The Art Institute of Chicago
The Art Institute of Chicago rose from the ruins of the Great Chicago Fire. In 1879, the Art Institute was established as both a school and as a museum called the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts. The name was changed in 1882 and after three years, it had already outgrown its quarters. The Beaux-Arts building at Michigan and Adams opened in 1893. Today, the museum collection spans over 5,000 years of art from around the world and the school is one of the top art institutes in the United States. The Art Institute is dedicated to showcasing the world’s artistic expressions to the public.
In its 100-plus years of existence, the Art Institute has grown and expanded as its collection amassed through donations, bequests, and acquisitions. It is now considered one of the preeminent art museums in the world housing nearly all artistic mediums - painting, print, drawing, sculpture, textile, photograph, and video. There are over 270,000 pieces in the museum’s collection.
From ancient Greek, Roman, Etruscan, and Egyptian sculptures, coins, and mosaics, to one of the most comprehensive collections of Modern art the world, the Art Institute's extraordinary collection reflects the timeless works by artists in the categories of African, American, AmerIndian, Ancient, Architecture, Arms and Armor, Asian, Contemporary, European Decorative Art, European Painting and Sculpture, Modern, Photography, Prints and Drawings, Textiles, and a collection of Thorne Miniature Rooms.
In addition to art, the museum hosts lectures, workshops, programs, and traveling exhibitions. Family exhibitions are also featured. The Kraft Education Center provides educational opportunities for children with exhibitions, games, and a library, featuring original illustrations from picture books. A café and a restaurant are open for lunch and late-afternoon dining.
The Art Institute of Chicago is open daily and is closed on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day.
Lincoln Park Zoo
Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago, Illinois, is one of the last free zoos in the country. Dedicated to protecting wild animals, the Lincoln Park Zoo is a leader in conservation education and has one of the largest staffs of conservationist and scientists.
Highlights of the Lincoln Park Zoo are the Regenstein Center for African Apes, the home of the gorillas and chimpanzees, the Pritzker Family Children’s Zoo with red wolves, black bears, beavers, and river otters. Also featured is a treetop canopy climb. The Regenstein African Journey features dwarf crocodiles, and pygmy hippopotamuses in pools, and meerkats and masked lovebirds in the forest. The Regenstein Small Mammal-Reptile House is a dark cavern with fruit bats, howler monkeys, tamarins, and a two-toed sloth. The Farm in the Zoo exhibit gives children the opportunity to experience farm and country life, with demonstrations on gardening, and interaction with barn animals.
Special programs are featured daily whether it is a seal feeding and training session, a chat with a keeper, a cow milking demonstration, or the opportunity to meet an animal.
Rides are available for a modest fee. There are the paddleboats, a children’s train, a carousel, and a safari ride. There are several cafes, snack shops, and gift shops throughout the zoo.
The Lincoln Park Zoo is open daily year round. Some rides and snack areas may be closed in the winter.
Museum of Science and Industry
The Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, Illinois was opened in 1933 thanks to the efforts of Julius Rosenwald, Chairman of Sears Roebuck & Company. Inspired by a visit to Munich’s Deutches Museum he set out to develop an American center for “industrial enlightenment”. In doing so, he pioneered the concept of interactive exhibits. The Museum of Science and Industry was the first museum of its kind to offer hands-on displays and the first to incorporate industries in the exhibits. The concept was an immediate success. Within two years the museum had attracted over one million visitors, and this during the depression. Since its debut, the museum has undergone expansion and renovation and is one of the most highly-visited museums in the states. As one of Chicago’s top attractions, the museum attracts nearly 2 million visitors each year.
The Museum of Science and Industry is one of the world’s largest science museums. The 14-acre museum features over 800 exhibits, over 2,000 interactive modules, and more than 35,000 artifacts. Some highlights of the museum’s exhibits include a captured German U-boat – the WWII-era U-505 Submarine, a Boeing 727, a British Spitfire WWII-era fighter, and the Apollo 8 and Aurora 7 spacecrafts. Guests can observe newly-hatched chicks in the hatchery, tour a fairy castle, explore a coal mine shaft, walk the streets of a vintage town, or visit a space training center. In the area of human science, you can learn about genetics, HIV/AIDS, the brain, or the effects of drug use. Visitors can walk through a model of a human heart or discover the science of sound in the acoustically-perfect room. Other exhibits demonstrate robot technology, transportation, mechanics, and much more.
In addition to the exhibits, the Museum of Science and Industry presents the five-story Omnimax Theater. This IMAX theater features a 72-foot high dome and a wrap around screen. The museum offers gift shops, a food court, a café, and an ice cream parlor on the premises.
As part of its commitment to education, the Museum of Science and Industry offers special programs for teachers and students, including technical information for the teachers to enhance the museum experience. Popular traveling and temporary exhibits are featured regularly at the museum. Since 1933, the refreshing approach to museum exhibits and innovative displays has achieved the founder’s desire to inspire genius, creativity, and innovation.
The Museum of Science and Industry is open daily year round and is closed on Christmas.
Wrigley Field
Wrigley Field began as Weeghman Field. Charles Weeghman, owner of the Chicago Whales of the Federal League, had his team’s stadium built on the corner of Clark and Addison in Chicago. Built in about a month in 1914 at a cost of $250,000.00, the stadium’s original capacity was 14,000. In 1920, the name was changed to Cubs Park, then in 1926, it was changed to Wrigley Field when William Wrigley bought the team. This quarter of a million-dollar park has weathered well. It is the oldest National League park, the second oldest ballpark in the major leagues (Boston’s Fenway Park preceded Wrigley Field by 2 years), and one of only three that were built before the 1960s. (Yankee Stadium was built in 1923.)
Wrigley Field is well-known for several distinctive reasons. The most endearing features are the brick walls and the ivy. The innovative Bill Veeck added bittersweet from the top of the walls down and ivy from the ground up in 1937. Second, up until 1988, only day games were played at Wrigley. In the 1940s, lights were ready to be added, but the onset of the United States’ involvement in World War II postponed the addition of lights for 47 years. The Cubs donated the lights, which were ready for installation, to the war effort. Third, the wind, which wreaks havoc with either the pitching or the hitting, depending on whether it is blowing in or blowing out. Fourth, the dimensions of the park are unique. The outfield fences do not curve away from the plate in the gradual manner of other ballparks, making the power alleys shallower than normal and a homerun paradise for hitters.
Wrigley Field has been home to some of baseball’s memorable moments. The famous called home run by Babe Ruth during the 1932 World Series, baseball’s only double no-hitter in 1917, Cubs player/manager Gabby Hartnett’s 1938 “Homer in the Gloamin’”, which led to the Cubs clinching of the pennant, Ernie Bank’s 500th home run in 1970, Pete Rose’s record-tying 4,191st hit in 1985, and Kerry Wood’s 20-strikeout game in 1998. Wrigley Field has hosted three All-Start Games in 1947, 1962, and 1990.
Tours of Wrigley Field begin in the morning and start every half-hour until late afternoon. Each tour is limited to 46 people. As the tours tend to sell out, advanced tickets are recommended. The 90-minute tour includes the following stops: clubhouses, press box, bleachers, dugouts, on-deck circles, mezzanine suites, and security headquarters. Personal cameras and video cameras are allowed. Before or after the tour, guests can stop in at the Cubs Gift Shop.
Wrigley Field tours are not available every day. Check the tour schedule in advance. All proceeds from the tour benefit Cubs Care.