Chicago artist, historian, and preservationist Jack Simmerling (1935-2013) was passionate about Prairie Avenue. Jack first visited the fabled street as a young boy, when he accompanied his grandfather on a visit to a friend working as the caretaker of the old Marshall Field mansion at 1905 S. Prairie. As a teenager, Jack obtained a job working with the wrecking crew tearing down the old houses, salvaging architectural fragments which soon filled his house. As a budding artist, he began creating oil paintings of the houses, and what they may have looked like in their prime. Shortly before his death in 2013, he bequeathed his entire collection of Prairie Avenue fragments and artwork to Glessner House.
In October 2025, the Ridge Historical Society, in partnership with Glessner House, opened an exhibit on Jack Simmerling entitled “Jack Simmerling: Through His Eyes,” in honor of the 90th anniversary of his birth. One half of the exhibit features a detailed look at his life and includes a selection of fragments and artworks - oil paintings, watercolors, and pen and ink sketches - from the Simmerling Collection at Glessner House. The other half of the exhibit focuses on his work documenting the architecture and history of the Beverly Hills and Morgan Park neighborhoods where he lived and operated his business, The Heritage Gallery, for more than fifty years.
This very special event will include a private tour of the exhibit by the co-curators - Bill Tyre from Glessner House, and Tim Blackburn from the Ridge Historical Society. After the exhibit tour, participants will have the rare opportunity to visit the historic 1866 Ingersoll-Blackwelder house nearby. Jack Simmerling purchased the house in 1970, restored it to its former glory, and filled it with his massive collection of architectural fragments, some of which remain today. The event will conclude with a wine and cheese reception at the house.
$40 per person / $32 for members
This tour is limited to twenty participants.
All ticket sales final, no refunds or exchanges.