On the shores of Lake Michigan, on Chicago's Museum Campus, the Adler Planetarium and Astronomy Museum is dedicated to the study of planets, moons, stars, and distant galaxies.
Founded in 1930 by Max Adler, this facility was the first planetarium in America. The original 1930's building still remains, but in recent years a new addition, the Sky Pavilion, was added to increase exhibit space. Today, the Museum features one of the largest and most important collections in the world, including more than 2,000 historic astronomical, navigational, and mathematical instruments.
Some highlights of the planetarium include exhibits on the Solar System, the Milky Way Galaxy, the history of astronomical discovery, and an exhibit showing how astronomy has affected various cultures. Teachers planning student tours of the Planetarium can take advantage of on-site educational programs and pre-visit lesson plans.
The Art Institute of Chicago
The Art Institute of Chicago houses one of the world's best art collections. With more than 300,000 works on display, representing over 40 centuries of art, the Institute's collections include some of the finest and most famous art ever created.
The Art Institute began as the Chicago Academy of Design, founded by a small group of artists in 1866. The first collections included a gift of plaster casts from the French Government. Many other name changes occurred before becoming The Art Institute of Chicago in 1882.
Art collections include: European and American paintings, African and Asian art, architecture, photography, textiles, and sculpture. Some of the individual highlights include masterpieces such as Seurat's A Sunday on La Grande Jatte--1884, Cassatt's The Bath, and Wood's celebrated American Gothic.
The Institute also boasts an impressive collection of works by artists such as Monet, Renoir, Degas, Van Gogh, and many others.
The Institute consists of three levels of exhibits, divided into three buildings. The only connection between the three buildings is Gunsaulus Hall, throughout which arms and armor are prominently displayed.
One especially unique exhibit found at the Art Institute is the display in the Thorne Miniature Rooms. The collection contains 68 rooms that are miniature replications of rooms ranging from the 17th century to the 1930s. The rooms focus on American, European, and Oriental decorative arts, with architectural interiors from the various time periods.
Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio
Another great Chicago landmark is the Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio which has been restored and preserved as a museum. It's a memorial to one of our country's most influential and innovative architects, Frank Lloyd Wright.
Best known for his Prairie style of architecture, Wright moved away from the detailed ornamental abundance in the Victorian homes of the time and created a style that focused on simplicity and clean lines.
In 1889, Wright borrowed $5,000 from Louis Sullivan to build his Oak Park home. At the time, Wright was working for Sullivan's architecture firm as a draftsman. Sullivan and Wright parted company in 1893. Wright began his own architectural practice in Chicago. In 1898, Wright added the studio onto his home.
Wright moved away from the home in 1909 and finally sold the house in 1925. Over the years, the home fell into severe disrepair. It was not until 1974, when the Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio Foundation was formed.
Plans were made to turn the house into a historic museum and education center dedicated to Wright and his work. It took 13 years and three million dollars to meticulously restore the house to its 1909 appearance.
Students can tour the Home and Studio and learn about both Wright's life and work. In addition to seeing where Wright lived and worked for 20 years, the home also contains a number of furniture pieces and decorative art objects designed and built by Wright.
Chicago's Adler Planetarium, The Art Institute of Chicago and Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio are all sites of exceptional scientific and cultural importance and are fruitful venues for student tours in the windy city.
Great Museums Of The World
While enjoying your travel, it is also interesting to visit some educational places like the museums. Generally, when we speak of museums, many of the travelers would think that it is a boring kind of experience. However, why settle to those less interesting museums? Listed below are the few of the most unusual and interesting museums in the world that I am sure every traveler would enjoy visiting.
Museum of the medieval tortures in Prague – this museum is perfect to those who love to know the historic way of punishing people who have did something wrong to the government. Visitors in this museum will get the 45 minutes chance to be introduced with the 60 instruments use in torturing with the full details of how the said instrument work during the torturing and the next event happened to the person tortured by the said instrument. At the cost of $12, you will learn a lot from this amusing and unusual museum from Prague.
Museum of Bad Art in Boston – this is the home of those terrible painting artwork. Well at least if you knows nothing about art, you will now see the difference between a good and a bad work of art. For sure, those who are not knowledgeable with painting will definitely find it still beautiful and artistic. You might think why there is a museum for bad art. Founder Scott Wilson has apparently got a good taste for everything that stink that is why the moment the horrible “Lucy in the Field with Flowers" painting by an unknown author appeared he have thought of creating a museum wherein the said painting was the masterpiece. If you love paintings, visiting the Museum of Bad Art will let you enjoy about 400 works with no entrance fee.
The Three Musuem Of Sex in Amsterdam, Paris, and Iceland – In the red lights district of Paris you will see The Parisian Musee de l’Erotisme that is located in a seven storey building in Quartier Pigalle. This sex museum is famous of its numerous sex shops, and the cabaret Moulin Rouge can also be seen in this place. You will also see various erotic items in this place including those coming from South Africa and Asia. Seeing all these erotic items will only cost you $12 for entrance. In Amsterdam on the other hand, you can visit the Museum in Amsterdam or the Venus Temple wherein various paintings, sculptures, manuscript and unusual erotic toys are presented. You will definitely find them ticking and exciting. See these items at $5. In Iceland, get the chance to visit The Museum of Phallology, which is located in a small town called Husavik. In this museum you will see about 250 kinds of phalluses, all natural, dried, and hung on the walls or been preserved in alcohol. People say that these are phalluses of every mammal in Iceland. Founder Hjartarson started his collection in 1974 that also includes salted horse penises. If you will visit the museum, you will see one empty glass, this is intended to host for a human’s example and has been already granted to the founder of the museum. At $7.50, you will see all of these phalluses.
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