Learn how to become a river cruise docent and check out new programs
MAY 4, 2021 • ISSUE 36
New Exhibit!
Housing for a Changing Nation
Americans are changing—and so are our housing needs. Opening on Saturday, May 22 at the CAC, Housing for a Changing Nation explores how developments in American society and experience, including shifts in demographics, the economy and the environment, are forcing us to reexamine the concept of house and home.
Central to this exhibit are examples of the role architects can play in advancing innovative housing models at a time when much of our existing housing stock and many of our zoning laws and building codes have become outdated. Here are some thoughts on that topic from one of the Chicago architects featured in the exhibit:
"Architects are trained to see potential and opportunity. The recent need for live/work arrangements has shown that “work” can occur in every neighborhood of the city. Housing is also being adapted to accommodate more multi-generational living arrangements. Architects can creatively address these situations while being sensitive to the context of the city fabric."
–Catherine Baker, FAIA, Principal, Landon Bone Baker Architects
The CAC Box Office and Design Store are now open Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 10am–4pm. Guests can also explore our new exhibit—Hyper Green High-Rises: Towards a Zero-Energy Skyscraper—in the John and Kathleen Buck Atrium. The rest of the Center remains closed. The CAC's galleries will open on May 22. Stay tuned for more updates!
How does a CAC river cruise docent learn to tell their story about architecture on the Chicago River while facing backward on a boat that never moves at the same pace twice—and make it different from the story told by 100 other docents? That’s what 20 brave members of CAC’s River Docent “Class of 2021” are figuring out right now.
There is no script for river cruise docents. From February to July, they study the details of more than 100 buildings along the river, watch videos of experienced docents and learn principles of storytelling that make each CAC cruise unique. They hop aboard cruises to feel the pace of the boat and observe veteran river cruise docents. And they work closely with their coach—an experienced river cruise docent—who helps them create their own unique stories and themes.
All of this preparation leads up to the dreaded “whisper cruise.” After each trainee has created their own narrative, the only way to practice with the challenges of the boat’s pace is onboard.
The docent trainee boards the boat, tucks into a corner with their coach and “whispers” the cruise to the coach while the voice of the docent giving the cruise blasts out of nearby speakers.
Those who make it through this gauntlet are ready for full certification—standing in front of a boatful of paying customers to deliver the tour they’ve worked on for months, under the sharp eye of a certifier. When all goes well—and it virtually always does—the guests on the boat are flabbergasted to learn it was the docent’s first‐ever full tour—and another river cruise docent has joined the corps!
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