Best Things to See in the Chicago Art Museum
The thirteen all-time Chicago museums
Learn virtually art, science, history and beyond at the best museums Chicago has to offer.
Don't ask yourself if you should visit one of Chicago's many museums and cultural institutions—instead, allow us assistance y'all effigy out which i. Want to see one of the globe's premiere collections of art? Time to visit the Art Plant. Love everything related to natural history and dino bones? Grab tickets to the Field Museum on Museum Campus. Whether you're an art lover, history buff, compages nerd or just looking for a fun mode to spend an afternoon, the city's museums are some of the elevation Chicago attractions.And you lot don't have to spend a lot to learn and explore: cheque out the always-costless permanent collections at the National Museum of Mexican Fine art, Smart Museum and other local institutions, or go on an eye out for upcoming gratuitous museum days in Chicago. Programme a day to explore the best museums in Chicago and get gear up to larn a thing or two.
RECOMMENDED: Discover more than of the best things to do in Chicago
All-time Chicago museums
1. The Field Museum
Originally founded to house the biological and anthropological collections assembled for the World'due south Columbian Exposition of 1893, this massive natural history museum nonetheless packs 'em in with more than than 20 permanent exhibitions roofing 480,000 square feet. Guests come from all around the world to see towering dinos, curiosity at aboriginal artifacts from a imperial Egyptian tomb or relax in a Chinese rock garden hidden inside the Cyrus Tang Hall of China. While a gigantic titanosaur skeleton named Máximo at present guards the lobby, you'll notice the Field'southward one-time greeter, SUE the T. male monarch, residing in the "Evolving Planet" exhibit. There's something for anybody, and you lot can easily spend an entire solar day here.
2. Shedd Aquarium
Guests must buy timed tickets online before visiting the Shedd Aquarium.
Anchoring the aquatic offerings at this Chicago institution are enduring favorites such equally piranhas, frogs and snakes of the Amazon; rays and turtles of the Caribbean; frightening predator sharks, mesmerizing jellies, adorable penguins (including the famous rockhoppers Wellington, Edward and Annie) and marine mammals like bounding main lions, otters and the love beluga whales. The aquarium boasts seven permanent exhibits, making information technology easy to spend an entire 24-hour interval wandering through the Shedd. We recommend identifying a handful of must-see exhibits before you lot go to prioritize your time. Or but brand a list and tick off the others on your next visit!
three. Art Institute of Chicago
One of the city's most well-known cultural buildings—thanks to the iconic pair of bronze lions that flank grand steps leading up to the entrance—the Art Institute of Chicago is just as impressive in one case y'all brand your manner inside. With nigh 300,000 artworks in its permanent collection, you'll find thousands of paintings, sculptures, photos and drawings displayed throughout a sprawling circuitous of galleries and halls. If you're a beginning-time guest, make a beeline for Georges Seurat'southward A Sunday on La Grande Jatte (equally seen in Ferris Bueller's Day Off— high and depression culture is the best combo, later all ) and the gimmicky collection in the Modernistic Wing. Returning visitors can explore the Thorne Miniatures Rooms (reportedly a favorite of director Wes Anderson) in the museum's basement, likewise every bit traveling exhibits devoted to the likes of Andy Warhol and Van Gogh. There's arguably too much fine art at this institution—at least, too much for i 24-hour interval—but we're not lament.
4. Chicago History Museum
Formerly known equally the Chicago Historical Society, this lively museum commemorates the past through the exhibitions that explore historical figures like Abraham Lincoln and local delicacies similar the Chicago-style hot domestic dog. Range! Guests can climb aboard a vintage Fifty car in "Chicago: Crossroads of America" or gaze at lithographs of the urban center that were created in the 1860s. If you're working on a project that draws on the history of Chicago, you can register for admission to the museum'due south Enquiry Library, which houses thousands of photographs, publications and artifacts that document the city's history. It's situated but within Lincoln Park near Quondam Boondocks, and then it's an ideal spot to boot off a nice long stroll forth the lake.
5. Museum of Gimmicky Art
Amid the largest institutions in the world defended to art created post-1950, the Museum of Contemporary Art is all-time known for hosting major touring exhibitions, including past exhibitions celebrating luminaries similar Virgil Abloh, David Bowie and Takashi Murakami. Throughout the MCA'southward galleries, you'll also observe exhibits dedicated to rising local and international artists (including the museum's ongoing Chicago Works series). Once you're finished strolling through the galleries, make certain to exit through the well-curated souvenir shop.
