The Best Immersive Art Experiences in Chicago, Illinois (2024)
Photo credit: Kyle Flubacker
Welcome to my blog post about the best immersive art experiences in Chicago, Illinois!
Chicago is a city that’s rich in culture and art, and there’s no better way to experience it than through immersive art installations. From the Museum of Illusions to the Color Factory and Sloomoo Institute, there’s something for everyone in this vibrant city.
In this article, I will take you on a journey through some of the most exciting and unique immersive art experiences that Chicago has to offer.
I have written other articles on immersive art in other cities, such as Chicago, Miami, Los Angeles, London and Paris. In a recent blog post, I wrote about the rise in popularity of immersive art exhibitions.
Table of Contents
1. WNDR Museum
Entrance Cost: Ticket prices start at $32 per adult and $22 for 3 - 12 year-olds
Opening Hours: Monday, 10am-8pm; Tuesday, Wednesday, 12pm-8pm; Thursday, 10am-8pm; Friday, Saturday, 10am-10pm; Sunday, 10am-8pm;
Photo Credit: New Pixel Films, Andrew Phan and Viet Phan
WNDR Museum, an ever-evolving immersive art experience that’s designed to ignite the curiosity that exists within and around each of us. Around every corner comes an opportunity to be creative, discover something unexpected, ask questions, and play.
Here are some of the exhibits you can expect to see at WNDR Museum:
Lake Shore Drive: A display of silhouettes connected with neurons that mimic the way that cells interact with each other. These neurons separate from each other based on your movement.
Masterpiece: A wave of your hand distorts a recognizable piece of fine art into something you have never seen before.
Dots Obsession, 2008 – Yayoi Kusama: This exhibition embraces Kusama’s obsession with polka dots and repetition, featuring a series of floating yellow and black polka dots alongside walk-in installations.
Lumens: A site-specific immersive audio-visual installation that explores relationships between space, time, and perception. The audiovisual is generated by motion in real-time, allowing visitors to transform their behaviors into light and sound.
Lost in Da Stardust, 2019: This exhibition allows visitors to enter a doodle world where they can ‘Get lost’ in a world of art and space and time, allowing their creative mind to run free.
Photo Credit: Kirsten Miccoli
2. Color Factory
Photo Credit: Color Factory
Address: Color Factory Chicago, Willis Tower, Lower Level 2, 320 W Jackson Blvd. Chicago, IL 60606
Entrance Cost: Ticket prices start at $33 per adult
Opening Hours: Open daily 9am to 7pm, with late opening on Fridays until 8pm
Color Factory is an interactive experience that takes you on a journey through over a dozen immersive art installations. Each of the exhibits tells a unique story about color and is designed to help you think, feel, or learn something.
The whole experience is an adventure in color, sound, taste, touch, and smell, with experiences for all five senses!
Some of the exhibits you can expect to see at Color Factory Chicago include:
Have a Ball in Shades of Green: Here you can slide into a 2,600-square-foot green ball pit.
Get a Taste of the Theatre: In this exhibit you will have a chance to match flavors and colors. This exhibit is described as being a theater for the taste buds.
Discover your Color Horoscope: Each day of the year has been given a color. You will be able to find your birthday color or discover unique and colorful insights about yourself.
Connect and Create With Another: Here you can sit opposite a partner, just like colors in the color wheel and participate in a guided exercise that encourages connection and creativity.
3. Verse Chicago
Address: 108 N State St Suite 150, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
Entrance Cost: From $34.99 per adult and $24.99 for children (ages 5-11)
Exhibition Period: Until 31st July 2024
Verse Immersive in Chicago offers a unique experience where cutting-edge augmented reality visors bring 3D characters and stories to life, creating interactive tales for visitors of all ages.
With a changing lineup of games and tours, guests can explore boundless holographic adventures. The venue prioritizes comfort and accessibility, ensuring a seamless and enjoyable experience for everyone.
Tickets are available for various durations and audience types, with VIP options for extended sessions. Verse Immersive promises an extraordinary escape from traditional entertainment, where imagination knows no bounds.
4. Museum of Illusions Chicago
Address: Museum of Illusions Chicago, 25 E Washington St, Chicago, IL 606021
Entrance Cost: Adults from $26, Children between 5 to 12 years from $21 and Seniors and military from $24
Opening Hours: Sunday to Thursday, 10am to 8pm; Friday and Saturday, 10am to 10pm
Museum of Illusions Chicago is an interactive and engaging attraction that provides visitors with a unique and mind-bending experience. The museum features over 60 exhibits that challenge perception, featuring optical illusions, holograms, hands-on exhibits, and immersive rooms. Each exhibit is designed to teach guests about vision, perception, and the human brain all while having a lot of fun.
Some of the most popular exhibits at the Museum of Illusions Chicago include the Tilted Room, where you can defy gravity; and the Vortex Tunnel, a mind-spinning experience. Visitors will journey through optical illusions and be transported into different situations where things aren’t always as they seem.
5. Museum of Ice Cream
Entrance Cost: Ticket prices start at $25 per adult
Opening Hours: Monday to Thursday, 9.30am to 7pm; Friday to Sunday, 9.30am to 8pm.
The Museum of Ice Cream is an interactive experience that takes you on a journey through ice cream history. You’ll be transported back in time to the early days of ice cream making and learn about how ice cream has evolved over time.
The Museum of Ice Cream offers immersive experiences centered around ice cream, inspiring imagination and connections while bringing out the childlike joy in visitors. It aims to inspire imagination and foster connections among visitors while encouraging them to rediscover their inner child.
The museum features 14+ magicalplayscapes, offering endless treats and playtime for visitors of all ages.
6. Sloomoo Institute
Address: Sloomoo Institute, 820 N. Orleans St. Chicago, IL 60610
Entrance Cost: From $18 per adult
Opening Hours: Open daily from 10am-6pm, with late night opening on Friday until 7pm and Saturday until 8pm.
Sloomoo Institute is a universe made to intrigue, delight, and evoke your inner child. It’s a sensory playground centered around slime.
Here visitors can experience the Slimey Mirrors, a day-glo room where you will transform into a slime creature or Lake Sloomoo, where you can walk over 350 gallons of slime.
Sloomoo Institute also has its own augmented reality expereince ‘The Sloomooverse’, CGI videos, kaleidoscopic glow-in-the-dark moments.
I have included opening times for each experience that are correct at the time of writing this article, but please check the latest information before your visit.
I hope you have found this information about immersive art in Chicago interesting and helpful. If you have visited this area, I would love to hear your thoughts, please email me and let me know at sarahransomeart@gmail.com.
I have written other articles on immersive art in other cities, such as New York, Los Angeles, Miami, London and Paris.
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