Map of the Brookfield Zoo

Edgar Miller, Andrew Rebori
c. 1934
Offset lithograph print
L 47, W 71 cm

By the 1930s, Edgar Miller was well-known in a large circle of art, design, and cultural elite professionals in Chicago, and all kinds of interesting projects came his way because of these connections. The Brookfield Zoo was originally conceived in the 1910s after the land for its construction was donated by Edith Rockefeller McCormick. Serious construction didn't begin until the late 1920s, but due to delays caused by the advent of the Great Depression, the zoo didn't open until the summer of 1934. Miller was asked to help in a variety of ways, as were many other Chicago-area artists. Miller and his architect friend Andrew Rebori were commissioned to produce what is believed to be the first map of the zoo. The map was designed as an advertisement poster and its printing and distribution was funded by WPA grants. Notably, many subsequent iterations of the map, which have been produced over the years by other artists, borrow from Miller and Rebori's original layout and illustrative style.