Museum sights in Chicago
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Art Institute of Chicago
The second-largest art museum in the country, the Art Institute of Chicago has the kind of celebrity-heavy collection that routinely draws gasps from patrons. Grant Wood’s stern American Gothic ? Check. Edward Hopper’s lonely Nighthawks ? Yep. Georges Seurat’s A Sunday Afternoon on La Grand Jatte ? Here. The museum’s collection of impressionist and postimpressionist paintings is second only to those in France, and the number of surrealist works – especially boxes by Joseph Cornell – is tremendous.
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Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA)
Consider it the Art Institute’s brash, rebellious sibling, with especially strong minimalist and surrealist collections and permanent works by Franz Kline, René Magritte, Cindy Sherman and Andy Warhol. Covering art from 1945 forward, the MCA’s collection spans the gamut, from Jenny Holzer’s LED Truisms to Joseph Beuys’ austere Felt Suit, with displays arranged to blur the boundaries between painting, photography, sculpture, video and other media. The museum also regularly hosts dance, film and speaking events from an international array of contemporary artists, and the traveling exhibits it pulls in are A-list. The museum’s shop wins big points for its jewelry pi…
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David & Alfred Smart Museum of Art
Named after the founders of Esquire magazine, who contributed the money to get it started, this fine arts museum opened in 1974 and expanded in 1999. The 8000 items in the collection include some excellent works from ancient China and Japan, and a colorful and detailed Syrian mosaic from about AD 600. The strength of the collection lies in the paintings and sculpture contemporary to the university’s existence, including works by Arthur Davies, Jean Arp, Henry Moore and many others.
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Field Museum of Natural History
The Field Museum has over 70 PhD-wielding scientists and 20 million artifacts, so you know things are going to be hopping. The big attraction is the Tyrannosaurus rex named Sue, a 13ft-tall, 41ft-long beast who menaces the grand space with ferocious aplomb. Sue, the most complete T rex ever discovered, takes its name from Sue Hendrickson, the fossil hunter who found the 90%-complete skeleton in South Dakota in 1990.
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Smith Museum of Stained Glass Windows
Navy Pier doesn’t promote this free, impressive attraction very well, but visitors who wander along the lower-level terraces of Festival Hall will discover the country’s first museum dedicated entirely to stained glass. Many of the 150 pieces on display were made in Chicago (a stained-glass hub in the late 1800s, thanks to the influx of European immigrants), and most hung at one point in Chicago churches, homes or office buildings. Even if you think stained glass is something for blue-haired grandmas, you should make a point of coming by; the articulately explained collection ranges from typical Victorian religious themes to far-out political designs (the Martin Luther Ki…
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Polish Museum of America
If you don’t know Pulaski from a pierogi, this is the place to get the scoop on Polish culture. It’s one of the oldest ethnic museums in the country, and while you won’t find high-tech 3-D virtual roller-coaster rides or IMAX screens, you will get a chance to learn about some of the Poles who helped shape Chicago’s history. (Casimir Pulaski, by the way, was a Polish hero in the American Revolution who was known as the ‘father of the American cavalry’ and the guy who saved George Washington’s life at the Battle of Brandywine.) Traditional Polish costumes, WWII artifacts and folk art pieces contribute to the storytelling.
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Museum of Science & Industry
Sure, the nine permanent exhibits of this enormous museum examine just about every aspect of life on Earth, but its pleasures are in the details: chicks struggling to peck their way out of shells in the baby chick hatchery, the whimsical little high jinks of wooden puppets in the Cabaret Mechanical Theatre and the minuscule furnishings in Colleen Moore’s fairy castle. If you want to go big, explore the German U-boat captured during WWII ($8 extra to tour it), take a (rather frightening) tour through industrial agriculture, or climb into the life-sized shaft of a coal mine.
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Dusable Museum of African American History
This was the first independent museum in the country dedicated to African American art, history and culture. The collection features African American artworks and photography, permanent exhibits that illustrate African Americans’ experiences from slavery through the Civil Rights movement, and rotating exhibits that cover topics such as Chicago blues music or the Black Panther movement. Housed in a 1910 building, the museum takes its name from Chicago’s first permanent settler, Jean Baptiste Pointe du Sable, a French Canadian of Haitian descent.
