New American Writers Museum Set To Open In May
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Chicago's newest museum now has an opening date.
First-of-its-kind, the American Writers Museum will open on May 16th, located along Chicago's Cultural Mile at 180 North Michigan Avenue.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel says, "This is the perfect city to have the first-ever writer's museum."
The museum will look at authors from the early Native American oral traditions to more current voices. It'll feature everyone from Mark Twain to Dr. Seuss, and from Richard Wright and Ernest Hemingway to Gwendolyn Brooks and Carl Sandburg.
"The American Writer's Museum has the distinction of being the first, and only, museum of its kind, dedicated to honoring and promoting American authors," board member Leigh Conant said.
Conant added, "We anticipate that a minimum of 100,000 people will visit the AWM annually, experiencing great literature and its authors in a variety of ways."
Among the galleries will be one called "Word Play." It'll have interactive tabletop consoles that encourage visitors to experiment with words and even make up words and meanings.
There'll also be "The Mind of a Writer Gallery." It will include a giant roll of paper suspended from the ceiling to an easel. Every day, museum staff will start a story by writing a single sentence on the paper and visitors will be able to add to it using their own writing flare.
