The Art Institute of Chicago

The Art Institute of Chicago is a world-renowned art museum housing the third largest permanent collection in the United States. An encyclopedic museum, the Art Institute collects, preserves, and displays works in every medium from all cultures and historical periods, and hosts special exhibitions as well. With a collection of more than 260,000 art works and artifacts, the museum has particularly strong collections of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist painting, early 20th century European painting and sculpture, contemporary art, Japanese prints, and photography. 

The Art Institute's Modern Wing, which opened in May 2009, showcases twentieth-century works from the museum’s holdings of European painting and sculpture, contemporary art, architecture and design, and photography.  The new Renzo Piano-designed building, with its serene limestone and glass facade, houses three floors of spacious, light-filled galleries,;a vastly expanded education center that is free to the public; an outdoor sculpture terrace; a fine-dining restaurant; a double-height entrance and "main street" known as Griffin Court; and a garden courtyard.  The Nichols Bridgeway, a pedestrian bridge also designed by Renzo Piano, connects the Modern Wing to Chicago’s popular Millennium Park across the street.