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Swedish American Museum Center
The permanent collection at this small storefront museum focuses on the lives of the Swedes who originally settled Chicago. In that sense it reflects the dreams and aspirations of many of the groups who have poured into the city since it was founded. You can check out some of the items people felt were important to bring with them on their journey to America. Butter churns, traditional bedroom furniture, religious relics and more are all included. The children’s section lets kids climb around on a steamship and milk fake cows.
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Adler Planetarium & Astronomy Museum
Space enthusiasts will get a big bang out of the Adler, the first planetarium built in the western hemisphere. From the entrance, visitors descend below the 1930s building, which has 12 sides, one for each sign of the zodiac. Cosmic films show in the digital theaters and recreate such cataclysmic phenomena as supernovas. Interactive exhibits allow you to simulate cosmic events such as a meteor hitting the earth (this one is especially cool).
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International Museum of Surgical Science
Home to an eclectic (and sometimes chilling) collection of surgical gear, the Museum of Surgical Science has fascinating thematic displays, such as the one on bloodletting. A collection of ‘stones’ (as in ‘kidney’ and ‘gall-’) and the somewhat alarming ancient Roman vaginal speculum leave lasting impressions. For those who’ve always wanted to see an iron lung, here’s your chance. And about that hemorrhoid surgery toolkit…
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Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum
This hands-on museum allows you to do everything from walking through a fluttering butterfly haven to engineering your own river system. Other exhibits show how many different wild animals live in urban Chicago, both inside and out. The museum is geared mostly to kids, who are given free rein to explore, scamper and climb while they learn. In winter, the Green City Market sets up inside twice per month on Saturdays.
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Museum of Holography
This trippy museum contains the world’s largest collection of holograms. Giant tarantulas, naked women and Michael Jordan are among the three-dimensional images. Top pick goes to the ‘binocular’ hologram you look through to see ‘birds’ (more holograms). There’s a school and laboratory dedicated to the science on-site, too.
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Spertus Museum
Located in a glassy mod facility, Spertus explores 5000 years of Jewish faith and culture. Exhibits are on the 9th and 10th floors. The facility has undergone several changes recently, and appears headed on a course of being open for special exhibits only. Call or check the website for updates, including information on admission prices and opening hours.
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Museum of Contemporary Photography
This museum focuses on American photography since 1937, and is the only institution of its kind between the coasts. The permanent collection includes the works of Debbie Fleming Caffery, Mark Klett, Catherine Wagner, Patrick Nagatani and 500 more of the best photographers working today. Special exhibitions augment the rotating permanent collection.
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Museum of Broadcast Communications
The Museum of Broadcast Communications, filled with radio and TV nostalgia, is a newbie in the ‘hood (a smaller incarnation once dwelled in the Chicago Cultural Center). After three-plus years of restructuring, the new museum still had not opened at press time. Call for admission prices and hours.
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National Vietnam Veterans Art Museum
Opened in 1996, the National Vietnam Veterans Art Museum displays the art of Americans who served in the military during the war in Vietnam. Spread over three floors in an old commercial building, it features a large and growing collection of haunting, angry, mournful and powerful works by veterans.
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Chinese-American Museum of Chicago
One of the sights in Chinatown, the small Chinese-American Museum of Chicago features displays of historical artifacts donated by the community and hosts interesting cultural lectures such as ‘Chop Suey: The American Passion for non-Chinese Chinese Food.’
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McCormick Tribune Freedom Museum
Next door to the Tribune Tower, this small museum provokes thought. Hear once-banned music at the listening exhibits, or interact with computer exhibits that present actual cases testing free speech rights (ie, can the Ku Klux Klan hold a rally on the community square?).
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Leather Archives & Museum
Who knew? Ben Franklin liked to be flogged, and Egypt’s Queen Hatshepsut had a foot fetish. The Leather Archives & Museum reveals this and more in its displays of leather, fetish and S&M subcultures. The on-site shop sells posters, pins and other ‘pervertibles.’
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National Museum of Mexican Art
The National Museum of Mexican Art is the largest Latino arts institution in the US. The vivid permanent collection includes classical paintings, shining gold altars, skeleton-rich folk art, beadwork and much more.
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Chicago Blues Museum
Keep an eye out for the Chicago Blues Museum. It had closed its Bronzeville facility at this update time, but was promising to re-open somewhere in the neighborhood. Call or email for current details.
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