Annual Alumni Celebration

Thank you for attending the 2024 Annual Alumni Celebration & Awards Reception!

Stay tuned for updates on 2025's event.

Event Information

Event Timeline

6:30PM – Cocktail hour networking reception and viewing of Nickerson Mansion

7:15PM – Food stations open in Murphy Auditorium

8:00PM – Awards Presentation & Fireside Chat with Honorees

9:30PM – Event Concludes

Dress Code: Business Professional / Business Formal

The Richard H. Driehaus Museum

Guided by a commitment to making decorative and fine art more accessible, drawing connections between historic art and contemporary art to illuminate our cultural heritage, and preserving the legacy of Richard H. Driehaus, The Richard H. Driehaus Museum showcases art, architecture and design from the late 19th and early 20th century in a meticulously restored Gilded Age home, with a vision to become a self-sustaining organization with a distinctive reputation for artistic excellence in Chicago and around the world.

In 1919 over 100 men, women, and businesses donated funds to purchase the magnificent Nickerson Mansion, thereby ensuring the building’s survival. Over eighty years later, Richard H. Driehaus honored and expanded that impulse by obtaining the mansion to create a publicly accessible non-profit museum. From 2003 through 2008, he supported a meticulous restoration of the building. A gifted team of architects, conservators, craftsmen and technicians from more than forty specialist firms were engaged to accomplish the work. Since then, nearly one million visitors have marveled at this twice-saved Chicago treasure.

Upcoming Exhibition:

During the cocktail hour portion of the evening, enjoy the temporary exhibition Photographing Frank Lloyd Wright. This exhibition includes Wright’s own photography along with images by the leading photographers who documented his career.

Parking & Accessibility

The address and entrance to the Museum is 50 E Erie, up the grand stairs of the Murphy Memorial building. The museum is two blocks west of Michigan Avenue between Rush and Wabash.

While the Museum does not offer parking onsite, you can reserve your parking spot via the Driehaus Museum SpotHero Parking Page with rates up to 50% off drive-up.

The Museum has an elevator for use by visitors. The wheelchair accessible entrance is located at 50 East Erie Street, next door to the Museum’s main entrance.