Pictured is the exterior of the Art Institute of Chicago. Photo provided by Darla McCammon.

By Darla McCammon and guest author Darlene Romano

This week, we want to tell you about the Art Institute of Chicago.

The museum is located in Chicago’s Grant Park and was founded in 1879. It is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the world, and it is recognized for its curatorial efforts and popularity among visitors. Its permanent collection of nearly 300,000 works of art is augmented by more than 30 special exhibitions throughout the year that illuminate aspects of the collection.

The museum’s original building, which was constructed for the World’s Columbian Exposition, has expanded several times, with the most recent expansion, the Modern Wing, opening in 2009, increasing the square feet of the museum to nearly 1,000,000 square feet. The museum is the second-largest art museum in the United States, after the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Who knew that such a gem of a museum was within driving distance of the Warsaw area?

The museum received perhaps the largest gift of art in its history in 2015. Collectors Stefan Edlis and Gael Neeson donated a “collection that is among the world’s greatest groups of postwar Pop art ever assembled.”

The donation included works by Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns, Cy Twombly, Jeff Koons, Charles Ray, Richard Prince, Cindy Sherman, Roy Lichtenstein and Gerhard Richter. If you are intrigued by pop art, the Art Institute of Chicago has a superior selection for viewing.

The collection of the Art Institute of Chicago encompasses more than 5,000 years of human expression from cultures around the world and contains more than 300,000 works of art, ranging from early Japanese prints to the art of the Byzantine Empire to contemporary American Art. The museum has a mobile app that provides the stories behind the art with conversations with artists, experts and community members. For families with children, stop by the Ryan Learning Center on Fridays or Saturdays to build a one-of-a-kind tour with activities designed for families.

The following six special exhibitions are now showing:

• The Language of Beauty in African Art
• A Field Guide to Photography and Media
• Himali Singh Soin: Static Range
• Monochromatic Japanese Prints
• Kingfisher Headdresses from China
• The Vibrating Slab

The museum is open to the public from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays, from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursdays and from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Fridays through Sundays. General admission for adults is $25 with discounts available for seniors and students. Children are free. For more information, call (312) 443-3600 or visit www.artic.edu/.

EVENTS

Honeywell 92 County Competition: The juried artwork from the competition is on display through Feb. 13 at the Honeywell Clark Gallery in Wabash. Many of the juried pieces of artwork are for sale and can be purchased at the gallery box office from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. For more information, call (260) 274-1411 or visit honeywellarts.org.

Warsaw City Hall Art Gallery: Local artist Deana Harvey will be displaying her artwork through the end of March. Make sure you stop by to view her work. To exhibit at Warsaw City Hall Art Gallery, contact Darla McCammon, curator, by leaving a message at  (574) 527-4044 or by emailing [email protected].