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Mini-Tours

Looking for a fun introduction to the Art Institute or a new way to explore the collection?

Download our FREE Art Institute Tours app, available for Apple and Android devices, and enjoy 50 personalized tours of the collection that make use of the museum's free Wi-Fi and indoor positioning system to provide step-by-step directions from one artwork to the next.

Or, find 80 different themed mini-tours, available as PDFs, below.

Please note: Works featured in past mini-tours may be off view due to gallery renovations or regular rotations of the museum's collection. Works in the most recent mini-tour are currently on view. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Mini-Tour PDFs

Dance Fever
June, 2006

There's no better time than summer to kick off your shoes, let your hair down, and dance! Whether you like to shake your tail-feathers on a crowded dance floor, elegantly glide beside a partner, or go solo, you can draw inspiration from these works, each of which involves dance in a slightly different way.

A Bloomin' Tour of the Museum
May, 2006

It’s bloomin’ springtime and time to start thinking beds, bulbs, and buds. Better than any seed catalogue, this self-guided tour leads you from one gorgeous blossom to another, while providing notes and tips by Tom Wolfe, the Art Institute’s preeminent gardener.

You Look Marvelous!
April, 2006

There are only two months until beach season, as every magazine seems to remind us this time of year. Whether you need to drop pounds or pack on muscle, you'll find inspiration among works of art that deal with the pursuit and glorification of bodily perfection. 

Your Lucky Day
March, 2006

The Irish don’t have the market cornered on good luck. Maybe your rabbit’s foot or new penny has lost its luster. Rather than rely on good-luck charms, perhaps you need to be a bit more proactive at keeping bad luck at bay. Take a tour of six works of art to learn how different cultures attempt to conjure good fortune or repress ill will.

Loves Me, Loves Me Not
February, 2006

In this season of gooey chocolates and sentimental cards, this tour reminds you of what love is really made of: passion, devotion, treachery, tears. No wonder artists throughout time have depicted this rich and provocative subject.

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