Free Tuesdays at Museum of Contemporary Art

Free Tuesdays at the Museum of Contemporary Art for Illinois residents.

Where: Museum of Contemporary Art, 220 E. Chicago Ave., 312-397-4010
When: 10am to 9pm Tuesdays; 10am to 5pm Wednesdays-Sundays; Closed Mondays. 

Free Tuesdays for Illinois residents with proof of residency are back at the Museum of Contemporary Art.

Suggested Admission

Visitors are encouraged to reserve tickets online.

$15 Adults, $8 Students, teachers, and seniors, Free for MCA Members and anyone 18 and under.

Free for members of the military and police and fire departments and veterans

Visitors with disabilities and their caregivers receive free admission.

Admission is free for Illinois residents on Tuesdays.

$3 tickets for up to six individuals when visitors present their LINK (EBT) Card as part of the Museums for All program.

Illinois elementary and high school teachers receive free admission. Simply present a valid teacher ID at the admissions desk.

To learn more about the museum’s new practices, visit its safety page.

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About the Museum

Mission
We aim to be an innovative and compelling center of contemporary art where the public can directly experience the work and ideas of living artists and understand the historical, social, and cultural context of the art of our time.

We boldly interweave exhibitions, performances, collections, and educational programs to excite and challenge our visitors. We also strive to engage a diverse audience, create a sense of community, and provide a place for contemplation, stimulation, and discussion about contemporary art and culture.

In 1964, a group of collectors, art dealers, artists, art critics, and architects united under the belief that the city of Chicago deserved a great contemporary art museum that was dedicated to exploring the new. The institution’s founders originally conceived of the museum as a Kunsthalle, or a noncollecting “art hall” that organized and hosted temporary exhibitions of new and experimental artists.

Since opening in 1967, in a small building at 237 East Ontario Street the museum has featured the work of emerging artists, many of whom would go on to influential careers. The founders and staff sought to nurture experimentation and “collaboration among practitioners of today’s many-faceted art expressions” and to amplify the innovative exhibitions with “lectures, symposia, roundtable discussions, films and musical performances.” From day one the museum took an interdisciplinary approach.

As the museum became more established, programs also brought a social awareness and engagement to the breadth of experimental activities. In 1969, the MCA became the first building wrapped by Christo in the United States.

During the 1970s the the museum hosted solo exhibitions of Roy Lichtenstein, Robert Rauschenberg, and Andy Warhol, kicking off a decade during which the MCA solidified its unique blend of exhibitions and programming and transitioned from a Kunsthalle (a non-collecting “art hall”) to a collecting museum.

The MCA further diversified its eclectic programming with a variety of film series, lectures, and performances.  The Board formally established the permanent collection in 1974. This spurred the need for a larger space that could display the newest art as well as the burgeoning collection. The MCA marked its 10th anniversary by purchasing an adjacent three-story townhouse to facilitate an expansion.

By the 1980s and early 1990s, MCA became further established as an important platform for experimental contemporary art. The museum hosted Jeff Koons’s first solo museum show.

Due to continued growth in 1990 the museum signed a 99-year lease on the site of the Illinois National Guard’s Chicago Avenue Armory and in 1992 staged a site-specific exhibition in the vacant building before its demolition. In 1996, a building designed by Berlin architect Josef Paul Kleihues opened.

In the new millennium, the museum continues to support the local arts scene while also presenting globally renowned contemporary art and performance.

In 2011, MCA re-imagined and restructured the museum’s approach to exhibitions, dedicating specific gallery spaces to thematic permanent collection shows, ascendant artist solo shows, and new exhibition series.