Deciding to Go to the Museum During COVID-19
Well, you know we’re living in a pandemic. And much like many industries in economic turmoil, the arts is suffering. As someone who used to work in arts administration, I can tell you that it’s not a good time for museums. Plenty of online viewings have been helpful to learn about different subjects and materials (and to keep people’s interest in the arts), but it’s not the same. You have to see the art in person, get to know the piece – the scale, the materials, the way the art is meant to be presented in the light and surroundings.
Last month The Art Institute of Chicago opened up its doors and offered free admission. Fortunately, I scored tickets in August. But on the day of our outing, the Art Institute had to close early due to HVAC issues. Thankfully, we were able to use those tickets on any day in 2020, which we decided to use on Labor Day.
Entrance to the Museum
I was a little concerned about how to navigate through the museum during the pandemic. And with Labor Day on top of that, I wasn’t sure if it was the best decision to go. After a futile attempt to talk to someone on the phone at the museum, we decided to go for it.
When we entered, we hardly had to wait. In fact, once we got our tickets, we felt like we were walking through a private showing of the entire museum space. If you’re planning to go, you can check out current prices of admission and hours of operation here.
How to Make the Most Use of Your Time During Your Visit
If you’re limited on time, you can scroll down to the Highlights section at the bottom of the post. I wish I had known about the Art Institute’s app that offers tours of specific exhibits, providing location and amount of time to walk through and listen. You can get it through the Apple app store. Or if you’re like us, you can pick up a visitor guide and take a look through their highlights section or details of specific collections on the map.
The Art Institute guide also mentions that some galleries may have limited capacity, but you can check ahead for more information at https://www.artic.edu/updates.
Medieval Times
We ventured through the Arms, Armor, Medieval, and Renaissance exhibit of swords (currently closed portion of the exhibit), knights’ armor and all sorts of cool medieval art pieces.
Our boys learned a bit of Latin over the summer, and Prof pointed out a word that they learned, “fili us.” The older one could not read that “fancy” lettering, and said, “Where? I don’t see it.”
Can you spot the word?
Abstract Art
The viewing of abstract art was a personal request by our little man. Prof asked the little man questions and explained about surrealism in general terms. I was blown away that we could all sit on a bench together and look at a Picasso for as long as wanted without someone blocking the view.
Ancient Art
Prof had been to the Art Institute many times before with students on field trips. The stop in the ancient art world exhibit was fast and quick. He checked for any new and old pieces, which gave us plenty of time to see the highlights. But if yo have not seen art, sculpture, or a sarcophagus from the ancient Mediterranean period, it’s worth your time to view the work.
The little man was most interested in the headless statues and armless pieces. When he asked why, I told him that those are the places where the sculptures are most fragile and prone to breaking. I vaguely remember when the older one ask Prof and that was the answer he gave our older boy.
This exhibit had the “most” people in the area of the day, but it still looked like a slow day pre-pandemic times.
Hitting the Highlights
The kids were getting a little tired from all the “walking.” As we sat down in front of a Picasso painting, our boy read the Visitor Guide. The guide said that if you only had an hour, you can check out the highlights. I was excited to see a Van Gogh, Georgia O’Keefe, and the famous A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte by Seurat.
When I saw The Bedroom by Van Gogh, I remembered that we saw another one at the Van Gogh Museum. Van Gogh had painted a smaller third version for his mother sister, which is at the Musée d’Orsay in Paris. I visited the museum, once in college, and another time with Prof back in our more youthful days. My guess is that I saw the smaller version, although my memory fails to remember if I truly did. I suppose we will need to go back as a family to claim the right to have seen all three versions.
RELATED: See photos of the Van Gogh Museum.
I was most excited to see Seurat again. I took the older one when he was a tiny baby and plopped him right in front of the painting. The younger one was most curious to learn that it took Seurat two year to make that the piece – seeing all the colors up close and then blend together far away. Again, I have never seen this painting without the view of others in front taking turns to see the painting up close and far away.
Here is the highlights section listed by The Art Institute to see if you an hour or less:
How to Navigate through the Museum during COVID-19
If you’re looking for some tips about navigating through the museum, here are a few:
- Wear a mask.
- Keep a minimum of six feet apart.
- Look for the arrows on the floor to tell you which way to walk through the space.
- The touchscreens for an interactive museum experience are disabled.
- The cafe is closed, so be sure to eat and be full before walking through the space.
- Also, use the facilities before you go. Of course, if you need to use the facilities, you need to use the facilities.
- The coat check room is closed, so be prepared to carry your belongings with you.
Have other questions or concerns before you go? You can read more in the FAQ section.
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For More Information
Website: https://www.artic.edu
Address: 111 S Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60603
