Objects from the Spertus Museum Collection. Photo by Thomas A. Nowak.
Spertus Museum – at Chicago’s Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies – seeks to celebrate, challenge, and advance modern Jewish identity through explorations of Jewish culture and its relationship to the broader world. Spertus Museum is based on three floors of the award-winning new Spertus Institute facility that opened in November 2007 at 610 S. Michigan Avenue. The building’s two top floors (floors nine and ten, with approximately 8,000 square feet of gallery space) house the museum’s core-collection display and changing exhibitions, while the fourth floor houses the new interactive Gray Children’s Center and an educational resource area for teachers and parents.
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Museum Highlights
- Experience a unique viewable storage display of over 1,500 objects from Spertus Museum’s world-class collection.
- Explore changing exhibitions about identity and contemporary culture.
- Visit the Gray Children’s Center for a fun, interactive exploration of language and storytelling.
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Programs and Tours
- Spertus offers a vibrant array of public programming for adults and families, including lectures, performances, films, and festivals.
- Docent-led tours for students and adults are available by appointment and can be tailored to your group’s specific needs.
Collection
Spertus Museum is committed to collecting objects from all aspects of Jewish life and culture, and at present includes more than 15,000 items. The collection has expanded since Maurice and Herman Spertus' substantial donation of major objects of Judaica, Holocaust-related materials, and fine art that began the museum in the 1960s. Main concentrations within the collection include materials from European Jewish culture, the Sephardic and oriental world, Chicago Yiddish culture, and an extensive collection of visual art from the 19th and 20th centuries. Information regarding research and image requests as well as acquisition proposals.
Information regarding Artist Submissions
SPERTUS MUSEUM HOURS AND ADMISSION
Spertus Museum Hours
Sunday-Wednesday 10 am - 5 pm
Thursday 10 am - 6 pm
Friday 10 am - 3 pm
Spertus is closed Saturday for the Jewish Sabbath
Spertus Museum Admission
General admission: $7
Students and seniors: $5
Spertus members and
children under five: free
Free for everyone:
Tuesdays 10 am - 12 noon
and Thursdays 2 - 6 pm
Spertus Museum exhibitions and programs are made possible, in part, by Adrienne and Arnold Brookstone, a CityArts Program 4 Grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs, The Fogelson Foundation, Joyce and Avrum Gray and their family, The Mayer & Morris Kaplan Family Foundation, the Harry and Sadie Lasky Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Polk Bros. Foundation, Mr. and Mrs. Albert B. Ratner, the Righteous Persons Foundation, The Judith Rothschild Foundation, Roslyn and Alan Schwartz, the Charles and M.R. Shapiro Foundation, the Steans Family Foundation, the Tawani Foundation, the Terra Foundation for American Art, the Bernard and Rochelle Zell Holocaust Memorial, and the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency.