In Her Own Right:
Marion Mahony Griffin
Gallery showing exhibit on Marion Mahony Griffin, c. 2018, KHS
“In Her Own Right”: Marion Mahony Griffin was generously loaned from the Elmhurst History Museum in Elmhurst, IL.
This exhibit shares the intriguing story of architect, artist, and naturalist Marion Mahony Griffin. Born in 1871, mere months before the Great Chicago Fire, Marion grew up with her family in Winnetka before returning to Chicago in 1879. She became only the second woman to graduate from MIT with a degree in architecture and was the first woman registered to practice architecture in Illinois at a time when the glass ceiling for women was suffocatingly low.
Model designed by Marion Mahony Griffin, Courtesy of Paul Kruty, KHS
As a designer in Frank Lloyd Wright’s studio Marion had an essential role in the majority of the drawings in the 1910 German publication that brought Wright international recognition. While working for Wright, Marion met her husband and architectural partner, Walter Burley Griffin. They left Wright’s studio to pursue a project creating Australia’s new capital, Canberra. From there they made a significant impact creating a model suburb outside of Sydney, along with numerous other projects around Australia and India. Marion returned to Chicago following Walter’s death in 1937, where she settled in Roger’s Park with her sister’s family until her death in 1961. The exhibit illustrates her incredible life through text, images, scale models of her work, original artwork, and scholar interviews.
In Her Own Right: Marion Mahony Griffin was displayed from May-July 2018