6. Museum of Contemporary Photography
Guests are encouraged to register in advance when the Museum of Contemporary Photography.
Stop scrolling through Instagram and check out some of the astonishing shots that line the walls of the Museum of Contemporary Photography. Founded by Columbia Higher Chicago, the Loop-based gallery hosts around multiple shows each twelvemonth, including groundbreaking new work made past artists around the globe equally well as archival prints from the institution's archives. Information technology doesn't have long to meet everything on brandish in this relatively small museum, which makes it a perfect place to experience a bit of culture during your lunch break, or between checking out all the other great museums, galleries and other things to exercise in Chicago.
vii. Museum of Science and Industry
Packed with exhibits that permit y'all to step within a faux tornado or navigate a maze lined with mirrors, the Museum of Science and Manufacture has no shortage of interactive bells and whistles that will appeal to younger and older visitors alike. Even if yous graduated high school decades ago, displays featuring a restored U-505 German submarine, a simulated coal mine and a recreation of a Chicago street circa 1910 might make you experience like you're on a schoolhouse field trip once again—but a proficient one, and with a better lunch! Proceed in listen that you're walking through a building that was originally created for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition.
8. The Oriental Institute Museum
For more than than 100 years, the Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago has been leading excavations and research projects in the SWANA (Due south West Asia and North Africa) region to understand our collective man history. Going as far back as 6,000 years, artifacts include an ancient saddle, various ceramic items such equally jugs, bowls and incense burners, and some of the famous Megiddo Ivories. Too on brandish are objects from aboriginal Assyria, Anatolia, Israel, Egypt, Persia and in the Mesopotamian gallery, a stunning, hard-to-miss forty-ton human-headed winged bull sculpture from Khorsabad.
nine. Smart Museum of Art
Situated on the University of Chicago campus in Hyde Park, the Smart Museum of Art was conceived every bit an establishment where scholars could study the arts and develop exhibitions. Today, it's open to the public (admission is always complimentary) and is home to the college's collection of fine art and antiquities, including scrolls and ceramics from China as well as contemporary works by the likes of Kerry James Marshall and Andy Warhol. Explore exhibits devoted to sprawling installations and local art movements before taking a seat in the museum's courtyard sculpture garden.
10. Adler Planetarium
The showtime planetarium in the western hemisphere is now open again with no timed entry required. Afterwards yous've explored the permanent exhibits and the dazzling heaven shows in the Grainger Heaven Theater, apply what you've learned most the skies and visit the Doane Observatory, home to the largest telescope bachelor for public viewing in Chicago.
11. DuSable Museum of African American History
Open since 1961, this Hyde Park cultural hub is the oldest contained African American museum in the country, housing documents and artifacts from the lives of movers and shakers like activist Ida B. Wells and poet Langston Hughes, plus a collection of vibrant African American fine art. You'll even find Chance the Rapper'south Grammy accolade for best rap album on display.
12. The Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum
Ready amongst prairies and gardens in Lincoln Park, the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum offers a diverseness of ways to heighten your appreciation of the natural world. Exhibitions explore Chicago's prairie and river ecosystems as well as the biology of Ice Age mammals and Midwestern birds. Kids will enjoy taking a guided bout of the museum's 1/iii-mile outdoor nature trail while guests of all ages will be wowed by the thousand fluttering beauties that reside within the 2,700-foursquare-pes Judy Istock Butterfly Oasis. Information technology's near the heart of Lincoln Park, so it's a cracking spot to visit mid-stroll, too.
13. National Museum of Mexican Art
You tin can see bright, colorful murals by walking through the streets of Pilsen, but there'due south fifty-fifty more astonishing fine art on brandish at the National Museum of Mexican Art in Harrison Park. Ane of the largest Latinx cultural organizations in the U.S., exhibitions draw from a permanent collection of more than 10,000 works, highlighting the creativity of artists on both sides of the border. Start with the permanent exhibit "Nuestra Historias," which includes everything from 18th century religious paintings to a tricked-out lawn mower. Access is ever free, and new shows debut regularly, including a new showroom featuring photos from Frida Kahlo'southward personal collection.
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Source: https://www.timeout.com/chicago/attractions/10-best-chicago-museums-top-institutions-to-visit-in-chicago
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