Plan A Visit

Directions to the Poetry Foundation

We encourage visitors to use public transportation. The Poetry Foundation can be reached via CTA Red Line or Brown Lines to Chicago; CTA Bus Route 22 to Huron and Clark (Southbound) or Huron and Dearborn (Northbound).

For visitors arriving by car, InterPark Parking Garage is located at 750 N. Dearborn St. and Standard Parking is located at 1 W. Superior St. Metered street parking is also available in the vicinity of the building.

Accessibility
Ramp access is available on Dearborn Street. All public spaces are located on the ground-level and are accessible. For further assistance, please contact us at (312) 787-7070.

Hearing-Assist Devices
For performances, hearing-assist devices are made available at the front desk. If additional assistance is required, please contact us at (312) 787-7070.

A Home For Poetry

The first space in Chicago dedicated solely to the art of poetry, the Poetry Foundation building realizes Harriet Monroe’s dream, set out in her very first editorial, that the magazine would help poets pursue their art, increase public interest in poetry, and raise poetry’s profile in our culture. It also is Poetry’s first permanent home in its 100-year history. Designed by the Chicago firm John Ronan Architects, the building helps the Foundation to carry out its mission: to discover and celebrate the best poetry and place it before the largest possible audience. Since its opening in June 2011, it has been praised widely; the November 2011 issue of Architectural Record notes, “In keeping with the art form it serves, the new Poetry Foundation is a respectful, restrained building that employs an economy of means and methods, just as a good poem employs an economy of language.” The building complies with the Silver Level of the US Green Building Council’s LEED Rating System.

The Poetry Foundation houses:

• a 30,000 volume poetry library

• an exhibition gallery

• a performance space for the Foundation's extensive roster of public events

• the Poetry Foundation's programming offices, including those of Poetry magazine

Take a tour of the Poetry Foundation

Download Press Kit

Events at the Building