Admission Prices:
(special rates for Chicago and Illinois residents) 4

Buy Tickets
Purchase admission tickets online; or
phone: (877) 307-4242 Monday–Saturday, 8:00 a.m.–8:00 p.m. (CST) or Sunday.

Adults $23
Seniors (65 and up) $17
Students** $17
Children under 14*** Free
Members Free
Adult Fast Pass $33 Fast Pass allows customers to bypass the General Admission lines at entrances and offers expedited access to the permanent collection galleries and special exhibitions.
Senior Fast Pass $27
Adult Skydeck Combo**** $39

• This combination ticket includes a general admission ticket to the Art Institute of Chicago and a general admission ticket to Skydeck Chicago. The Skydeck offers spectacular views spanning up to four states, interactive exhibits, and the Ledge, a glass balcony extending four feet outside the 103rd floor of Willis Tower. The Skydeck is open 365 days a year.

*A valid photo ID with a resident address is required for Chicago and Illinois resident admission prices. Discount only available at museum admission desks.**Includes both high school and college students.*A valid photo ID with a resident address is required for Chicago and Illinois resident admission prices. Discount only available at museum admission desks.
***Does not apply to group visits or student tours.
****This package is available at an adult rate only. No student, senior, or youth discounts apply.

Directions-and-parking

Art Institute Shop

Dining

• Terzo Piano
  Headed by award-winning chef Tony Mantuano, Terzo Piano features authentic Italian ingredients and local, organic, and sustainable foods in simple but elegant dishes. Although not required, reservations are strongly recommended: (312) 443-8650 or www.opentable.com.
• Museum Café
  This vibrant family-friendly dining space offers a host of healthy and delicious options. The globally influenced menu includes tacos, stir fries, sandwiches, salads, soups, charcuterie, desserts, smoothies, espresso, and more. Plus a new kids menu created for our youngest visitors features all the classic kid favorites—from peanut butter and jelly to macaroni and cheese to chicken tenders!
• Caffè Moderno
  Thanks to the delicious creations of the chefs at Terzo Piano, Caffè Moderno offers scrumptious soups, snacks, and dessert in a convenient quick-order setting overlooking Griffin Court. Coffee, tea, wine, and other beverages are also available.

Mission and History

Mission
The Art Institute of Chicago collects, preserves, and interprets works of art of the highest quality, representing the world’s diverse artistic traditions, for the inspiration and education of the public and in accordance with our profession’s highest ethical standards and practices.

Historical Overview
The Art Institute of Chicago was founded as both a museum and school for the fine arts in 1879, a critical era in the history of Chicago as civic energies were devoted to rebuilding the metropolis that had been destroyed by the Great Fire of 1871. Its first collections consisting primarily of plaster casts, the Art Institute found its permanent home in 1893, when it moved into a building, constructed jointly with the city of Chicago for the World's Columbian Exposition, at the intersection of Michigan Avenue and Adams Street. That building, its entry flanked by the two famous bronze lions, remains the "front door" of the museum even today. In keeping with the academic origins of the institution, a research library was constructed in 1901; eight major expansions for gallery and administrative space have followed, with the latest being the Modern Wing, which opened in 2009. The permanent collection has grown from plaster casts to nearly 300,000 works of art in fields ranging from Chinese bronzes to contemporary design and from textiles to installation art. Together, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the museum of the Art Institute of Chicago are now internationally recognized as two of the leading fine-arts institutions in the United States.

Collection

Floor Plan

Exhibitions

Events

Exhibition Information page 2