First, Chicago
I've been to many, many art museums, in many different cities, so when people kept telling me that I had to go to the Art Institute while I was in Chicago, part of me kept thinking, Really? Is that really what I want to do with my teeny bit of free time? Wow, I'm so glad I did. I decided just to wander, rather than trying to aim for specific things, because I didn't have a lot of time and running around museums just to see the most famous stuff doesn't really appeal to me. My wanderings, unavoidably, brought me to the main staircase, which is itself an exhibit. A contemporary Indian artist named Jitish Kallat has installed an artwork called "Public Notice 3" along the risers of the 118 steps of the Grand Staircase (this picture explains what I mean). It's the text of a speech about religious tolerance, an actual speech that was delivered by Swami Vivekananda in Chicago on September 11, 1893, 108 years before the 2001 attacks. The speech is beautiful.…