Chicago Contemporary Art Museum Tickets and Tours

The Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago offers visitors an extensive exhibition with thousands of historical objects, including paintings representative of different currents: postmodernism, minimalism, pop art, surrealism, among others. You will also see sculptures, objects and installations, all of them belonging to permanent and temporary collections of iconic international and national artists.

Without a doubt, buying tickets to visit this contemporary art museum is a good option to include among the things to see and do in Chicago during your stay in the so-called Windy City.

You can get general admission tickets to the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago for an average price of €15. They are available on their official website at the officialtext.

However, if you are a student or a senior citizen, you will have the possibility to buy a reduced price ticket. This way, you will pay only €8.

The Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago offers general, reduced and free admission to provide visitors with a variety of options for accessing the art on display.

• General admission: costs €15 and allows you to enjoy a self-paced tour of the museum's galleries.
• Reduced admission: this option is aimed at senior citizens, teachers and students, who pay only €8. They will therefore save up to €7 compared to the general admission price.
• Free admission: this is aimed at citizens or tourists under the age of 18. Also, people with mobility, hearing, low vision or colour-blindness disabilities who, in addition to free admission, will be able to use a wheelchair during the tour, a sign language interpreter or colour-blindness corrective glasses. However, to take advantage of these services, you must contact the museum by email at info@mcachicago.org and they will plan your visit.

With regard to skip-the-line tickets to the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, you should know that this option is not available. However, you can avoid waiting in line by using a Chicago Attractions Pass and Ticket Card. This way, you will enter directly and save time.

Yes, admission to the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago is included in one of the city's tourist passes. This is Go City, which is just an electronic card that gives you direct access to the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, meaning you won't have to wait in line.

All you have to do is get to the building and go to the ticket office to scan the QR code on your mobile phone. This way, you will enter the halls to enjoy the permanent and temporary exhibitions of visual art. Not only will you save time, but also money, compared to the general admission price.

Yes, the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago offers a guided tour programme for individuals, school groups and university students.

This is a worthwhile option, as the specialised guide will give you insider information about each of the works and artists.

Among the guided tours offered by the museum you will find the following:

• Private guided tour: this tour for one or two people takes place from Thursday to Sunday and on Wednesdays from 10:00 to 16:00. On Tuesdays the opening hours are from 10:00 to 20:00. The average ticket price is €25.
• VIP visit before opening or after closing to the public: both visits are aimed at groups of 10 to 50 people, last one hour and cost an average of €100 per visitor. However, they differ in their schedules. The first one takes place at 9:00 a.m., i.e. 60 minutes before the museum opens to the public, and includes a visit to the museum café. The second option is after 5:00 or 21:00, depending on the day, and offers a pass valid for entry to the museum for seven days following your visit.
• School Tour: This tour is only available to groups of up to 35 students (grades 1-12) from Illinois. Out-of-state college students may also enjoy this tour.
• Pram Tour: On the first Wednesday of each month at 11:30 a.m., parents and their babies can attend a guided tour of the museum.

Whichever guided tour you wish to take, tickets must be reserved at least two weeks in advance by calling the museum's contact number +1-312-397-3898 or emailing info@mcachicago.org.

Yes, the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago has discounted admission for all seniors, teachers and students.

In any of these cases, you will have to pay €8 for the ticket, which is €7 less than the general admission price. Of course, in order to enjoy this special rate, you must present your current IDat the box office.

Similarly, if you present the LINK card (EBT), you will get a price of €3 per ticket.

In addition to the special prices, the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago has the option of free admission.

This option is open to anyone under 18, locals or tourists with disabilities, and Illinois elementary and secondary school teachers. Also, for war veterans, active members of the fire brigades, police and armed forces.

Although the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago does not offer special admission for children, children under the age of 18 can enter free of charge.

In fact, the museum shop has a section dedicated to the little ones, where you can buy toys, books and games.

So, this is a good option to include among the things to see and do in Chicago with children.

Buying tickets online for the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago is worth it because you will be able to secure the day and time of your visit. All this without having to waste time waiting at the box office to pay, due to the high influx of locals and tourists during the day.

In addition, when you buy directly at the box office, you will enjoy special discounted tickets, which is not possible when using the electronic system from your computer or mobile phone.

However, you should always keep in mind that with the traditional method you may have problems with immediate availability.

From Tuesday to Sunday from 10:00 a.m. you will find the doors open at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago.

