Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago http://www.mcachicago.org/
The Museum of Contemporary Art Collection has outstanding examples of visual art from 1945 to the present with a strong focus on surrealism, minimalism, conceptual photography, and work by Chicago-based artists.
Hyde Park Art Center http://www.hydeparkart.org/
The Hyde Park Art Center's mission is to stimulate and sustain the visual arts in Chicago. It is the oldest alternative exhibition space in the City and boasts a long record of education outreach in the community.
Evanston Art Center http://www.evanstonartcenter.org/
Whether you are an inexperienced beginner, a professional artist studying a new technique, an art teacher, retiree, college student or parent of a student in our Youth Fine Arts program, the Evanston Art Center offers programs that can help you make art a part of your life.
The DuSable Museum of African American History http://www.dusablemuseum.org
The DuSable Museum of African American History is the first museum of its type in the country and is the only major independent institution in Chicago established to preserve and interpret the historical experiences and achievements of African Americans.
The Museum of Contemporary Photography (MoCP) http://mocp.org/
The Museum of Contemporary Photography (MoCP) is the only museum in the Midwest with an exclusive commitment to the medium of photography. By presenting projects and exhibitions that embrace a wide range of contemporary aesthetics and technologies, the Museum strives to communicate the value and significance of photographic images as expressions of human thought, imagination, and creativity.
National Museum of Mexican Art http://www.nationalmuseumofmexicanart.org The Museum defines the Mexican culture as "sin fronteras" (without borders) and presents the Mexican culture from ancient times to the present and how it has manifested itself on both sides of the border.
Smart Museum of Art http://smartmuseum.uchicago.edu
Located on the University of Chicago's Hyde Park campus, the Smart Museum of Art houses a permanent collection of over 10,000 objects, spanning five millennia of both Western and Eastern civilizations.
Lillstreet Art Center http://www.lillstreet.com
Lillstreet Art Center supports the arts through an artist residency program, gallery, studio space, education and outreach program. We are dedicated to bringing artists and audience together through our commitment to promoting, supporting and encouraging the fine arts.
Chicago Cultural Center www.cityofchicago.org/Tourism/CulturalCenter/ As one of the most comprehensive free arts showcases in the United States, this landmark building is the setting for hundreds of programs and exhibitions presented annually by the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs.
Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art www.blockmuseum.northwestern.edu
The Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University, is the fine arts museum of Chicago’s North Shore, offering focused visual arts programming for the Northwestern University community and the greater Chicago area. The museum mounts several exhibitions a year, organizes numerous lectures, symposia, and workshops with artists and scholars, and screens classic and contemporary films at Block Cinema. We also reach national and international audiences through our traveling exhibitions, publications, and website. Our expanding permanent collection, consisting primarily of works on paper, distinguishes the museum as an important repository of original works of art.
NIU Art Museum www.niu.edu/artmuseum
As an art museum belonging to an academic institution, the dual roles of the Northern Illinois University Art Museum are to contribute to the university's educational curriculum and to provide opportunities for art education and cultural enrichment throughout the community.
The Field Museum http://www.fieldmuseum.org
The Field Museum is located at Chicago's Museum Campus. It was incorporated in 1893 as the Columbian Museum of Chicago with its purpose the "accumulation and dissemination of knowledge, and the preservation and exhibition of objects illustrating art, archaeology, science and history." In 1905, the Museum's name was changed to Field Museum of Natural History to honor the Museum's first major benefactor, Marshall Field, and to better reflect its focus on the natural sciences.
Shedd Aquarium http://www.sheddaquarium.org
The Shedd Aquarium, located on Chicago's Museum Campus, is the world's largest indoor aquarium with more than 8,000 aquatic animals representing more than 700 species from all parts of the world. The Caribbean Reef, teaming with bright, colorful new corals and more than 60 species of animal, includes bonnet head sharks, southern stingrays, angelfish and a hawksbill sea turtle. Divers hand-feed sharks, sea turtles and eels at scheduled times during the day. The Marine Mammal Presentation, presented several times each day, features animal-care staff interacting with the dolphins and whales as they dive, spyhop and walk on their tails.
Adler Planetarium and Astronomy Museum http://www.adlerplanetarium.org
The Adler Planetarium is located on Lake Shore Drive at Chicago's Museum Campus. Opened in 1930 as the first planetarium in the western hemisphere, the Adler fuels the imagination of its visitors with all new exhibits, state-of-the-art computer technology and the world's first StarRider Theater, while showcasing a renowned collection of historical astronomy artifacts.
