Art Institute of Chicago
111 S. Michigan Ave.; 312-443-3600, artinstituteofchicago.org
The Art Institute is one of the world’s most famous art museums, particularly known for its collection of French impressionist and postimpressionist paintings by artists such as Monet, Renoir, Seurat and Caillebotte. The museum’s 264,000-square-foot Modern Wing, designed by Renzo Piano, features 20th and 21st century works, including European painting and sculpture, contemporary art, architecture and design, photography and electronic media.
Beverly Arts Center
2407 W. 111th St.; 773-445-3838, beverlyartcenter.org
The multidisciplinary, multicultural center offers fine-arts education, programming and entertainment including art, music, dance and theater.
Through Sunday: “As They Like It: Chicago Artists Visualize Shakespeare”: More than 35 artists use various media to interpret the Bard’s plays, sonnets and characters.
Elmhurst Art Museum
150 Cottage Hill Ave., Elmhurst; 630-834-0202, elmhurstartmuseum.org
Exhibiting late 20th and 21st century American contemporary art, the museum is located in the AIA award-winning building designed around McCormick House, one of only three Ludwig Mies van der Rohe-designed residences. Through Saturday: “Stephen Eichhorn: Floral Burst”: The Chicago artist creates delicate hand-cut paper collages from photos of foliage.
Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art
756 N. Milwaukee Ave.; 312-243-9088, art.org
The nonprofit organization is dedicated to presenting self-taught and outsider art.
Through June 30: “HEAVEN+HELL”: In the two-part exhibit, with “Hell” on display at Intuit and “Heaven” on display at Loyola University Museum of Art (820 N. Michigan Ave.), artists present their perceptions of heaven and hell — a subject often explored in folk, outsider and self-taught art — through illustrations, word-laden drawings, sculpture, figurative images and more.
Lizzadro Museum of Lapidary Art
220 Cottage Hill Ave., Elmhurst; 630-833-1616, lizzadromuseum.org
Named for lapidary collector Joseph Lizzadro, whose hobby turned into the massive Lizzadro Collection, the museum displays more than 200 pieces of jade and other hard stone carvings from around the world. They include a nephrite jade imperial altar set completed during the Ming dynasty (1368-1644).
Loyola University Museum of Art
820 N. Michigan Ave.; 312-915-7600, luc.edu/luma
Loyola’s art museum is dedicated to exhibitions that focus on spirituality in art.
Through June 30: “HEAVEN+HELL”: A two-part exhibit, with “Heaven” on display at Loyola, and “Hell” on display at Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art (756 N. Milwaukee Ave.).
Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art
Northwestern University, 40 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston; 847-491-4000, blockmuseum.northwestern.edu
The North Shore fine-arts museum focuses on visual arts programming. An expanding permanent collection consists primarily of works on paper.
Through April 8: “Prints and the Pursuit of Knowledge in Early Modern Europe”: An exhibition of rare prints, drawings, books, maps and scientific instruments explores the contributions northern Renaissance artists made to scientific discoveries.
Museum of Contemporary Art
220 E. Chicago Ave.; 312-280-2660, mcachicago.org
One of the nation’s largest modern art museums offers thought-provoking art created since 1945. The permanent collection includes work by Franz Kline, Andy Warhol and Jeff Koons.
Through April 17: “Ill Form and Void Full (2010–11)”: The “Chicago Works: Laura Letinsky” exhibit is a new series of photographs by Letinsky, known for her elegant still-lifes.
National Museum of Mexican Art
1852 W. 19th St.; 312-738-1503, nationalmuseumofmexicanart.org
Located in Chicago’s Pilsen/Little Village community, the museum exhibits traditional and contemporary Mexican art prints and drawings, papier-mache, ceramics, photographs and avant-garde installations from local and international artists.
National Veterans Art Museum
1801 S. Indiana Ave., third floor; 312-320-9767, nvam.org
Formerly the National Vietnam Veterans Art Museum, this is the world’s only museum with a permanent collection focusing on the subject of war from an artistic perspective. The museum collects, preserves and exhibits art inspired by combat and created by veterans of all U.S. military conflicts.
Ongoing: “The Things They Carried”: This collection of pieces from the permanent collection serves as a visual companion to Tim O’Brien’s novel of the same name.
Robert Bills Contemporary
222 N. Des Plaines St.; 312-234-9091, robertbillscontemporary.com
The gallery seeks to find and introduce artists in all mediums whose work embodies well-executed conceptual depth.
Through April 14: “Reality Slips”: The group exhibition features new works by Veronica Bruce, Brian McNearney and Morgan Sims that look at the linear assumptions of systems of information.
Smart Museum of Art, University of Chicago
5550 S. Greenwood Ave.; 773-702-0200, smartmuseum.uchicago.edu
The museum is home to special exhibitions and a collection that spans 5,000 years of artistic creation. Working in close collaboration with scholars from the University of Chicago, the Smart Museum has established itself as a leading academic art museum and an engine of adventurous thinking about the visual arts and their place in society.
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