Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago Entry Tickets

The Art Institute of Chicago and the MCA Chicago serve fundamentally different purposes. The Art Institute is one of the oldest and largest encyclopedic art museums in the United States, holding masterworks spanning 5,000 years of global art history including Seurat, Hopper, and Grant Wood. The MCA is specifically dedicated to art made from 1945 to the present, with a mission to champion living artists and new ideas. The Art Institute is the place to encounter the established canon; the MCA is the place to encounter what is being made and argued about right now.

The rooftop sculpture garden at the MCA Chicago is a curated outdoor gallery space on the museum's upper level offering panoramic views of Lake Michigan and the Chicago skyline. It holds a rotating selection of outdoor sculptures by contemporary artists and is included with every museum admission ticket at no additional charge. The garden is open during museum hours and provides one of the most spectacular urban viewpoints available from any cultural institution in the city, particularly in the late afternoon and at dusk.

The permanent collection spans contemporary art since 1945 with particular strengths in Minimalism, Conceptual Art, Surrealism, and work by Chicago-based artists. Major artists represented include Alexander Calder, Andy Warhol, Cindy Sherman, Jeff Koons, Yayoi Kusama, Mark Rothko, Jenny Holzer, Banksy, Anish Kapoor, Chuck Close, Ed Ruscha, Kara Walker, and Jasper Johns, alongside emerging artists whose work the MCA has been among the first major institutions to collect. Only a portion of the collection is on view at any given time as exhibitions rotate regularly.

The Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago is one of the largest contemporary art museums in the world, located at 220 East Chicago Avenue near the Magnificent Mile. Founded in 1967 and operating from a purpose-built building designed by Josef Paul Kleihues since 1996, the MCA holds more than 2,500 works in its permanent collection and presents a year-round program of special exhibitions and live performance. Children 18 and under always enter free. Illinois residents enter free after 17:00 every Tuesday.

Children 18 and under always enter free regardless of day or time, generously provided by the Lefkofsky Free 18 and Under Fund. Illinois residents enter free after 17:00 every Tuesday with valid Illinois photo ID; the museum stays open until 21:00 on Tuesdays. Free or discounted admission is also available for members of the military, police and fire departments, veterans, and students of Columbia College, Northwestern, SAIC, and the University of Chicago. The MCA has a pay-what-you-can policy, meaning no visitor will be turned away for inability to pay the suggested admission.

Yes. Marisol is the restaurant and bar at the MCA Chicago, serving seasonal contemporary cuisine for lunch, dinner, and weekend brunch. The Counter is a more casual option serving coffee, tea, snacks, and select menu items during museum hours. Both are located at the museum and accessible to visitors with a museum ticket. Reservations for Marisol are recommended for dinner. The MCA Store carries innovative design objects, artist publications, and exhibition catalogues and is also open during museum hours.

The MCA is at 220 East Chicago Avenue, Chicago, IL 60611, four blocks east of the CTA Red Line Chicago Avenue Station. Bus routes 3, 10, and 66 also serve the museum area along with several Michigan Avenue routes. A Divvy bike dock is on the southwest corner of the museum at Mies van der Rohe Way and Chicago Avenue. Paid parking is available in the museum's on-site garage, entered on Chicago Avenue just west of Fairbanks Court; ask for parking validation at the museum for a reduced rate.

The MCA Chicago is one of the few American art museums to maintain a serious institutional commitment to live performance, presenting dance, theater, music, and performance art in its 300-seat theater throughout the year. Performance programming runs alongside the exhibition calendar and often involves artists whose work crosses multiple disciplines. Separate tickets are required for performances and are not included with general museum admission. Check the current events calendar at mcachicago.org for upcoming performance programming during your visit.