Chicago is known for many things: deep dish pizza, diehard Cubs fans, and art. World-class architecture (treasured remnants from the 1893 Columbian Exposition) meets modern installations like Cloud Gate (aka “The Bean”) throughout the Loop. Here, art develops less as a spectator sport and more as an invitation to be part of history. You can even spend a night in van Gogh’s Bedroom in Arles listed on Airbnb for $10 per day (reservations open again starting July 2019). Check out this list of unique exhibitions in the Windy City to visit this summer for the perfect culture trip.
Permanent Exhibits at the Art Institute
Mull over the mysterious musings of Edward Hopper’s Nighthawks. Experience a moment in Paris with Gustave Caillebotte's Paris Street. Or feel the music in Pablo Picasso's The Old Guitarist at The Art Institute of Chicago’s permanent collections.
111 S. Michigan Ave; artic.edu
America After the Fall: Painting in the 1930s
Displayed in the Abbott Galleries of The Art Institute of Chicago's Modern Wing through September, this summer exhibition features modernist work from the ripe era of realism, populism, abstraction, and more post 1920s extravagance. And, if you’re bummed that van Gogh’s real life Bedroom Airbnb is booked until 2019, you’re in luck: This exhibit will bring together all three of the artist’s Arles, France, bedroom paintings for the first time.
111 S. Michigan Ave; artic.edu
Invisible Man: Gordon Parks and Ralph Ellison in Harlem
Well-known photographer/filmmaker Gordon Parks and author Ralph Ellison joined concepts in the late 1940s, early 1950s to create a vision through art of postwar African American experience. Their work, focused on Harlem, offers a stark depiction of racial injustice via photography and text. Surviving pieces of their exhibition will be on display through August 28 including never-seen photography and unpublished manuscripts by Ellison (courtesy collections of The Art Institute and the Gordon Parks Foundation).
111 S. Michigan Ave; artic.edu
The Making of a Fugitive
Inspired by Life magazine’s September 1970 cover of activist/scholar Angela Davis after she was placed on the FBI’s Most Wanted List, this exhibit, open through December 4, investigates what it means to be a fugitive. It also explores the all-familiar intersection of media and perceptions of normalcy, innocence, and lawlessness.
220 East Chicago Avenue; mcachicago.org
Brick by Brick at the Museum of Science and Industry
Through February 2017, experience masterpieces of LEGO creation from Chicagoan and professional builder Adam Reed Tucker at the Museum of Science and Industry. This exhibit features more than a dozen huge replicas of incredible architectural achievements like the Roman Coliseum, The Golden Gate Bridge, and even Cinderella’s Castle built out of LEGOs.
5700 S Lake Shore Drive; msichicago.org
Lincoln’s Undying Words at the Chicago History Museum
Illinois is the “Land of Lincoln” by slogan, but this Lincoln's Undying Words exhibit gives insight into the man who gave some of the most memorable speeches in history. Five of those speeches from 1858 to 1865 will be presented. The Lincoln family carriage and the bed in which the late president died will also be on display alongside other artifacts through February 2017.
1601 N. Clark St.; chicagohistory.org
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