Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Museum Free Days
Value
Plan your time in Chicago carefully and you can save yourself admission
fees to some of the city's major museums. However, keep in mind that
you will still have to pay for special exhibitions and films on free days.
Monday:
Adler Planetarium (Sept-Feb, except the last 2 weeks of Dec),
Field Museum of Natural History (Sept-Feb, except the last 2 weeks of
Dec), Museum of Science and Industry (Sept-Feb, except the last 2 weeks
of Dec), Shedd Aquarium (Oct-Feb, except the last 2 weeks of Dec; Ocea-
narium admission extra)
Tuesday:
Adler Planetarium (Sept-Feb, except the last 2 weeks of Dec);
Art Institute of Chicago, Field Museum of Natural History (Sept-Feb,
except the last 2 weeks of Dec); International Museum of Surgical Sci-
ence, Museum of Contemporary Art (5-8pm only); Museum of Science
and Industry (Sept-Feb, except the last 2 weeks of Dec); Shedd Aquarium
(Sept-Feb, except the last 2 weeks of Dec, Oceanarium admission extra)
Thursday:
Chicago Children's Museum (5-8pm only)
Friday:
Spertus Museum
Sunday:
DuSable Museum of African-American History
Always Free:
Chicago Cultural Center, Garfield Park Conservatory,
David and Alfred Smart Museum of Art, Jane Addams Hull-House
Museum, Lincoln Park Conservatory, Lincoln Park Zoo, Martin D'Arcy
Gallery of Art, Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum, Museum of Con-
temporary Photography, Newberry Library
Don't miss the lobby fronting Michigan Avenue, with its faux ornamental mar-
ble columns, molded ceilings, mosaic floors, and Mexican onyx walls.
Another
inside tip:
From the Roosevelt University entrance around the corner on Michi-
gan Avenue, take the elevator to the school's 10th-floor library reading room and
have a look at what was once the city's first top-floor dining room. Its palatial,
barrel-vaulted ceiling, and marvelous views of Grant Park and the lake will make
you want to brush up on your Dewey Decimal System.
The best way to see everything is to take a 1-hour guided tour, offered on
Mondays between 10am and 4pm (call
&
312/431-2354
to make reservations).
Tours cost $6 for adults, $3 for seniors and students.
Allow a half-hour, 1 hour if you take the guided tour.
50 E. Congress Pkwy.
&
312/922-2110.
www.auditoriumtheatre.org. For ticket reservations or box-office
information, call Ticketmaster at
&
312/902-1500. Bus: 145, 147, or 151. Subway/El: Brown, Green, Orange,
or Purple line to Library/Van Buren, or Red Line to Jackson.
Museum of Contemporary Photography
Ensconced in a ground-floor
space at Columbia College—a progressive arts- and media-oriented institution
that boasts the country's largest undergraduate film department and a highly
respected photojournalism-slanted photography department—the Museum of
Contemporary Photography is the only museum in the Midwest of its ilk.
As the name indicates, it exhibits, collects, and promotes modern photography,
with a special focus on American works from 1959 to present. Rotating exhibi-
tions showcase images by both nationally recognized and “undiscovered”
