DOWNTOWN — The Art Institute will join the ranks of Chicago museums reopening from the latest COVID-19 shutdown, announcing it will open Feb. 11 — with its popular “Monet and Chicago” exhibit still on display.
The museum closed in November when the state imposed Tier 3 mitigations on Chicago — and all other parts of Illinois — as a second wave of coronavirus swept through the city. The mitigations meant museums and cultural institutions weren’t allowed to have visitors.
But the state moved Chicago into Tier 2 mitigations last week, allowing museums to reopen. The Field museum opened Thursday. The Shedd Aquarium will reopen for members Wednesday and to the general public Saturday.
The Art Institute, like other museums, closed during the initial spring shutdown, but reopened briefly before the fall surge of COVID-19 gripped the country.
When the Art Institute reopens, visitors must wear face coverings and maintain six feet of separation from others not in their group. Tickets are required for non-members. Coat and bag check rooms are closed, so the museum asks visitors to pack light.
The latest reopening means visitors will get a second chance to see the “Monet and Chicago” exhibit, which had been scheduled to end Jan. 18. The exhibit will now be extended to June 14, the museum announced.
The exhibit, which includes more than 70 pieces, features some of the French Impressionist’s most famous paintings alongside sketches and drawings. It traces his deep ties to Chicago.
Also extended through June are “Bisa Butler: Portraits” and “Toulouse-Lautrec and the Celebrity Culture of Paris.”
Butler’s textile exhibit captures personal and historical narratives of Black life.The Toulouse-Lautrec exhibit explores art in the French neighborhood of Montmartre in the late 19th Century, a focus of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec’s career.
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