Cook County Hospital Art

Cook County Hospital, Chicago, IL

The old Cook County Building is slated for demolition. There are only a few pieces of the WPA/FAP art remaining in it (dozens have been lost). The fate of the hospital building is currently in litigation.

One of the few pieces still extant is Charles Umlauf's statue, "Protection." In 2004, it was restored and reinstalled in the new Stroger Hospital cafeteria dining room (basement level)

This photo of the statue in progress was taken by a WPA photographer named Bagley.

"Protection" by Charles Umlauf, cast stone, 8 feet tall,
originally placed in the Cook County Hospital lobby.

The original mosaic tile - cast stone tile basin by Charles Umlauf, 1940.

The Edwin Boyd Johnson murals surrounding
Charles Umlauf's "Protection"
in the lobby of Cook County Hospital - note
the John Winters' mosaic murals
on the room divider leading to the entrance
(Photo 00-8 from the Art Institute of Chicago's WPA photo collection)

Untitled Mural by Frances Badger
located in the Children's Hospital, Cook County Hospital
(from the Chicago Public Library Archives, Neg. # 6805A)

Cook County Hospital Waiting Room
Mural by Henry Simon
(from the Chicago Public Library Archives, Neg. # 13402D)

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