The Woman's Newspapers: Community: Museums, Special Interests in Chicago

Online Directory of Museums in the Chicago Area (as published in Chicago Woman Newspaper™)

Choose an area or scroll down to see entire list

Architecture

Chicago Architecture Foundation
224 S. Michigan Avenue, Chicago 60604
312-922-TOUR
The Chicago Architecture Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing public interest and education in architecture and design. Daily Loop Walking Tours and the CAF Architecture River Cruise are the best ways to learn about Chicago's famous buildings.

Clarke House Museum
1827 S. Indiana Avenue, Chicago 60616
312-326-1480
Chicago's oldest house, the Widow Clarke House, now known as the Clarke House Museum, is now open to the public. Tours of this 1836 Greek Revival style house reveal what life was like for a middle class family in Chicago, when the city was in its formative years before the Civil War. Hour-long guided tours are offered Wednesday through Sunday at noon, 1 and 2pm. Admission is $7 for adults and $6 for senior citizens and students. Tours begin at Glessner House Museum, 1800 S. Prairie, on 18th street just east of Indiana.

Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust
931 Chicago Avenue, Oak Park 60302
708-848-1976
The Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust operates two historic house museums: The Robie House in Hyde Park (see below), and the Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio in Oak Park. The Preservation Trust offers guided architetural tours of these buildings daily.

Robie House
5757 S. Woodlawn St., Chicago 60637
773-834-1847
Robie House is the culmination of Wright's renowned work in the revolutionary architectural genre known as the Prairie Style. This spectacular structure features 174 exquisite art glass windows and doors. Tours offered daily.

Glessner House Museum
1800 S. Prairie Avenue, Chicago 60616
312-326-1480
Glessner House Museum is a National Historic Landmark, designed by Henry Hobson Richardson and built in 1887. Guided tours of Glessner House and the neighboring Clarke House Museum are available, Wednesday-Sunday at noon, 1 and 2pm.

Fine Art

The Art Institute of Chicago
111 S. Michigan Avenue, Chicago 60603-6110
312-443-3600
The Art Institute of Chicago, one of the world's leading museums. The collections include some of the finest art ever produced. On display are paintings, sculptures, prints and drawings, photographs, Asian art, art of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas, textiles, decorative arts, and architectural fragments and drawings.

Columbia College Center for the Book and Paper Arts
1104 S. Wabash, 2nd floor Chicago, IL 60605-2328
312-663-1600

Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art
756 W. Milwaukee, Chicago 60622
312-243-9088
Founded in 1991, Intuit is based in Chicago and offers a wide variety of exhibitions, slide lectures, film screenings, and study tours of outsider art environments.

Museum of Contemporary Art
220 E. Chicago Avenue, Chicago 60611
312-280-2660
The MCA's exciting collection presents the finest, most thought-provoking artworks created since 1945. In addition, the MCA's special exhibitions highlight today's most innovative artists. Located near the historic Water Tower and just steps off Michigan Avenue. Enjoy lunch in Puck's at the MCA, which overlooks Lake Michigan and a terraced sculpture garden; shop at the MCA Store and bookstore; or experience a live performance or lecture.

Museum of Contemporary Photography
600 S. Michigan Avenue, Chicago 60605
312-663-5554
This Columbia College- based museum celebrates the artistic craft and works of modern photographers.

National Vietnam Veterans Art Museum
1801 S. Indiana Avenue, Chicago 60616
312-326-0270
An unforgettable collection of artwork created by Vietnam Veterans.

David and Alfred Smart Museum of Art
University of Chicago
5550 S. Greenwood Avenue, Chicago 60637
773-702-0200
The Smart Museum of Art is the University of Chicago's art museum.

Smith Museum of Stained Glass Windows at Navy Pier
Navy Pier, 700 E. Grand Ave.
312-791-6049
Installed in an 800-foot-long gallery located along the lower terraces of Festival Hall at Navy Pier, the Smith Museum of Stained Glass Windows showcases religious windows that reveal the national and ethnic styles of Chicago's European immigrants and residential windows that display the history of architecture and decorative art styles.

Terra Museum of American Art
664 N. Michigan, Chicago 60611
312-664-3939
Terra Museum of American Art exhibits and interprets American art, promoting understanding and appreciation of the nation's artistic heritage.

Textile Arts Centre
916 W. Diversey Pkwy, Chicago 60614
773-929-5655
The Textile Arts Centre (TAC) has been known as a precious resource for promoting fiber arts and education.

Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art
2320 W. Chicago, Chicago
773-227-5522

Children

Chicago Children's Museum
700 E. Grand Avenue, Chicago 60611
312-527-1000
Chicago Children's Museum is designed to help children learn, explore and develop new understandings of the world. Children and their families can enjoy hands-on, interactive exhibits and special school and family programs in the museum's 57,00 square foot facility at Navy Pier.

History

Chicago Historical Society
Clark Street at North Avenue, Chicago 60614
312-642-4600
Get lost in Chicago's past.

DuSable Museum of African-American History
740 E. 56th Place, Chicago 60637
773-947-0600
The DuSable Museum is the first and oldest African-American museum in the country with over 17,000 objects in its collection.

Oriental Institute Museum
1155 E. 58th Street, Chicago 60637
773-702-1062
The Oriental Institute Museum is a showcase of the history, art and archeology of the ancient Near East. Collections focus on the cultures of Ancient Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, and Turkey.

Spertus Museum / Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies
618 S. Michigan Avenue, Chicago 60605
312-322-1747
Spertus Museum - the largest Jewish museum between the coasts - invites visitors to encounter the wonder of Jewish history, religion, art and culture through its exhibiton and programs. Of special note are the Zell Holocaust Memorial, the nation's first museum exhibit about the Holocaust.

Chicago Maritime Museum
312-421-9096

Science & Technology

The Field Museum
1400 South Lake Shore Drive, Chicago 60605
312-922-9410
The Field Museum is welcoming a broad variety of
intriguing exhibition. The Field Museum provides a unique and different experience for its visitors.

Shedd Aquarium
1200 S. Lake Shore Drive, Chicago 60605
312-939-2438
Water your imagination at the John G. Shedd Aquarium, a mesmerizing introduction to aquatic life from around the world. From awe-inspiring whales, frolicking sea otters and lively penguins to streamlined sharks and exotic eels, Shedd Aquarium is home to a myriad of fascinating, colorful aquatic animals. the global collection includes more than 8,000 aquatic animals representing more than 650 species.

Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum

2430 N. Cannon Drive at Fullerton Parkway, Chicago 60614

773-755-5100
The Nature Museum encourages visitors to examine the relationship between people and nature and to explore the ways in which humans impact their environment. Visit our Butterfly Haven aflutter with live native and international butterflies!

Museum of Holography/Chicago
1134 W. Washington Blvd., Chicago 60607
312-226-1007

Museum of Broadcast Communications
78 East Washington, Chicago 60602
312-629-6000
The Museum of Broadcast Communications is one of only two broadcast museums in America, housing historic radio and television memorabilla, an extensive archive collection of over 85,000 hours of television and radio programming and home to America's only Radio Hall of Fame. The museum offers state-of-the art radio and television studios; where visitors have the opportunity to go "on-the air," plus a wide array of interactive exhibits and klosks. Located in the Chicago Cultural Center, MBC is open Monday- Saturday, 10:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. and Sunday, 12:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.(no archives on Sundays).