Location: West Side
Top Things to do in West Side
Things to do in Chicago, Illinois (IL): The Best Museums
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.
Restaurants in Chicago
1. Museum of Holography,
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 3 reviews
The museum contains three-dimensional laser photographs
2. Ukrainian National Museum
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 22 reviews
A collection of artifacts and archives relating to 1,000 years of Ukrainian culture.
Reviewed By 866TaylorB - Chicago, United States
Founded in 1952, the Ukrainian National Museum in Chicago is home to thousands of artifacts, artwork, musical instruments, weavings, agricultural tools, folk arts, embroidered folk costumes, rare books, manuscripts, photographs, newspapers, periodicals, memorabilia and exhibits that focus on the history and heritage of the Ukrainian community. Located at 2249 West Superior Street in the Ukrainian Village neighborhood, it also contains souvenir materials from the former Soviet Union, artwork by Ukrainian immigrants, Ukrainian embroidery and an exhibit dealing with Chicago's unique Ukrainian community. One of the most interesting displays highlights decorated Easter Eggs or "Pysanky," a Ukrainian staple folk art. The oldest designs are called ideograms but the painted eggs share a common theme--the sun, a rose and stars in various patterns. Also a fascinating and highly educational exhibit called "Ukrainian Genocide-Holodomor of 1932-1933," which showcases photographs, documents and newspaper articles dedicated to informing the public about the little known forced famine in Ukraine.
3. Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 21 reviews
Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art promotes public awareness, understanding, and appreciation of intuitive and outsider art through education,exhibition, collecting and publishing. Intuit defines ‘intuitive and outsider art’ as the work of artists who demonstrate little influence from the mainstream art world,and who instead are motivated by their unique personal vision. Thanks to our members, we are free and open to the public.
4. Woman Made Gallery
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 1 reviews
Woman Made Gallery's goal is to cultivate, promote and support the work of female-identified artists by providing exhibition opportunities, professional development, and public programs that invite discussion about what feminism means today. More than 8,000 women artists have exhibited their work since WMG was established.
5. National Museum of Mexican Art
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 237 reviews
Enjoy one of the country's largest collections of Mexican art and culture, including a vibrant textile collection including indigenous outfits and weavings, folk art including masks and Día de los Muertos artifacts and ephemera documenting the Chicano Movement. Open daily 10am-5pm, closed Mondays.
Reviewed By bettyc552
This museum is small but there is a lot to see. It is a great way to learn the Mexican heritage, culture and history. There are lots of artwork ranging from painting, sculptures, pictures and photos. We went in early November and they had amazing artworks for Dia de Los Muertos on display. The museum is free and there are donation boxes in the hallway. The gift shop is worth a visit. There are beautiful home decorations, toys and jewelry. They do not have a parking lot but there are plenty of street parking
6. Jane Addams' Hull-House Museum
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 66 reviews
This museum honors Jane Addams, the first American woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize for her social work with immigrants and affecting national public policy. Explore the National Historic Landmark settlement house including the residents' dining hall and an arts and crafts building. Closed Mondays and Saturdays.
Reviewed By 866TaylorB - Chicago, United States
Chicagoans know more about Al Capone than Jane Addams. That scenario should change. Every elementary school student should be required to take a field trip to the Jane Addams Hull-House Museum and learn about the social reformer who became the first American woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, whose work changed the lives of immigrant neighbors and national and international public policy. She is every bit as important and as significant to the development of the United States as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The museum, located at 800 South Halsted Street on Chicago's near South Side, near the University of Illinois-Chicago campus, is housed in two of the original settlement house buildings--the Hull House, a National Historic Landmark, and the Residents' Dining Hall, a beautiful Arts and Crafts building that has welcomed some of the world's most important thinkers, artists and activists. Founded in 1889 as a social settlement, Hull-House played a vital role in redefining American democracy in the modern age. Addams helped to pass critical legislation and influenced public policy on public health and education, free speech, philanthropy, racism, women's movements, civic affairs, fair labor practices, immigrants' rights, recreation and desegregation. The museum's collection features more than 5,500 artifacts relating to the vibrant work of the Hull-House Settlement and the surrounding neighborhood, including life on Chicago's Near West Side at the turn of the 20th century. Highlights of the collection include intricate textiles woven in the Hull-House Labor Museum, portraits and drawings of neighbors and settlement life by Hull-House residents, pottery produced by artists at the Hull-House kilns, period and folkloric clothing from neighbors on the Near West Side, artifacts from the nearby Maxwell Street market, furnishings from Jane Addams' collection and oral histories from Hull-House residents and neighbors. A stroll through the museum is an exhilarating educational experience into the life of one of the most important figures in the history of our country.
7. National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts and Culture
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 5 reviews
8. Galleria 1712
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 2 reviews
Amazing selection of one-of-a-kind jewelry, fabulous handbags and accessories, designer clothing, original artwork, photography, handmade pottery: more than 50 artists of varied media all under one roof.
9. Flat Iron Arts Building
10. Ukranian Institute of Modern Art
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 5 reviews
Reviewed By 866TaylorB - Chicago, United States
Founded in 1971, the Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art in Chicago is home to one of the world's largest collections of Ukrainian-American abstract and minimalist works from the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. Located at 2320 West Chicago Avenue, east of Western Avenue, in the Ukrainian Village neighborhood, it was established to fill a void in the public's understanding of nationally and internationally recognized Ukrainian artists engaged with contemporary art. In six to seven major exhibits in the 2,100-square-foot main gallery and in two side galleries are displayed the works of Chicago, Canadian, Ukrainian, Polish and Lithuanian artists and sculptors as well as first-generation computer art, book art, fiber and ceramics. Recently, my wife and I enjoyed three exhibitions--The Eternal Eye by Yana Bystrova and Paula Henderson, Chicago: Selections from the Permanent Collection by Morris Barazani and Harold Hayden and Michel Andreenko and Ukrainian Artists in Paris by Alexis Gritchenko and Oleksa Hryshchenko. Open from noon to 4 from Wednesday through Sunday, the UIMA is committed to a program of art exhibitions, musical concerts, lectures, readings, films and multidisciplinary events relevant and challenging to all members of the community and the city while serving the cultural needs and strengthening understanding and diversity. Many artists have world-class reputations and their works can be found in New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art and the National Gallery in Washington DC.
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