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Art and Museums
Chicago is a city devoted to artists, public art and civic beauty. Certainly Chicago stands out among its peers for its expansive display of public art including Miro's Chicago, Calders' Flamingo and the sculpture simply referred to as Picasso from Pablo himself. Visitors and residents alike encounter with joy new public art installations that seemingly spring up overnight in parks, along Lake Shore Drive, on bridges, and in any opportune open space. Several Chicago-based artists, including Gay Games logo designer David Csicsko, have used the city's streets as a canvas for all to enjoy.
Chicago is renowned for its beloved cultural institutions. Several scientific and cultural organizations anchor Chicago's thriving museum and art world. One of the world's great art museums, the Art Institute, houses more than 300,000 works of art, dating from 3,000 B.C. to present, including American Gothic by Grant Wood and 33 paintings by Claude Monet, drawings, fine and decorative arts, photography, textiles and architectural work. The Art Institute is located in the Gay Games Hub in the Lakefront Sports Village, home to eight different sporting competitions, and many cultural programs.
The community of Pilsen, with its colorful public murals and mosaics, authentic Mexican cuisine, and Tejano music is home to the Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum (MFACM), the largest Latino cultural institution in the nation. Located in the heart of the Pilsen/Little Village community, the largest Mexican community in the Midwest, the Museum's primary focus is showcasing and sharing the Mexican culture. One of Chicago's core cultural institutions, the MAFACM has become a center for discussing local, national and international issues that affect the Mexican/Latino community. MAFACM is located in the University Sports Village, home to basketball, martial arts, soccer and tennis competition.
For those with modern tastes, the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) is a Chicago experience like no other, with an exciting collection that presents the finest, most thought-provoking artworks created since 1945. The MCA's special exhibitions highlight today's most innovative and exciting artists. Located just near the magnificent mile's historic Water Tower, visitors can enjoy the terraced sculpture garden, a live performance or lecture. The Art Institute is located in the Gay Games Hub in the Lakefront Sports Village, home to eight different sporting competitions and many cultural programs.
Another Chicago treasure is the DuSable Museum of African American History, the oldest independent institution of its kind in the country dedicated to the collection, preservation, interpretation and dissemination of the history and culture of Americans of African descent. Through exhibitions, archives and programs, DuSable Museum emphasizes the experiences of Africans in America and their contributions to American and world history and culture. The museum's permanent collection includes artifacts, books, slave documents, civil rights memorabilia, paintings, drawings, sculpture, photograph collections, wood and ivory carvings, bronze castings, statues and masks from Africa; and extensive archives. The DuSable Museum is located in the South Sports Village, home of cycling, flag football, golf, softball, and track and field.
Chicago is home to many other acclaimed museums, including the Museum of Science and Industry and its hands-on scientific exhibits, and the lakefront museum campus, one of Chicago's top attractions, with the Adler Planetarium & Astronomy Museum, the first of its kind built in the western hemisphere; the Field Museum of Natural History, home to Sue, the most complete fossil skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus ever found; and the Shedd Aquarium, opened in 1929 and still the world's largest indoor aquarium. The Museum Campus is located in the Gay Games Hub area.
Located just steps away from the Red Line "El" stop at Granville in Chicago's historic Edgewater neighborhood is Gerber/Hart Library, the Midwest's largest gay and lesbian library and archive. Founded in 1981 to be a depository for the records of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered (LGBT) individuals and organizations, and for other resources bearing upon their lives and experiences in American society, Gerber/Hart Library has since grown into being the Midwest's largest LGBT circulating library with over 14,000 volumes, 800 periodical titles, and 100 archival collections.
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