Chicago
No discussion of famed Loop architecture is complete without mentioning the boxy, metal-and-glass style of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, whose functional,…
Chicago
No discussion of famed Loop architecture is complete without mentioning the boxy, metal-and-glass style of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, whose functional,…
Chicago
Winding along the Chicago River’s southern side next to Wacker Dr, this 1.25-mile-long promenade is a fine spot to escape the crowds and watch boats glide…
Chicago
Louis Sullivan designed this ornate building in 1899. For a century it was home to the Carson Pirie Scott & Co department store. Check out the superb…
Chicago
With its 16 stories of shimmering glass, framed by brilliant white terra-cotta details, Burnham & Root's 1895 Reliance Building is a breath of fresh air…
Chicago
Among the handsome manors lining S Greenwood Ave is the redbrick Georgian-style home at number 5046, where Barack Obama and his family lived from 2005…
Chicago
Gupta represents contemporary, mid-career artists who work in various mediums, including painting, sculpture, collage and film. Intriguing new exhibitions…
Chicago
This building has been an artists' haven for more than a century. You'll still hear opera voices and trumpet music drift out of the music studios, which…
Chicago
Pilsen's art galleries are known collectively as the Chicago Arts District. There are 20 or so studios, and they tend to be small, artist-run spaces with…
Chicago
This 1893 neoclassical home designed by NYC architect Stanford White is a Gold Coast standout. Originally built for Elinor Patterson (who would later…
Chicago
Spanning N Michigan Ave between the river and Oak St, the 'Mag Mile' is Chicago's much-touted upscale shopping strip, where Bloomingdale's, Apple,…
Chicago
The Wrigley Building glows as white as the Doublemint Twins’ teeth, day or night. Chewing-gum guy William Wrigley built it that way on purpose, because he…
Chicago
DePaul University's compact art museum hosts changing exhibits of 20th-century works by Chicago-based artists. Pieces from the permanent collection – by…
Wicker Park, Bucktown & Ukrainian Village
Galleries, studios and workshops fill the landmark Flat Iron Building, with contemporary painters, realist photographers, digital animators, pop-art…
Chicago
Runners, cyclists, swimmers, dog walkers and Hyde Park residents of all stripes rub shoulders on the Point, a 12-acre artificial peninsula that juts into…
Chicago
This beach at the edge of downtown packs in bodies beautiful to play volleyball or sunbathe in the shadow of skyscrapers. Swimming is permitted in summer…
Chicago
The star of the Illinois Institute of Technology campus and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe’s undisputed masterpiece is SR Crown Hall, appropriately home to the…
Wicker Park, Bucktown & Ukrainian Village
Document organizes exhibitions of contemporary photography, film and media-based works by emerging national and international artists. It shares its large…
Chicago
Weep all you want over the old Marshall Field’s becoming Macy’s, but the building remains a classic no matter who’s in it. The iconic bronze corner clocks…
Chicago
Architecture buffs on a pilgrimage bow down to the Monadnock, two buildings in one that depict a crucial juncture in skyscraper development. The north…
Swedish American Museum Center
Chicago
The permanent collection at this small storefront museum focuses on the lives of the Swedes who originally settled Chicago. Check out the items people…
Chicago
This hands-on museum has turtles and croaking frogs in its 1st-floor marsh, fluttering insects in its 2nd-floor butterfly haven and a bird boardwalk…
Chicago
Secrist's contemporary gallery has been around for more than a quarter century. The big, open space hosts about six different exhibitions per year, both…
Chicago
The 1885 mansion, complete with 19 chimneys, is where seven of Chicago's past archbishops lived. World figures from Franklin D Roosevelt to Pope John Paul…
Chicago
The old Spiegel Catalog Warehouse holds more than 50 artists' studios. The best time to come is on the third Friday of the month when the studios open to…
Chicago
It sounds stuffy: a club for patrons of the arts, and it looks the part as men in fancy suits and women in furs drop by for lunch in the members-only…
Chicago
Artist-activist Theaster Gates, in conjunction with the University of Chicago, has revamped what was an abandoned 1920s terra-cotta building at the edge…
Chicago
Zhou B fills a massive old warehouse with galleries and studios and is the workplace of some 50 artists. The main exhibition spaces, on the 1st and 2nd…
Chicago
This small industrial space in the Block 37 mall puts on nifty free exhibitions about contemporary and historical design. The shows change every four…
Chicago
Opened on the site of an old limestone quarry, Palmisano Park unfurls an urban prairie landscape with great views of the Chicago skyline. Locals come here…
Chicago
Grant Park hosts the city's mega-events, such as Taste of Chicago, Blues Fest and Lollapalooza. Buckingham Fountain is the park's centerpiece. The…
Chicago
French sculptor Jean Dubuffet created this piece, which some call 'Snoopy in a Blender.' The 1984 white fiberglass work looks a little like inflated…
Chicago
This long-standing gallery focuses on eye-popping folk and outsider art from the US and abroad, and is known for its excellent exhibitions.
Chicago
Joan Miró’s 1981 work The Sun, the Moon and One Star, known now as Miró’s Chicago, sits across the street from Daley Plaza. Miró hoped to evoke the …
Chicago
Of course you're going to swing by and take a photo in front of this wall-sized postcard. It's awesome. Look for images of deep-dish pizza, a Chicago…
Chicago
The 1907 Prairie School boathouse rises up from the lagoon’s edge and serves as the park’s showpiece. A cafe inside serves beyond-the-norm sandwiches and…
Chicago
Located at the Lincoln Park Zoo's southern end, the farm features a full range of barnyard animals and offers frequent demonstrations of cow milking,…
Chicago
Alexander Calder’s soaring red-pink sculpture provides some much-needed relief from the stark facades of the federal buildings around it. Calder dedicated…
Chicago
Prolific Pilsen muralist Hector Duarte covered his home/studio with this enormous painting. It shows a giant, outstretched Mexican immigrant as Gulliver…
Chicago
Staring out from the Field Museum's lawn, Olmec Head No 8 is a replica of one of many sculptures the Olmec people carved in Veracruz, Mexico, c 1300 BC…
Chicago
Hyde Park Art Center shows contemporary works by Chicagoans – many of them students (current or graduated) of the center's classes. There's usually a…