Location: Downtown / The Loop
Top Things to do in Downtown / The Loop
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Top 10 Museums in Downtown / The Loop, Illinois (IL)
The windy city is a cornucopia of modern art, fine dining, cutting edge comedy, and die-hard sports fans. Snap a photo of your reflection in the silver Cloud Gate sculpture at Millennium Park before heading to Grant Park to get hit with the refreshing spray of Buckingham Fountain. There are dozens of museums and theater companies in Chicago, so a cultural experience is never hard to find. You’re sure to laugh your head off at the Second City Theater, the professional launch pad of many famous comedians.
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1. The Art Institute of Chicago
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 24,057 reviews
See why the Art Institute of Chicago is the only museum in the world to be top-ranked by TripAdvisor four years in a row! Experience the greatest Impressionist collection outside Paris, and view contemporary masterpieces in the spectacular Modern Wing. Stand before classics like Nighthawks, and travel the globe through galleries devoted to the art of ancient Greece, Japan, Africa, and the Americas.
Reviewed By nemeshek - Mexico City, Mexico
This is the best Chicago Museum for me. All the classical paints such as Francesco de Mura, Peter Paul Rubens, El Greco, Luca Cambiaso, Tintoretto, Paul Gauguin, Paul Cézanne, Edvard Munch, Claude Monet and Vincent Van Gogh are incredible. This is a must to visit in Chicago.
2. Van Gogh's Bedrooms
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 5 reviews
3. American Writers Museum
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 377 reviews
Visit the American Writers Museum today! Through innovative and dynamic state-of-the-art exhibitions, as well as compelling programming, the American Writers Museum educates, enriches, provokes, and inspires visitors of all ages. Special exhibits FREE with paid admission; My America: Immigrant and Refugee Writers Today (through Spring 2021), and Tools of the Trade (through June 30, 2020).
Reviewed By FelicitySpike - Scarsdale, United States
The American Writers Museum features well organized and engaging exhibits for lovers of reading and writing. A special exhibit of Bob Dylan demonstrates some of the reasons Dylan received the Nobel Prize for Literature. There was also an exhibit of old typewriters used by well-known American writers.
4. Wabash Arts Corridor
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 7 reviews
The WAC is an urban outdoor exhibition featuring world class, large-scale works of public art. The heart of WAC is Wabash Avenue from Van Buren to Roosevelt and is framed to the east by Michigan Avenue and to the west by State Street.
Reviewed By Mudge828 - Chicago, United States
We took a walking tour of murals in the Wabash Arts Corridor, organized through Columbia College. Great fun! Although it was a very warm day, we found lots of shade. Our docent was excellent, providing us with lots of information about the history of the murals and why they were done in this area. If you're interested in a deep dive into art and history, this is a great tour to take.
5. The Glass Gallery
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 11 reviews
Please note LH Selman is currently open by appointment only. Please get in touch if you would like to schedule a time to come by the gallery. Welcome to L.H. Selman Ltd., a name that has been synonymous with the finest antique and contemporary paperweights for over 40 years. As the country's premier dealer in fine art glass paperweights our mission is to promote the very best by exhibiting and selling through our gallery and at auction the finest examples made in centuries past, and by nurturing new talent emerging from contemporary independent studios.
Reviewed By 866TaylorB - Chicago, United States
My wife and I recently purchased a fine glass antique paperweight from L.H. Selman Ltd. in Chicago to serve as a centerpiece for our extensive Civil War collection of rare and first-edition books, manuscripts, autographs, paintings and artifacts. Until we visited the Selman gallery and museum at 410 South Michigan Avenue, in the historic Fine Arts Building, overlooking Millennium Park and Grant Park and the nearby Art Institute of Chicago, we didn't have any knowledge about paperweights. In less than two hours, we received a thorough education. Selman is a name that has been synonymous with the finest antique and contemporary paperweights for over 40 years. It is the premier dealer in fine art glass paperweights in the United States and its mission is to promote the very best by exhibiting and selling through its gallery and at auction the finest examples made in past centuries and by nurturing new talent emerging from independent studios. It's a fascinating adventure, viewing the largest collection of antique and contemporary paperweights in the world. After it's over, you understand that a paperweight isn't a simple desk accessory. The origin of glass paperweights can be traced to France in 1845, when glass factories such as Baccarat, Saint Louis and Clichy were competing to create the world's finest crystal luxury items, including water sets, tableware and inkwells, then paperweights. Collectors range from kings and American presidents to writers and investors to Truman Capote and Arthur Rubloff. L.H. Selman was introduced to paperweights in the mid-1960s. He began collecting them, started a small mail order business, created a publishing company to distribute information about paperweights, then founded the International Paperweight Society and Museum on South Michigan Avenue. In 2001, he was named "one of the Top Ten People of the 20th Century" to influence the paperweight art form. In 2009, he sold his business to Mitch and Ben Clark. They picked up the torch--or the paperweight--and the Chicago art scene remains in sterling condition.
6. Museum Of Illusions Chicago
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 18 reviews
Reviewed By carolinephauser - Evanston, United States
This was a very cool experience with my teenage daughter. The staff was super helpful explaining how to get the most out of the different exhibits. We really had fun, and it was the perfect birthday outing during covid. Highly recommend for people of all ages. The staff took all Covid precautions. It was very well done.
