Museums in the Park – visit for free

By Anne Eickstadt

REPORTER

COURTESY PHOTO Belvidere Republican
The Adler Planetarium is one of the wonderful museums state Rep. Dave Vella is encouraging people to see for free this year.

State Rep. Dave Vella (IL-68) has partnered with the non-profit organization, Museums in the Park, to provide free general admission to Chicago-area museums for all his constituents of Rockford, Loves Park and Belvidere.

Continuing his goal of bringing resources and educational opportunities to the Stateline through the Constituent Education Resource Program, Vella is proud to introduce a first in the state program that provides hundreds of savings and a full day of family fun. Vella knows that with rising costs of living, families should not have to sacrifice educational and recreational experiences. Vella is proud to offer this exclusive benefit to constituents of Rockford, Loves Park, and Belvidere for 2023. Free admission for groups of up to four requires an authorization letter from Vella. Interested residents should contact Vella to register or visit. www.staterepdavevella.com/museums.

Museums in the Park is a coalition of Chicago museums located on Chicago Park District property. Museums in the Park works with the Chicago Park District, Chicago Public Schools, the City of Chicago, the State of Illinois and other entities to build greater awareness of the intrinsic value of museums. 68th District Constituents have the opportunity to take advantage of free general admission to the museums listed below. Please confirm you are a 68th District constituent prior to registering.

To register, fill out the form provided online at www.staterepdavevella.com/museums and you will receive an email back with a signed letter and resource card for entry (Please allow up to 48 hours to receive email or call from office).

Participating Museums:

-Field Museum of Natural History: The Field Museum of Natural History (FMNH), also known as The Field Museum, is a natural history museum in Chicago, and is one of the largest such museums in the world. The museum is popular for the size and quality of its educational and scientific programs, and its extensive scientific-specimen and artifact collections. The permanent exhibitions, which attract up to two million visitors annually, include fossils, current cultures from around the world, and interactive programming demonstrating today’s urgent conservation needs.

-Shedd Aquarium: (has an additional $3 transaction fee for group, details below) – Is an indoor public aquarium in Chicago.  Opened on May 30, 1930, the 5 million U.S. gallon (19,000,000 l; 4,200,000 imp. gal.) aquarium was for some time the largest indoor facility in the world. Today it holds about 32,000 animals.

Shedd Aquarium was the first inland aquarium with a permanent saltwater fish collection. It is located on Lake Michigan, on the Museum Campus Chicago, along with the Adler Planetarium and the Field.

Instructions on Shedd Aquarium registration:

After receiving confirmation and signed authorization find the date you plan on attending and time. Then enter the amount of guests for “Partner Voucher” and the number in your group. When in your cart for the community discount put “Constituent education resource card,” then checkout with the $3 transaction fee.

-Brookfield Zoo: Brookfield Zoo, also known as the Chicago Zoological Park,[2][3] is a zoo located in the Chicago suburb of Brookfield. It houses around 450 species of animals in an area of 216 acres (87 ha). It opened on July 1, 1934, and quickly gained international recognition for using moats and ditches instead of cages to separate animals from visitors and from other animals. The zoo was also the first in America to exhibit giant pandas, one of which (Su Lin) has been taxidermied and put on display in Chicago’s Field Museum of Natural History.

In 1960, Brookfield Zoo built the nation’s first fully indoor dolphin exhibit, and in the 1980s, the zoo introduced Tropic World, the first fully indoor rainforest simulation and the then-largest indoor zoo exhibit in the world.

The Brookfield Zoo is owned by the Cook County Forest Preserve District and managed by the Chicago Zoological Society. The society sponsors numerous research and conservation efforts globally.

-Lincoln Park Zoo: also known as Lincoln Park Zoological Gardens, is a 35-acre (14 ha) zoo in Lincoln Park, Chicago. The zoo was founded in 1868, making it the fourth oldest zoo in North America. It is also one of a few free admission zoos in all of North America. The zoo is an accredited member of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA).

Lincoln Park Zoo is home to a wide variety of animals. The zoo’s exhibits include big cats, polar bears, penguins, gorillas, reptiles, monkeys and other species totaling about 1,100 animals from some 200 species. Also located in Lincoln Park Zoo is a burr oak tree which dates to 1830, three years before the city of Chicago was organized.

-Adler Planetarium: The Adler Planetarium is a public museum in Chicago dedicated to astronomy and astrophysics. It was founded in 1930 by local businessman Max Adler. Located on the northeastern tip of Northerly Island on Lake Michigan in the city, the Adler Planetarium was the first planetarium in the United States. It is part of Chicago’s Museum Campus, which includes the John G. Shedd Aquarium and The Field Museum. The Planetarium’s mission is to inspire exploration and understanding of the universe.

-The Art Institute of Chicago: The Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago’s Grant Park, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the world. Recognized for its curatorial efforts and popularity among visitors, the museum hosts approximately 1.5 million people annually.

