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.
The Norton Simon Museum is a renowned art museum located in Pasadena, California, widely recognized for housing one of the most exceptional private art collections in the world. Established in its current form in 1975, the museum showcases an extensive range of works spanning over 2,000 years of human creativity.
Located in beautiful Griffith Park, the Autry features unique galleries filled with paintings, sculptures, film memorabilia, photographs, historic firearms and so much more, all related to the American West. The Autry’s more than 600,000 pieces of art and cultural objects include one of the largest and most significant collections of Native American materials in the United States.
The Fowler Museum at UCLA explores global arts and cultures with an emphasis on Africa, Asia, the Pacific, and the Indigenous Americas—past and present. The Fowler enhances understanding and appreciation of the diverse peoples, cultures, and religions of the world through dynamic exhibitions, publications, and public programs, informed by interdisciplinary approaches and the perspectives of the cultures represented. Also featured is the work of international contemporary artists presented within the complex frameworks of politics, culture and social action. The Fowler provides exciting, informative and thought-provoking exhibitions and events for the UCLA community and the people of greater Los Angeles and beyond.
Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (ICA LA) is a non-collecting contemporary art museum located in the Arts District of Downtown Los Angeles. An epicenter of artistic experimentation and incubator of new ideas, ICA LA is recognized for its history of bold curatorial vision and innovative programming to illuminate the important untold stories and emerging voices in contemporary art and culture.
The Skirball Cultural Center is a place of meeting guided by the Jewish tradition of welcoming the stranger and inspired by the American democratic ideals of freedom and equality. We welcome people of all communities and generations to participate in cultural experiences that celebrate discovery and hope, foster human connections, and call upon us to help build a more just society.
The Museum’s permanent collection houses 5,000 objects that span landscape painting and portraiture, modern and contemporary art, historical objects and print materials, and mixed-media artworks. Though the collection emphasizes objects pertinent to California and the American West, it also houses a growing collection of artworks from the African diaspora as well as important works by African Americans from across the United States.
The mission of the Japanese American National Museum is to promote understanding and appreciation of America’s ethnic and cultural diversity by sharing the Japanese American experience.
The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures is the largest museum in the world devoted to the arts, sciences, and artists of moviemaking. Global in outlook and grounded in the unparalleled collections and expertise of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Academy Museum offers exceptional exhibitions and programs that illuminate the world of cinema. They are immersive and dynamic and tell the many stories of the movies—their art, technology, artists, history, and social impact—through a variety of diverse and engaging voices. The Academy Museum tells complete stories of moviemaking—celebratory, educational, and sometimes critical or uncomfortable.
The Getty Center, in Los Angeles, California, US, is a campus of the Getty Museum and other programs of the Getty Trust. The $1.3 billion center opened to the public on December 16, 1997,[2] and is well known for its architecture, gardens, and views overlooking Los Angeles. The center sits atop a hill connected to a visitors’ parking garage at the bottom of the hill by a three-car, cable-pulled hovertrain people mover.[3]
The Huntington, a world-renowned cultural and educational institution, provides transformative experiences for a community of the curious.
The Hammer Museum champions the art and artists who challenge us to see the world in a new light, to experience the unexpected, to ignite our imaginations, and inspire change.
The Hammer understands that art not only has the power to transport us through aesthetic experience but can also provide significant insight into some of the most pressing cultural, political, and social questions of our time. We share the unique and invaluable perspectives that artists have on the world around us.
Established in 1979, we are the only artist-founded museum in Los Angeles. We are dedicated to collecting and exhibiting contemporary art. We house one of the most compelling collections of contemporary art in the world, comprising nearly 8,000 objects, and have a diverse history of ground-breaking, historically-significant exhibitions.
Founded in 1985 by category-defying artist Isamu Noguchi (1904–1988), The Isamu Noguchi Garden Museum (now known as The Noguchi Museum), was the first museum in the United States to be established, designed, and installed by a living artist to show their own work. Located in Long Island City, Queens, the Museum itself is widely viewed as among the artist’s greatest achievements.
At The Shed, artists are constantly dreaming up new art forms and experiences. Often, we have to find new ways to talk about what they’ve created, and yet we won’t be able to capture the feelings and awe you will experience in person.
That’s the mission of The Shed, to introduce you to the future of art with an experience that will leave you speechless, make you feel what you weren’t expecting, and inspire discussion.
And that’s what makes The Shed exciting, every time you visit. There’s always something new to discover. Even if you’ve seen a classic Shakespeare play on stage, you’ve never seen one reimagined under the visionary guidance of our artistic team.
The New Museum is a leading destination for new art and new ideas. It is respected internationally for the adventurousness and global scope of its program.
The Museum of the City of New York is situated in the center of the New York metropolitan area, traditionally the lands of the Lenape, Manahatin, Canarsie, Shinnecock, Munsee, Mattinecock, Setauket, Unkechaug, Montauket, and others, all of whom have descendants living today. Native communities across the Americas have demonstrated resilience and resistance in the face of violent efforts to separate them from their land, culture, and each other. We offer recognition and respect to the Indigenous inhabitants of this land. New York City has always been and continues to be a place for gathering and exchange for Indigenous peoples, many of whom choose to call this city home.
