The Art Institute of Chicago provides access to all of our public data through a single, unified API (Application Programming Interface). It’s powered by a data hub, a system our engineers built to collect public information from a number of different internal systems. In our API, you’ll find data on our collections, digital publications, in-gallery interactives, mobile apps, shop products, events, and more.
An API is a structured way that one software application can talk to another. APIs power much of the software we use today, from the apps on our phones and watches to technology we see in sports and television shows. The Art Institute of Chicago has built an API to make our data available in an ongoing way.
Featured Projects
Our API powers our website, our mobile app, and a number of different technologies in our galleries. To demonstrate the creativity that our API provides, our engineers have used it to build a few new tools. People outside of the institution have also built some fun tools! Here are just a few:
What will you build?
There’s a lot we’re planning on doing with our API, and plenty you can do too. Visit our API homepage to find documentation on how to access the API.
