American writing is distinctive, diverse, and comes in many forms from across the nation. As the only museum devoted to American writers and their works, AWM connects visitors with their favorite authors and writings from more than five centuries, while inspiring the discovery of new works of every type – poetry, lyrics, speeches, drama, fiction, nonfiction, journalism, and more.
A National Historic Landmark, free and open to the public, the museum hosts exhibitions and programs that connect histories of social transformation to the present. For UIC and for national and international visitors, the Jane Addams Hull-House Museum endures as a site of activism, creative expression, research, and education.
The Chicago History Museum is situated on ancestral homelands of the Potawatomi people, who cared for the land until forced out by non-Native settlers. Established in 1856, the Museum is now at 1601 N. Clark Street in Lincoln Park, its third location.
Hyde Park Art Center is a hub for contemporary arts in Chicago, serving as a gathering and production space for artists and the broader community to cultivate ideas, impact social change, and connect with new networks. The Art Center functions as an amplifier for today and tomorrow’s creative voices, providing the space to cultivate and create new work and connections.
The Renaissance Society is at its core a space of possibility. For artists, we offer an unfettered platform for bold experimentation. Our work with artists frequently results in newly commissioned art, and these presentations in our gallery at the University of Chicago spur further scholarly and creative reflections in our publications and public programs. For visitors, we offer opportunities to engage deeply with art and artists who provide critical responses to our present moment. All exhibitions and events are free to attend.
Intuit Art Museum (IAM) champions the diverse voices of self-taught art, welcoming both new and familiar audiences. Located in Chicago’s West Town neighborhood, Intuit is a premier museum of self-taught art. IAM collects and exhibits work by artists who often work outside the mainstream due to societal, economic, or geographic barriers that have prevented them from pursuing formal training in the arts. Yet, they have developed a sustained artistic practice. The museum’s mission is grounded in the ethos that the instinct to create is universal, and the arts must embrace, represent and be accessible to all.
Museum of Contemporary Photography at Columbia College Chicago (MoCP) is a premier college art museum dedicated to photography. As an accredited art museum with the American Alliance of Museums, MoCP is a renowned photography specific institution whose mission is to generate ideas and provoke dialogue through groundbreaking exhibitions, innovative programs, and experiential events to cultivate a deeper understanding of the artistic, cultural, and political roles of photography in our world today.
The Museum is located just steps from the Magnificent Mile. The exquisite building was saved twice, first by a collective of over 100 Chicago citizens in 1919, and then by philanthropist Richard H. Driehaus, who sponsored its restoration from 2003-2008.
Wrightwood 659 is a contemporary exhibition space dedicated to architecture and socially engaged art. Designed by Pritzker Prize–winning Japanese architect Tadao Ando, the space reimagines a 1920s building through Ando’s signature use of cast-in-place concrete and a poetic orchestration of natural light.
As the fine arts museum of the University of Chicago, the Smart Museum of Art is a site for rigorous inquiry and exchange that encourages the examination of complex issues through the lens of art objects and artistic practice.
The DuSable Museum is proud of its diverse holdings that number more than 15,000 pieces and include paintings, sculpture, print works and historical memorabilia. Special exhibitions, workshops and lectures are featured to highlight works by particular artists, historical events or collections on loan from individuals or institutions.
Today, the National Museum of Mexican Art stands out as the most prominent first-voice institutions for Mexican art and culture in the United States. We are home to one of the country’s largest Mexican art collections, including more than 22,000 seminal pieces from ancient Mexico to the present.
Drawn by its beauty and the fabulous free public events, hundreds of thousands of visitors come to the Chicago Cultural Center every year, making it one of the most visited attractions in Chicago. The stunning landmark building is home to two magnificent stained–glass domes, as well as free music, dance and theater events, films, lectures, art exhibitions and family events.
The Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago is one of the world’s largest museums dedicated to contemporary art. Here, the public can experience the work and ideas of living artists and understand the historical, social, and cultural context of the art of our time.
Ox-Bow as an artist-built community is dedicated to the preservation of time and space for arts education, research, practice, and community building for artists at all stages of their artistic journey.
Founded in 1879, it is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the United States. The museum is based in the Art Institute of Chicago Building in Chicago’s Grant Park. Its collection, stewarded by 11 curatorial departments, includes works such as Georges Seurat’s A Sunday on La Grande Jatte, Pablo Picasso’s The Old Guitarist, Edward Hopper’s Nighthawks, and Grant Wood’s American Gothic. Its permanent collection of nearly 300,000 works of art is augmented by more than 30 special exhibitions mounted yearly that illuminate aspects of the collection and present curatorial and scientific research. The land of the institute is publicly owned by the city of Chicago and administered by the Chicago Park District.
School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) es reconocida por su enfoque experimental y su pedagogía abierta que conecta arte, teoría y tecnología. Sus programas favorecen investigación interdisciplinaria y exploración conceptual.
Mariane Ibrahim’s Chicago flagship occupies a 5,000‑6,000 sq ft, purpose‑built gallery at 437 N. Paulina St. in West Town. Opened in 2019, the low‑slung modernist space anchors the gallery’s global network and champions cutting‑edge artists of African descent and the Black diaspora through ambitious, narrative‑driven exhibitions.
