14 Museums that Are Free for Today Only – Museum Day Live

The Smithsonian Museums (maybe you’ve heard of them) offer free admission at their locations each and every day.

To spread the knowledge across even more of the country, the Smithsonian Magazine is sponsoring “Museum Day Live,” a one day only event that extends the free admission to participating museums around the nation. Not every Chicago museum is taking part in the event, but here are the museums that are:

• Adler Planetarium

• Chicago History Museum

• Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago

• The Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum

• International Museum of Surgical Science

• Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art

• Loyola University Museum of Art

• Illinois State Museum Chicago Gallery

• National Hellenic Museum

• Gallery 400

• Clarke House Museum

• Glessner House Museum

• DuSable Museum of African American History

• Smart Museum of Art

Click on each museum above to find their Museum Day Live! hours, events, and schedule. Take note that these museums are only free if you have a ticket (which is free, don’t worry). You’ll also only be granted admission to ONE museum for free. However, each ticket is good for TWO people, and you can get them here. You can either choose to present this ticket on your mobile device or have it printed and ready to go.

If you’re looking to add to the list of free museums, these locations are free every day (and they don’t need tickets):

• Lincoln Park Zoo
• Chicago Cultural Center
• Museum of Contemporary Photography
• Chicago Design Museum