There's Lurie Garden, mostly concealed by its trees.

That's the Modern Wing behind Mom and the kids.

That's the Bluhm Family Terrace, our first stop on the other side of the bridge.


That's a view of the bridge from the courtyard, where there was a stage for performances celebrating Opening Day and a Target Family Tent.

Target must be acknowledged; it sponsored all the family programming today and at the Museum of Contemporary Art last weekend.

And there was a lot of it. Look at these kids!


(That's Artie the Lion, the museum's mascot.)



There were five kids' art projects in all, each in a different classroom in the Modern Wing's huge Ryan Education Center. It is twice as big as the museum's previous education facility, with five classrooms, three studios, a resource room that's like a school library, and an "Orientation Room" - a family hangout with blocks, puzzles, computers, fun seating and tons of children's books. The education center will be free year-round, with no museum admission necessary to enter, and it will offer art projects for kids of all ages Thursdays through Sundays.

And even the classrooms have great views!



The kids came home with their paintings of the Modern Wing, the smocks (thanks, Target!) they wore to paint, tote bags (thanks, Target!) they colored, and collages they made. Levynn also brought home the Modern Wing she built (below), a picture book she wrote and illustrated, and more.


All told, Dad and Levynn spent almost six hours on this adventure. (Mom is in the middle of three straight late shifts, so she and Lincoln headed home for naps after lunch.) Before it was over, Dad and Levynn went to the family galleries to do a little scavenger hunt and see the new Caldecott Award exhibit that features numerous books we own or have borrowed from the library.

So it's safe to say that Opening Day alone was worth the hype.

Oh, and there was this nugget, before we even reached our first destination this morning.