From the Archives: 1987 — The Harris Theater

July 16, 2024 marks the 20th anniversary of Millennium Park, the top tourist destination in the Midwest. Within the famed park, the Harris Theater for Music and Dance serves as Millennium Park’s indoor performance venue. 

The funding and construction of the iconic Harris Theater is the result of over 20 years of work by a group of artists, business leaders, and local foundations, including the Trust. It would not exist without the generosity of Joan and Irving B. Harris. 

The 1980s saw tremendous expansion of the performing arts in Chicago, with dozens of music, dance and theater companies emerging. But the city lacked a modern and affordable venue to suit the needs of its flourishing performing arts groups and audiences. The Trust recognized a crucial opportunity to strengthen Chicago’s arts and culture landscape and convened a group of leaders invested in the future of the performing arts. In November 1987, the Trust established and funded the Advisory Council on the Future of Ballet in Chicago – a collaboration among 18 arts and civic leaders to explore the potential for creating and sustaining a ballet company in Chicago. Sarah Solotaroff Mirkin, the Trust’s former senior program officer for arts and culture, was instrumental in creating the council and would later become a founding member of the Harris Theater.  

In 1993, the council was renamed Music and Dance Theater Chicago (MAD). MAD surveyed artists, administrators, technicians and residents to design a perfect space for the city’s performing arts companies. After reviewing more than 20 prospective sites, the City of Chicago invited the organization to locate the theater in Millennium Park. But the board faced significant obstacles, including major gaps in funding. As the space’s construction neared completion, they learned that the banks had turned down their applications for building loans. 

It was at this critical junction that Joan Harris, a longtime arts advocate and former Chicago commissioner of cultural affairs, stepped in. Joan and her husband Irving made a historic investment with a $15 million gift to the MAD board and an additional $24 million in construction loans. At the time, this represented the largest single monetary contribution to a performing arts organization in Chicago. 

On February 6, 2002, after 20 years of hard work, crews finally broke ground. When construction finished in 2003, the Harris Theater was the first state-of-the-art performance venue built since 1929. It opened its doors on November 8, 2003 with a spectacular evening performance featuring 12 companies. Members of the MAD board, accompanied by Joan and Irving, attended the celebration, enjoying the talent of the artists who finally had a performing arts venue they could call home.