Chicago.com
Chicago is a world famous city for a variety of things. People from all over the world know about Chicago. In Europe, people always associate Chicago with Michael Jordan and Al Capone, at least in countries I’ve lived in. Yes, I understand it is very predictable and superficial to be associated to a sports icon and gangster of all gangsters but such are the facts. Sure here in the States we are known as the “Windy City” and a town with a great skyline and even better food, but across the world people don’t know about these things. Jordan, Capone and now Obama are the first things that people associate with our city and quite frankly there could be worse things to be associated with.
In summertime there is no better city to live in than Chicago and there aren’t many people that would argue against that statement. There are so many different activities to choose from, whether on Lake Michigan or in many of our trendy neighborhoods, there is always something to do.
In wintertime, however, the options become somewhat limited. Chicago winters are so cold that even the biggest of outdoor enthusiasts sometimes want to curl up on a couch and avoid the awful temperatures. Those who do dare to get outside and look for things to do usually end up going to shows and performances, both of which there are many in our wonderful city.
Museums are another great way to spend a day inside and get ones self educated on a variety of different things. While all the museums charge a fee to their fantastic exhibits, almost all of them have specific days when they offer free entrance. These free days are available throughout the year and every single museum has them at one point or another.
Here at Chicago.com we have compiled a list of 8 major ones and the days when these free days are featured. In today’s economy people are looking for deals constantly and Free Days at variety of Chicago museums has been a fan favorite for a number of years, especially among students throughout the city and the suburbs.
Adler Planetarium:
The museum has not yet announced when it will have its free days for 2011 but they have said on the site that it will be updated soon. Click here for the updated info.
The Art Institute of Chicago:
From January 3rd through February 4th, the museum is offering free admission, every weekday, all day long (late evenings included).
For more info please click here.
Brookfield Zoo:
Tuesdays and Thursdays are currently FREE days for zoo general admission. While admission is free on these days, normal internal attraction fees still apply for different attractions. Those who arrive after 4:00 p.m. on Free Days, regular admission rates still apply for Holiday Magic exhibit.
For more information please visit the Brookfield Zoo website.
Chicago Children’s Museum:
Free Thursday evenings 5-8 p.m.
First Sunday of every month is free admission for ages 15 and under.
Chicago History Museum:
The Museum is free on Mondays.
The Field Museum:
The Field Museum is offering 52 days a year when basic admission is free. The Field Museum offers Target Free Second Mondays, where Target’s sponsorship is making it possible for The Field Museum to offer free basic admission on the second Monday of each month.
2011 Target Free Second Monday dates are:
January 10th
February 14th
March 14th
Target Free Second Monday hours are 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM
Other regularly scheduled free basic admission days at least in wintertime are:
January: 3rd, 11th, 13th, 18th, 19th, 24th, 26th, 31st,
February: 2nd, 3rd, 8th, 9th, 15th, 17th,
April: 11th
Museum of Science and Industry:
General admission is free on the following dates at MSI but it does not include admission into any of the MSI’s specific exhibits:
January: 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 17th, 18th, 19th, 20th, 21st, 24th, 25th, 26th, 27th, 28th, 31st
February: 1st, 8th, 14th, 15th, 22nd
Shedd Aquarium:
During Community Discount Days, admission to the aquarium’s original galleries is free. This includes the Waters of the World, Amazon Rising, and the Caribbean Reef. Packages including Wild Reef, Polar Play Zone and Abbott Oceanarium are available at a discounted rate. Shedd’s 52 discount days a year take advantage of civic and school holidays to make family visits more convenient.
Upcoming Monday and Tuesday Community Discount Days in 2011 are:
January: 10th, 11th, 24th, 25th, 31st
February: 1st, 7th, 8th, 14th, 15th, 28th
With all this information at hand the time is now to go out and visit one of our great museums.
How many exhibits in the world allow a person to get a closer view at something we all grew up watching as kids and followed even into our adulthood? Only one that I know of and it is currently being displayed at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago – Jim Henson’s Fantastic World.
Jim Henson’s Fantastic World is an exhibit organized by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service chronicling the life of the great Jim Henson, that includes over 130 cartoons, drawings and storyboards. The exhibit is one big puppet party, where Jim Henson explains to the visitor either through text or audio how much puppetry meant to him, and how he came up with this two greatest inventions – Sesame Street and the Muppet Show.
Upon entering the MSI exhibit a visitor is greeted by Henson’s most famous of inventions – Kermit The Frog. The green icon is proudly displayed at the entrance in all its glory along with numerous photos of Henson and Kermit throughout the years they spent “working” together. In the same room there is a chronological display of Jim Henson’s life in the industry, all the magnificent things he accomplished in his life.
Once inside the exhibit, the walls are full of all the Henson-abilia, pictures of him and the puppets along with numerous drawings and sketches from his earlier days. As a fan of both Sesame Street and The Muppet Show, I enjoyed those drawings and sketches more than any picture because it gave me an insight into how things worked – something I didn’t know and or cared about when I was a youngster. I always thought it was all fun and games being on the set of the Muppet Show but being at the exhibit showed me it was a lot of years of hard work and determination.
Along with Kermit being displayed in a glass box there is also Miss Piggy in all her majesty wearing a white wedding dress, which she wore in the movie “The Muppets Take Manhattan.” Miss Piggy doesn’t make appearances with this exhibit but she agreed to be displayed in Chicago when MSI asked for her services. While she doesn’t have any direct ties to Henson (he neither designed or performed as her) the exhibit would not have been complete without Miss Piggy, who aside from Kermit is easily the most recognizable of all the puppets.
Inside the exhibit there are two separate rooms designed to encourage audience participation: a theater room – where visitors can literally play the role of Henson and perform with the puppets laid out in a box nearby; and a create a character wall – a wall that allows people to create their own puppet using Velcro-like material.
The latter has an outline of a puppet body attached to the wall, while all the clothes are removable along with a variety of hats, beards, sunglasses giving the audience a variety of ways to dress his/her own puppet. Both of these rooms require audience participation and should be a huge draw for all those who come and check out the exhibit.
More than anything else, the exhibit portrays the way Jim Henson viewed things, visually. The exhibit and in particular drawings and sketches portray how Henson would store so many of his ideas in his brain only for them to appear live and in costume at a later part in his magnificent career.
Bonnie Erickson, president of the Jim Henson Legacy Foundation and the original builder of Miss Piggy, hopes that those who come out and see the exhibit will learn to follow their dreams as well.
“I hope that this exhibit will inspire anyone who doesn’t know what to do with themselves to follow their dreams,” Erickson said. “Any one of us can and should follow our heart just the way Jim did.”
Jim’s love for his work and the puppets he created is visible in every one of the exhibit’s pictures and one has to wonder if the rest of us are lucky enough to have our work be our passion in life.
It certainly was just that for him.