7. Thorne Miniature Rooms
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 7 reviews
Reviewed By 866TaylorB - Chicago, United States
My wife and I have browsed the Thorne Miniature Rooms at the Art Institute of Chicago on previous occasions. But after seeing the display of the Thorne collection at the Phoenix Art Museum during our recent two-week vacation in Arizona, we decided to make another visit to larger Thorne collection in Chicago. It is an exhibit unlike any other, a child's dream. Thorne Miniature Rooms are a set of about 100 miniature models of rooms created between 1932 and 1940 under the direction of Narcissa Niblack Thorne, who was born in 1882 in Vincennes, Indiana. As a child, she began to collect miniature furniture and household accessories. Her uncle, a U.S. Navy vice admiral, sent her many antique dollhouse miniatures from around the world. When she was 19, she married Montgomery Ward department store heir James Ward Thorne, whose fortune helped to finance her hobby. Ninety-nine of the rooms are still believed to be in existence. The majority of them, a total of 68, are on display at the Art Institute of Chicago, located at 111 South Michigan Avenue. We saw 20 of them at the Phoenix Art Museum. The Art Institute's rooms document European and American interiors from the late 13th century to the 1930s and the 17th century to the 1930s, respectively. Constructed on a 1:12 scale, the rooms are largely made of the same materials as full-sized rooms and some even include original works of art, including paintings and sculpture, silver bowls and crystal chandeliers. They are among the most popular attractions at the Art Institute with an authentic appearance and attention to detail that boggles the mind.
8. Chicago Cultural Center
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 2,992 reviews
The Chicago Cultural Center is the nation's first free municipal cultural center and one of the most visited attractions in Chicago. The stunning landmark building, opened in 1897 as the city's first public library, is home to two magnificent stained-glass domes, and annually presents hundreds of free cultural exhibits and performances. Admission is free.
Reviewed By pookala - Philadelphia, United States
Aside from being a beautiful building filled with finely executed mosaic work, a lovely marble staircase and an always interesting array of changing exhibits; the Cultural Center also has a free weekly recital under the largest Tiffany glass dome in the world. The 45 minute Wednesday concerts take place in the Preston Bradley Hall at 12:15 pm. Be sure to get there early (20-30 minutes) if you want to sit up front. The space fills up quickly. If you have nothing planned afterwards go to the Randolph St entrance after the concert and go on a tour of the building. Space is limited for this tour and they start at 1:15 pm daily. Check out their calendar of events before planning your Chicago itinerary to take advantage of this excellent cultural institution.
9. The McCormick Bridgehouse & Chicago River Museum
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 148 reviews
Celebrating the Chicago River and its world-famous movable bridges. Note: We are closed for the 2015 season. We will reopen in May 2016!
Reviewed By skenyon1995 - Hoffman Estates, United States
A friend of mine sent me a snail mail article from the Chicago Tribune about the Chicago Bridge Museum. Chicago has made an actual museum inside one of their 4 story Chicago River bridge towers. You can take a tour below ground and actually see the gears & inner workings of the DuSable(formerly Michigan) Ave double decker four lane bridge lift machinery. Lots of history in the upper levels. A tour guide came down to the lower level when the boats were passing above & the bridge was lifting to explain things & answer questions. The gigantic counterweight weighs an amazing 12,000 tons! The 100 yr old bridge is so superbly balanced that it only takes about a 150 HP motor & a LOT of BIG gears to lift & lower it in one minute. Amazing what they could design back then with slide rules instead of software. You can go through on your own self guided tour fairly quickly, access is from the Riverwalk area. I believe an adult ticket was $12 or so. Didnt know that boats have the right of way over cars, since the Chicago river is a federal waterway. Sorry, you have to wait for the Skipper & Gilligan!
10. Pritzker Military Museum & Library
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 71 reviews
The Pritzker Military Museum & Library is located at the corner of Michigan Avenue and Monroe Street on floors two through four of the historic Monroe Building in Chicago's Loop. Situated across the street from Millennium Park (home to Cloud Gate and the Crown Fountain) and the Art Institute of Chicago, The Museum & Library is a unique institution – part military history and information center, part museum – open to the public with an extensive collection of books, artifacts and rotating exhibits covering many eras and branches of the military. Visitors can also participate in live television show recordings in the Museum & Library's state of the art broadcast center. The Museum & Library is a center where citizens and active duty military and veterans come together to learn from each other, about military history and the role of the Armed Forces in today’s society.
Reviewed By 866TaylorB - Chicago, United States
It has been said, by some reviewers, that the Pritzker Military Museum & Library in Chicago is more library than museum. And that might be true. But there is such a treasure trove of rare and interesting books, including a sizable collection relating to Winston Churchill, that it is worth a trip to spend time in the Rare Book Reading Room to catch up on history that dates to the 1600s and 1700s and 1800s that you can't find anywhere else. Located at 104 South Michigan Avenue, on the second floor, it was founded in 2003 for the study of "the citizen soldier as an essential element for the preservation of democracy." The collection features over 115,000 items, including more than 67,000 books, as well as periodicals, videos, artwork, posters and rare military ephemera, over 9,000 photographs and glass negatives from the American Civil War and the Spanish-American War to the present, letters and journals from American soldiers, newspaper cartoons by Pulitzer Prize winning newspaper artist Bill Mauldin, war-related sheet music and many materials relating to Churchill. Another fascinating exhibit are two World War II diaries donated to the museum by Chicagoan Sam Gevirtz, who served on the aircraft carrier USS Bunker Hill during the invasion of Okinawa in 1945. If you are a historian, especially related to the Civil War and World War I and II, if you are interested in such subjects as Civil War regimental histories or military aviation or World War II unit histories, even Soviet history, the Pritzker beckons.
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