{"nrhp_refnum":"66000317","name":"Taft, Lorado, Midway Studios","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"6016 S. Ingleside Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Chicago","county":"Cook County","state":"IL","lat":41.78559018100003,"lon":-87.60355648799998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1966-10-15","is_nhl":true,"nhl_designated_date":"1965-12-21","areas_of_significance":["Art"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A complex of connected brick studio buildings at 6016 South Ingleside Avenue on the University of Chicago campus along the Midway Plaisance in Chicago, built up from 1906 around an old barn that sculptor Lorado Taft moved to the site.","why_significant":"The studios were the working and teaching base of Lorado Taft, a sculptor of monumental realistic works who influenced American, especially Midwestern, sculpture. The complex housed a community of independent artists and students and was where Taft produced large fountains. It still appears much as it did in his day.","narrative":"Midway Studios is a rambling complex of connected brick buildings on the University of Chicago campus, along the Midway Plaisance. Sculptor Lorado Taft (1860-1936) began it in 1906 by moving an old two-story barn about a block to the site, then adding studio after studio. At its peak there were 13 studios, a covered court with a fireplace and fountain, a marble-cutting room, and a stage, housing Taft, associated sculptors and many assistants. Taft needed the space for large fountains, including the Fountain of Time. He is recognized as one of the earliest American sculptors to work in group compositions and a pioneer of monumental fountains, and he promoted art education. After he left in 1929, the Associated Sculptors used the buildings until 1936, and the university later adopted them for its Art Department. The complex was renovated in 1966 and a painting studio was added in 1972. Skylights, irregular rooflines and varied windows remain, and the old court now serves as a student gallery.","period_of_significance":"1906-1929","architect_builder":"Lorado Taft","architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Owned by the University of Chicago and used by its Art Department as classrooms and studios; renovated in 1966, with a new painting studio added in 1972.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:35.405214-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/46/8915/28891546/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/66000317_NHL.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/66000317/2f741dc849-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/66000317/2f741dc849-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"User:TonyTheTiger","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:20070601_Lorado_Taft_Midway_Studio_(3).JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">User:TonyTheTiger</a>, <a href=\"http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:20070601_Lorado_Taft_Midway_Studio_(3).JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28891546","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorado_Taft_Midway_Studios","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6678717"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/cook-county/taft-lorado-midway-studios-66000317/"}