Its collection, stewarded by 11 curatorial departments, is encyclopedic, and includes iconic works such as Georges Seurat’s “A Sunday on La Grande Jatte,” Pablo Picasso’s “The Old Guitarist,” Edward Hopper’s “Nighthawks” and Grant Wood’s “American Gothic.” Its permanent collection of nearly 300,000 works of art is augmented by more than 30 special exhibitions mounted yearly that illuminate aspects of the collection and present cutting-edge curatorial and scientific research.

As a research institution, the Art Institute also has a conservation and conservation science department, five conservation laboratories and one of the largest art history and architecture libraries in the country.

-Chicago Academy of Sciences/Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, a science museum. It is housed in the former Palace of Fine Arts from the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. Initially endowed by Julius Rosenwald, the Sears, Roebuck and Company president and philanthropist, it was supported by the Commercial Club of Chicago and opened in 1933 during the Century of Progress Exposition.

Among the museum’s exhibits are a full-size replica coal mine, German submarine U-505 captured during World War II, a 3,500-square-foot (330 m2) model railroad, the command module of Apollo 8, and the first diesel-powered streamlined stainless-steel passenger train (Pioneer Zephyr).

The Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum is a natural history museum operated by the Chicago Academy of Sciences. The museum traces its history to the founding of the academy in 1857. After a century at a nearby location, the academy opened its present museum named for benefactor Peggy Notebaert in 1999 at the intersection of Fullerton Parkway and Cannon Drive in Lincoln Park.

The institution focuses on the natural history of the Chicago region, and offers educational programs for children and adults. It is also known for its live butterfly house, which is attached to a laboratory and program to study and enhance Chicago area butterfly populations.

-Chicago Botanic Garden: The Chicago Botanic Garden is a 385-acre (156 ha) living plant museum situated on nine islands in the Cook County Forest Preserves. It features 27 display gardens in four natural habitats: McDonald Woods, Dixon Prairie, Skokie River Corridor, and Lakes and Shores. The garden is open every day of the year.

The Chicago Botanic Garden is owned by the Forest Preserve District of Cook County, and managed by the Chicago Horticultural Society. It opened to the public in 1972, and is home to the Joseph Regenstein Jr. School of the Chicago Botanic Garden, offering a number of classes and certificate programs.

-Chicago Children’s Museum: The Chicago Children’s Museum is located at Navy Pier in Chicago. It was founded in 1982 by The Junior League of Chicago, which was responding to programming cutbacks in the Chicago Public Schools. In 1995, the museum thought it found that home when it reopened as an anchor tenant at Navy Pier on Lake Michigan. The new facility offered 57,000 square feet of exhibition space and included three floors of educational exhibits, public programs, and special events.

-Chicago History Museum: Chicago History Museum is the museum of the Chicago Historical Society (CHS). The CHS was founded in 1856 to study and interpret Chicago’s history. The museum has been located in Lincoln Park since the 1930s at 1601 N. Clark St. at the intersection of North Avenue in the Old Town Triangle neighborhood. The CHS adopted the name, Chicago History Museum, in September 2006 for its public presence

-DuSable Black History Museum and Education Center: The DuSable Black History Museum and Education Center, formerly the DuSable Museum of African American History, is a museum in Chicago that is dedicated to the study and conservation of African-American history, culture, and art.

It was founded in 1961 by Margaret Taylor-Burroughs her husband Charles Burroughs, Gerard Lew, Eugene Feldman, Bernard Goss, Marian M. Hadley and others. They established the museum to celebrate black culture, at the time overlooked by most museums and academic establishments. The museum has an affiliation with the Smithsonian Institution.

-Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center: The Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center is a museum located in Skokie, near Chicago. According to the center’s mission statement, its founding principle is to “Remember the Past; Transform the Future.” Its mission is to preserve the legacy of the Holocaust by honoring victims’ memories and to educate in the service of combating hatred, prejudice and indifference. The museum fulfills its mission through its collections-based exhibitions and through education programs and other initiatives that promote human rights and the elimination of genocide.

-National Museum of Mexican Art: The National Museum of Mexican Art (NMMA), formerly known as the Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum, is a museum featuring Mexican, Latino and Chicano art and culture. It is located in Harrison Park in the Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago. The museum was founded in 1982 by Carlos Tortolero and opened on March 27, 1987. It is the only Latino museum accredited by the American Alliance of Museums. The museum describes itself as the largest Latino cultural institution in America.

-National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts & Culture: The National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts and Culture is a museum in Chicago dedicated to interpreting the arts and culture of the Puerto Rican people and of the Puerto Ricans in Chicago.

It hosts visual arts exhibitions, community education, and festivals. Its exhibitions have featured the artwork of Osvaldo Budet, Elizam Escobar, Antonio Martorell, Ramon Frade Leon, and Lizette Cruz, in addition to local Chicago or Puerto Rican artists. The institute also sponsors music events including an annual Navi-Jazz performance, described as a “fusion of Puerto Rican and African American musical elements.”

If you have any questions, or need assistance registering please call the office of State Rep. Dave Vella at 815-329-6741.

Signed authorization letter is required for free entry and must be presented at time of visit.

State Rep. Dave Vella, District Office, 4007 N. Mulford Road, Loves Park.