Brooker Gallery - Field Museum

The T. Kimball and Nancy N. Brooker Gallery has long showcased treasures from the Marie Louise Rosenthal Library at the Field Museum, presented on a rotating basis. Situated on the northeast corner of the upper-level mezzanine, the gallery was designed as a serene and elegant space where visitors can experience rare books and fine prints up close. Originally focused on the Museum’s library collections, the gallery has since expanded its scope to feature exhibitions drawn from across the Museum’s diverse collections
The inaugural exhibition, Highlights from the Mary W. Runnells Rare Book Room, opened in October 2007. Since then, the gallery has presented a wide range of exhibitions, including:

From Prairie to Field: Photographs by Terry Evans (April 11 – July 27, 2008)
Louis Agassiz Fuertes: The Painted Bird (September 12, 2008 – January 4, 2009)
Masterpieces of Ancient Jewelry: Exquisite Objects from the Cradle of Civilization (February 13 – June 14, 2009)
Burnham Memorial Design Competition (August 21 – November 1, 2009)
Lasting Impressions: Chinese Rubbings from The Field Museum (February 12, 2010 – January 3, 2011)
Travelogues and Technologies: From Small Sketches to the Biggest Book (February 12, 2011 – January 1, 2012)
Lichens (December 17, 2014 – April 23, 2017)
The Peregrine Returns: The Art and Architecture of an Urban Raptor Recovery (June 23, 2017 – June 24, 2018)
Audubon’s Birds of America (April 19, 2019 – January 12, 2020; returned January 19, 2024 – January 17, 2027)