Chicago’s Museum Marvels: Nine World-Class Cultural Institutions

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Driehaus Museum

Chicago has more than 60 museums, ranging in focus from art to architecture, history to health and science to sight. It’d be tricky to experience all of them in just one trip, so we’re highlighting nine world-class museums in Chicago that showcase the city’s rich cultural and historical heritage.

Art Institute of Chicago 

Timeless Beauty: With a collection of nearly 300,000 works, the Art Institute of Chicago in Grant Park is one of the most celebrated art museums on the planet. It has more than 30 special exhibits each year, but the main permanent draws are its collections of French impressionism (including Monet’s Water Lily Pond and Seurat’s A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte) and Americana (including Edward Hopper’s Nighthawks and Grant Wood’s American Gothic).

Museum of Illusions

Optical Tricks: In the heart of the Loop sits the Museum of Illusions, an immersive experience that blurs the line between perception and reality. Its illusion rooms and installations are fun and thought-provoking. The museum expanded in November 2023, adding 30 percent more space and 20 new exhibits.

International Museum of Surgical Science

Hidden Gem: Housed in a Gold Coast mansion, the International Museum of Surgical Science preserves the history of surgery throughout the ages. The museum includes more than 7,000 medical artifacts, 5,000 rare medical texts and 600 portraits and prints. Its Hall of Immortals consists of statues of 12 significant figures in the development of medicine.

Field Museum of Natural History

Uncover the World: The Field Museum on the Museum Campus contains millions of specimens and artifacts spread across more than 480,000 square feet. It’s famous for its extensive collection of dinosaur fossils, including Máximo and SUE, as well as its focus on the diversity of human culture. The museum is free on Wednesdays for Illinois residents.

Shedd Aquarium

Under the Sea: Overlooking Lake Michigan next to the Field Museum, the John G. Shedd Aquarium is the third-largest in the Western Hemisphere. Sea otters, sharks, stingrays and more are cared for at Shedd, which has saved more than 40 endangered species around the world. Be sure to stop by the Abbott Oceanarium for the daily Animal Spotlight shows.

Adler Planetarium

Trip to the Skies: Just a short walk from the Shedd is the first planetarium in the Western Hemisphere — the Adler Planetarium. Its sky shows, Space Visualization Lab and historic artifacts make it a city must-see. The planetarium is also home to the Doane Observatory, whose telescope can zoom into space trillions of miles away.

Griffin Museum of Science and Industry

Fascinating and Entertaining: The Griffin Museum of Science and Industry has more than 400,000 square feet of exhibits that stimulate the mind. Located in Jackson Park on the South Side, it’s in the only building still standing from the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. Some notable artifacts include a captured World War II German submarine, coal mine and baby chick hatchery. Temporary exhibits often show the science behind pop culture favorites, like LEGO, the Marvel universe and James Bond.

Museum of Contemporary Art

Thought-Provoking: Steps away from the Magnificent Mile sits the Museum of Contemporary Art, an eclectic gallery with more than 2,500 pieces dating from the 1920s to today. The permanent and temporary exhibitions feature works that shine a spotlight on how art reflects the time in which we live. 

Driehaus Museum

Time-Travel: The glamor of the Gilded Age is on full display at the Richard H. Driehaus Museum. Its exhibits and programs showcase the art, architecture and design of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Fittingly, it’s located in an 1883 River North mansion renovated by Driehaus himself.

Glessner House

Architecturally Significant: In the South Loop’s historic Prairie Avenue District (Chicago’s original “Millionaires’ Row”) is the house H.H. Richardson built for businessman John J. Glessner. Completed in 1887, it has influenced generations of American architects in the way it broke with traditional European approaches. See how the family lived, including their ornate Steinway piano, which was played by Rachmaninoff and Paderewski. Then, learn about their daughter Frances, whose dioramas of crime scenes virtually invented modern forensic science.

Check out our complete Museum Guide HERE