The Culture
Spotlight
By Stella Quimby
The Field Museum FASHION EXHIBIT: Maria Pinto Fashion and the Field Museum….a combination that is usually not linked together, now is teaming up to showcase a world-famous Chicago Designer and her inspiration behind her remarkable pieces. Get a sneak peek into this new, oneof-a-kind exhibit called Fashion and The Field Museum Collection: Maria Pinto. Opening on September 14 and running through June 16, 2013, this exhibition explores the world of design, mixing clothing hand-selected from the Museum’s collections by esteemed Chicago fashion designer Maria Pinto, and contemporary pieces created by Pinto and exclusively displayed at The Field Museum. The exhibit is all about the inspiration behind designer Maria Pinto’s pieces. Maria Pinto chose 25 Museum garments and an adornment attracted by their form, texture, and colors that inspired her own designs. Maria then drew connections between these pieces and her own designs, seven of which are featured in the exhibition. So onlookers will not only be wowed by Maria Pinto’s
designs but also will be provided an inside look into what inspires this world-renowned designer. Maria Pinto, a Chicago native, graduate of Chicago’s School of the Art Institute, opened her first boutique in August of 2008. Being a true Chicagoan, her boutique was located in Chicago’s West Loop, which created a major scene with the U.S. fashion scene. Her collections also have been featured in major fashion publications, including Vogue, WWD, Elle, Harper’s Bazaar and InStyle. She has received many prestigious design and fashion awards throughout her career, including the opportunity on two occasions to design costumes for the Joffrey Ballet, the Best of Fashion Award, Chicago Magazine (2000), and the Gold Coast Fashion Award, previously awarded to Anne Klein, Donna Karan and Bill Blass (1998). Lastly, in 2009, Pinto was honored by the Anti-Defamation League as the recipient of their Women of Achievement Award, and the School of The Art Institute’s Legend of
The Field Museum is located at 1400 S lake Shore Drive. For further information, visit fieldmuseum.org.
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Fashion Award. Unlike other exhibits, visitors are invited to engage with these objects and examine details they may not have noticed otherwise. This exhibition asks visitors how they can be inspired in their own creative pursuits by thinking of any Field Museum object as an object of beauty. Best of all, this exhibit is free with basic admission to the Field Museum.
GET INSPIRED!
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