Things to do in Chicago

There are a number of immigrant-related destinations for people to visit in Chicago. Some examples include:

• Jane Addams Hull-House Museum — The Hull-House is located on the campus of the University of Illinois at Chicago, 800 South Halsted Street in Chicago. The museum does not charge an admission fee for individuals or groups, but does encourage donations of $5 per person, although nobody will be turned away. Exhibits in the Hull-House include the Benedict Gallery, named after Enella Benedict, the founder and long-time director of the Hull-House Art School who was also one of the longest serving residents. “Learning Together: Art, Education, and Community” is a research and development project exploring Chicago’s history of arts education. The Jane Addams Hull-House Museum also has a collection made up of over 5,500 artifacts relating to the work of the Hull-House Settlement and the surrounding neighborhood.
• Pilsen Murals — Mosaics detailing Mexican icons can be found at Cooper Dual Language Academy (1645 West 18th Street), Jeff Zimmerman’s painted works detailing the people and cultures of Pilsen (1900 South Ashland Avenue) and Francisco Mendoza’s glass-tile mosaics at Orozco Community Academy (1645 West 18th Place). Additional murals can be found at 1416 West 18th Street, 1100 West Cullerton Street, 1815 South Paulina Street, 1447 West 18th Street, and other locations throughout the Pilsen neighborhood.
• Humboldt Park Mural Art Program — The mission of the Humboldt Park Mural Art Program (HP MAP) involves creating new murals, restoring old murals, and developing strategies using murals as a way to represent community issues, ideas, and vision. Humboldt Park saw large numbers of German, Scandinavians, and Italians moving in from neighborhoods to the east, and then Polish and Russian Jews, as well as Ukrainians moved into Humboldt Park. Later on, Humboldt Park’s diverse neighborhood grew to include Puerto Ricans.
• Las Puertas de Paseo Boricua (the Puerto Rican doors) — Sixteen doors on Division Street between Western and California were transformed as part of the Year of Public art with the Chicago Cultural Center. The artwork features a combination of Puerto Rican artists, including Mexicans, Columbians, Ecuadorians, and Costa Ricans. Las Puertas del Paseo Boricua was also a documentary about the 13 Latino Artists.
• National Museum of Mexican Art (NMMA) — Originally founded as the Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum in 1982, the museum expanded to a 48,000 square-foot, state-of-the-art facility in 2001 in the heart of Pilsen and unveiled a new name in 2006 as the NMMA. The museum has a mission to stimulate knowledge and appreciation of Mexican art and culture through a permanent collection of Mexican art, visual and performing arts programs, arts education programs, and resources and professional development of Mexican artists.
• National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts & Culture (NMPRAC) — The NMPRAC has a commitment to promotion, integration, and advancement of Puerto Rican arts and culture with exhibitions and programming that enhances the visibility and importance of the Puerto Rican arts tradition. Located in Humboldt Park, NMPRAC is the only self-standing museum in the nation devoted to showcasing Puerto Rican arts and cultural exhibitions year-round. It was founded in 2000 by members of Chicago’s Puerto Rican community and local supporters of arts and culture, and its early years focused on renovating the historic Humboldt Park Stables and Receptory building of cultural and historical significance to Chicago since the late 1800s. The museum was named the latest City of Chicago’s Museums in the Park in February 2012.