However, closing times vary depending on the day of the week: Wednesday to Sunday is at 17:00 and Tuesday is at 21:00.

Access to the shop is almost identical to that of the museum. On Tuesdays from 10:00 to 21:00 and from Wednesday to Sunday from 10:00 to 17:30. In the latter case, the closing time is extended by 30 minutes.

On Mondays, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago is closed for the maintenance of the galleries and the periodic renovation of the exhibitions.

You will also find the building closed on certain holidays in the United States, such as Christmas, New Year's Day and Thanksgiving.

The galleries of the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago are designed to be toured in a minimum of 60 minutes. This is sufficient time to view all the works of art on display in detail.

However, there are those who require more than an hour, as they wish to stop a little longer in front of a work of art to understand and admire it, or simply stroll through the gallery again. For this reason, the museum sets a maximum time limit of two hours in the galleries.

Whether you take a 60-minute tour or a two-hour tour, you'll have plenty of time after your visit to continue on to another of Chicago' s best museums or explore the city's streets by joining one of the Chicago Segway tours.

Certainly any day of the year is a good time to enjoy the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, but keep in mind that the best time to visit is when the halls are not crowded with visitors.

This way, you will have the opportunity to walk around the gallery with greater freedom and comfort, being able to stop in front of the work you want without anyone getting in your way.

For example, at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago during the first hour of opening (10:00 am) there are usually few visitors. The same is true before closing time, i.e. between 16:00 and 20:00.

The busiest times are Wednesday to Sunday at 14:00 and Tuesday at 18:00.

To get to the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago you have several options. You can hop on a public transport route, use the bicycle service or drive a car on your own.

• Public transportation: the #66 Chicago Avenue, #10 Museum of Science and Industry and #3 King Drive bus routes are the best ways to get to the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago. Other routes, schedules and fares can be found here.
• Bicycle rentals: The city offers several bicycle parking facilities that cover the route to the museum. Such is the case of Divvy Bikes, which you can access through its mobile phone app for Android iOS operating system. There's also Ride the City and many more.
• Driving on your own: it's about a 10-minute ride from the city centre. You'll drive from S Federal St to W Jackson Blvd, turn left onto S Michigan Ave and right onto E Chicago Ave, heading towards N Mies Van Der Rohe Way.
• Sightseeing Bus: The Sightseeing Bus route runs along E Pearson Street, just outside the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago. You can get off at the Water Tower stop and walk less than 5 minutes in a straight line, a distance of approximately 322 metres to the museum's front door.

At the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago you will find more than 2,700 historic pieces, collected since the 1940s and now part of the permanent exhibition.

You will also be able to enjoy individual works of art, belonging to emerging artists who wish to make their work known.

On the first floor of the museum is the Marisol restaurant, where you can enjoy delicious cuisine while admiring the mural by British artist Chris Ofili, whose surrealist theme depicts a cave with mythical beasts.

Also on this level is the Silent Space, which is a room with seating where you can rest for up to 30 minutes.

Going up to the second, third and fourth floors of the building you will find a series of galleries with paintings representative of artistic movements such as postmodernism, minimalism, surrealism, conceptualism and pop art.

You will also see a variety of installations, photographs and sculptures. Among the most representative are:

• The pop art of Jasper Johns and Andy Warhol.
• The post-war photographs of Cindy Sherman.
• The installations and paintings of Kara Walker.
• The kinetic sculptures of Alexander Calder.

In addition to the permanent and temporary collections displayed in the galleries, the museum also has a theatre on the first floor, a souvenir shop and an education centre on the second level.

There is also the terrace, which opens its doors every Tuesday for jazz recitals. However, the other areas mentioned above are not available every day, as they are used for special activities, which you can check before your visit on the official website of the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago.

There are some basic tips to help you enhance your experience visiting the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago. For example:

• Check available exhibitions and activities prior to your visit. Remember that the museum's exhibits change periodically.
• Buy tickets online to ensure admission on the day and time you want to visit.
• Check the museum's rules, either before entering the galleries or beforehand through its official website.
• Arrive at the museum at least 30 minutes before the entrance time. This way, you will avoid inconveniences and make the most of the tour.
• If you have a disability, don't forget to contact the museum staff beforehand, so that they can plan your visit. They will then provide you with the resources available (wheelchair and glasses for the colour-blind).