City Beautiful movement
Whitney served on the Board of Trustees of the Minneapolis Society of Fine Arts from 1888 to 1896. As a prominent architect of Minneapolis, he was selected to design the Minnesota Building at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. The structure was built under the impetus of the City Beautiful movement, whose aesthetic was expressed at the exposition's "White City." As a follower of the City Beautiful movement, Whitney was a strong proponent of city parks and ennobling urban schemes.