Chicago is known as a “city of neighborhoods”—but it’s also a city of marvelous and diverse museums. Each museum stretches the mind and the imagination in its own invaluable ways.
Explore the planet Mars at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, 2430 N. Cannon Dr., through Sept. 9. The 4,500 square foot exhibit gives visitors the chance the experience the Red Planet’s breathtaking canyons and volcanoes through a variety of interactive programs. Maneuver a Rover over a simulated Martian landscape; feel simulated Martian soil; and experience large-scale volcanic eruptions. Build model landscapes, take a virtual trip to the Martian North Pole to discover the ice and sand dunes that co-exist, and use a laser altimeter to create a 3-D image.
Admission to Mars Quest is $2 for adults and $1 for children ages 3-12. Admission to the Nature Museum is free weekdays until July 10. Weekend and holiday admission to the Nature Museum is $6 for adults, $3 for children ages 3-12, $4 for seniors age 60 and over, and $5 for college students.
Concurrent exhibitions of recent paintings by Doug Anderson and Kim Piotrowski will be on display at the International Museum of Surgical Science, 1524 N. Lake Shore Dr., through July 26. These two contemporary artists produce evocative works that address the pathology and poetics of the human body. Museum hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is $6 for adults and $3 for students and seniors. For more information, call (312) 642-6502 or visit www.imss.org.
The Swedish American Museum Center, at 5211 N. Clark St., offers the Children’s Museum of Immigration. The new museum lets children experience hand-on the perils and pleasures of leaving the old world for a new life in America.
Kids can experience what life was like in the old country by learning to swaddle a baby, or cook on an old-fashioned iron stove, in a replica of a Swedish “stuga,” or farmhouse. The journey begins when they board a 20-foot steamer, complete with a below-deck steerage chamber like the one made famous in the movie “Titanic.” Once they “arrive” in the New World, children will find a pioneer log cabin like those the Swedes—and other immigrants—built throughout America. At the cabin, they can learn to weave, spin and card fleece.
The immigration museum, designed for children ages 3-12, is open from 1-4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, and from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Admission is $4, $3 for children, students and seniors, and free for children under $3. Family admission is available for $10. For more information, call (773) 728-8111.
The Hellenic Museum, at 168 N. Michigan Ave., is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Admission is a suggested $4. For more information, call (312) 726-1234.
The Filipino-American Historical Society of Chicago Museum, at 3952 N. Ashland Ave., is the newest of the city’s ethnic museums. Featured in the permanent collection are “Moo Moo,” the Filipino cow, originally part of the city’s popular “Cows on Parade” exhibit; the “Family Tree of Filipino Immigration,” 12 paintings by Willi Buhay depicting scenes of Filipino immigration to the U.S.; and an exhibit that traces the museum’s genesis, called “Making of a Museum: The First 365 Days.”
The Filipino-American Historical Society of Chicago Museum is open from 4-6 p.m. Friday, from 2-5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, and by appointment. To make an appointment, or for more information, call (773) 947-8696, or visit www.fahsc.org.
Historic photographs and artifacts depicting the Jewish experience will be on display this summer at the Spertus Museum, 618 S. Michigan Ave. The museum is also home to the Rosenbaum ARTiFACT Center, where kids can unearth replicas of real archeological treasures in a “dig site.”
The Spertus Museum is open Sunday through Wednesday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Thursday, 10 a.m.-8 p.m.; and Friday 10 a.m.-3 p.m. The ARTiFACT Center is open weekday afternoons. For more information, call (312) 922-9012.
Housed in an old ballroom, the Polish Museum of America, at 984 N. Michigan Ave., is one of the largest and oldest ethnic museums in the country. The museum has a permanent collection of Polish cultural and historic artifacts, and hosts a rotating series of art exhibitions. The museum is open daily, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is $3, $2 for seniors and students, $1 for children under 10. Call (773) 384-3352 for more information.
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