The Art Institute of Chicago (AIC) is one of the premier museums in North America and easily competes with any European fine art museum. I have visited the AIC many times through the years: alone, with friends and with my family. Each visit has been distinct, but one in particular stands out as a pivotal moment for my children’s understanding of art and the value of museums.
I remember standing with them in front of A Sunday on La Grande Jatte by Georges Seurat, pointing out how this iconic painting wasn’t just a masterpiece hanging in a museum. I explained that, in their lifetime, they would encounter this artwork on everything from scarves to notebooks, posters to glass cases. But what mattered most was that they had seen the original, up close and in person, at the Art Institute of Chicago.

That lesson left a lasting impression. Now as young adults, museum visits are a natural part of their travel itineraries. Just last weekend we were in Toronto to see a theatre production and mafe time for a visit to the Art Gallery of Ontario to see The Culture: Hip Hop and ContemporaryArtinthe21st Century (I highly recommend).
In any museum, there are many iconic permanent collections but it is alway interesting to see an artist retrospective, visiting exhibits or brand new curated exhibitions.
Recently the tourism center of Chicago, Choose Chicago, sharded AIC’s announcement of exhibitions scheduled for the first half of 2025. There is a wide variety of both exhibition dates and artists that are of interest for travelers.
I am intrigued by En el principio / In the beginning and Gustave Caillebotte: Painting His World and have started planning for a mid-July visit to the Windy City for a visit. Will you be joining me?
What Exhibits are on at The Art Institute of Chicago
• Project a Black Planet: The Art and Culture of Panafrica (December 15, 2024 – March 30, 2025)
As the first major exhibition to survey Pan-Africanism’s cultural manifestations, Project a Black Planet: The Art and Culture of Panafrica gathers together some 350 objects, spanning the 1920s to the present, made by artists on four continents: Africa, North and South America, and Europe. Panafrica, the promised land named in the exhibition title, is presented as a conceptual place where arguments about decolonization, solidarity, and freedom are advanced and negotiated with the aim of an emancipatory future.
• Lines of Connection: Drawing and Printmaking (March 15–June 1, 2025)
Bringing together approximately 100 works spanning four centuries between the emergence of printmaking in Europe and the birth of photography, Lines of Connection is the first major exhibition dedicated to the intimate and multilayered relationship between drawing and printmaking.
• Myth and Marble: Ancient Roman Sculpture from the Torlonia Collection (March 15–June 29, 2025)
This groundbreaking project will serve as the inaugural presentation of objects from the storied Torlonia Collection in North America. Featuring a selection of 58 rarely seen ancient Roman sculptures, nearly half of which have been newly cleaned, conserved, and studied specifically for this exhibition, Myth and Marble will offer a rare opportunity to experience their first public presentation in decades.
• En el principio / In the beginning: Juliana Góngora Rojas, Matías Quintero Sepúlveda, Juven Piranga Valencia and Yinela Piranga Valencia (March 29–July 28, 2025)
This exhibition features a number of works resulting from a longstanding artistic and spiritual collaboration between Colombian artists Juliana Góngora Rojas and Matías Quintero Sepúlveda, and Juven and Yinela Piranga. Through ongoing discussions, rituals, and the engagement with organic materials, the artists produced an immersive installation that honors their shared ideas about creation, care, and collective thought.

• Frida Kahlo’s Month in Paris: A Friendship with Mary Reynolds (March 29–July 13, 2025)
Drawing upon the museum’s rich holdings of The Mary Reynolds Collection along with loans from public and private collections, this is the Art Institute’s first presentation of Frida Kahlo’s work. Focusing on Kahlo’s brief stay with avant-garde bookbinder Mary Reynolds in 1939 Paris, this exhibition examines the iconic Mexican artist’s work among a cast of characters and recounts the legacy of two women navigating Surrealism, identity, and cross-cultural exchange on the eve of World War II.

• Gustave Caillebotte: Painting His World (June 29–October 5, 2025)
Gustave Caillebotte: Painting His World takes a fresh look at some of Gustave Caillebotte’s most iconic paintings, contextualizing them within the various aspects of his life that comprised his perception of manhood in the French Third Republic. This exhibition will be the first time the artist’s work will be examined through the lens of fraternité—the sense of brotherhood he experienced with the friends and family who were often the subjects of his paintings, as well as other groups of men, including urban laborers, suburban gardeners, and boatmen, who made up his world.
Where is the AIC?
Art Institute of Chicago:
• Michigan Avenue Entrance111 South Michigan
• Modern Wing Entrance (valet service available)159 East Monroe Street
Hours:
Mon | 11–5 |
---|---|
Tue–Wed | Closed |
Thu | 11–8 |
Fri–Sun | 11–5 |
Beginning March 5, 2025, the museum will be open on Wednesdays, 11–5, with a member-only hour, 10–11.
Admission:
General admission tickets includes access to the museum and all nonticketed exhibitions.
- Adult – $32
- Seniors (65+) and Students – $26Students
- Teens (14-17) – $26
- Children – FREE
Thanks to Choose Chicago for the detailed information and images on the upcoming exhibits at the Art Institute of Chicago.

Other Events in Chicago to consider
Chicago Restaurant Week! (January 24 – February 9, 2025). This 17-day celebration of Chicago’s award-winning dining scene is one of the most anticipated culinary events of the year. This year, diners can enjoy special prix fixe menus for brunch and lunch ($30), and/or dinner ($45 or $60) at more than 470 restaurants across the city. Explore the full list of participating restaurants and book your tables before they’re gone!
Chicago Theatre Week (#CTW25), an annual celebration of the rich tradition of theatre-going in Chicago during which visitors and residents can access value-priced tickets. Chicago Theatre Week is February 6-16, 2025.
For the third consecutive year, HotTix.org will host Chicago Theatre Week Continued from February 17-23, 2025, which will extend Theatre Week discounts to participating productions for an additional week.The value-priced CTW tickets will be $30, $15, or less. Tickets will go on sale at ChicagoTheatreWeek.com.
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Margarita Ibbott is a travel and lifestyle blogger. She blogs about travel in Canada, the United States and Europe giving practical advice through restaurant, hotel and attraction reviews. She writes for DownshiftingPRO.com and other online media outlets.