Open House Chicago 2024: Arts and Music Sites to Explore

By Keegan Morris |

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In Chicago, architecture is a matter of civic pride. From the city's soaring skyline to its houses of worship, with its bungalows, graystones, and two-flats, our buldings are part of our identity.

The annual Open House Chicago celebrates the city's architecture and the impact these buildings — from the landmark to the everyday — have on all of our lives. The free festival invites residents and visitors to explore and immerse themselves in the rich variety of the city’s built environment.

Organized by the Chicago Architecture Center, 2024’s festival takes place on October 19 and 20 and boasts nearly 200 sites within 23 neighborhoods across Chicago.

We’ve combed through the listing to select the 22 (!) sites that we think will be most interesting for arts and music lovers!

Entries are organized alphabetically. * denotes that this is the first time a site has participated in Open House Chicago


Chicago Symphony Orchestra's Symphony Center

The Loop
220 S. Michigan Ave.
Sun: 10am-5pm (Sat closed)
Link

Chicago’s legendary orchestra opens the doors to its iconic, Daniel Burnham-designed venue. Visit Orchestra Hall, Grainger Ballroom, as well as other orchestra rehearsal and gathering spaces. Plus, enter for a chance to win tickets to an upcoming concert.

Orchestra Hall at Symphony Center (Photo: Todd Rosenberg)


DePaul University Holtschneider Performance Center

Lincoln Park
2330 N. Halsted St.
Link
Sat & Sun: 10am-5pm

Opened in 2018, DePaul’s music center features five performance halls catering to different audience sizes and performance styles. The Lincoln Park campus complex also features rehearsal spaces, classrooms, and the recently completed Jarvis Opera Hall — which converted a classic New England-style chapel into a bespoke opera venue.


Fine Arts Building

The Loop
410 S. Michigan
Link
Sun: 10am-5pm (Sat closed)

The Fine Arts Building is alive with creativity and artmaking. Featuring instrument makers, music instructors, bookshops, dance studios, architectural firms, and the newly renovated Studebaker Theater, the 10-floor Art Nouveau gem offers something for everybody.


Harris Theater for Music and Dance

The Loop
205 E. Randolph St.
Link
Sun: 10am-5pm (Sat closed)

The Millennium Park-based venue offers varied and compelling programming across performing arts disciplines. In addition to hosting an array of Chicago ensembles, the Harris is particularly sought after for groups visiting from around the world.

the auditorium of the Harris Theater

Harris Theater (Photo: HBRA Architects, Hedrich Blessing)


Heritage Museum of Asian Art*

Bridgeport
3500 S. Morgan St., Suite 3F
Link
Sat & Sun: 11am-5pm

Founded in 2014 and in its current location since 2022, the museum displays a rich collection of Asian art spanning from the Neolithic age to the 20th century.


Hyde Park Arts Center

Hyde Park
5020 S. Cornell Ave.
Link
Sat & Sun: 10am-4pm

Now 85 years old, Hyde Park Arts Center is a place of creativity, connection, and cultivation for visual arts on the South Side. Visitors can peruse exhibitions, browse the library, and enjoy a self-guided tour.


Irish American Heritage Center

Albany Park
4626 N. Knox Ave.
Link
Sat & Sun: 10am-5pm

Visitors can take in the entirety of the Mayfair cultural center, a hub for arts, literature, and culture for Irish and Irish American communities.

Bagpipe player stands in front of brick building with green accents and sign reading "Irish American Heritage Center"

Bagpiper David Johnston at the Irish American Heritage Center


John H. Vanderpoel Art Association

Beverly
9625 S. Longwood Dr.
Link
Sat & Sun: 10am-3pm

Located in the Ridge Park Fieldhouse, this Beverly gallery holds 20th century American art, with a special emphasis on Chicago artists.


Kimball Arts Center

Bridgeport
1757 N. Kimball Ave., Suite 200
Link
Sat & Sun: 10am-5pm

Right off of the 606 Trail lies the newly re-opened Kimball Arts Center. Visitors can explore a sampling of the artists’ and creatives’ studios who are in residence at the center.


Lillstreet Arts Center

Ravenswood
4401 N. Ravenswood Ave.
Link
Sat & Sun: 11am-4pm

The Ravenswood outpost hosts artmaking and education in such disciplines as printmaking, textiles, and painting. And Open House visitors can participate in free demonstrations of other Lillstreet offerings: ceramics and metalworking.


Mana Contemporary Chicago

Pilsen
2233 S. Throop St.
Link
Sat 10am-5pm (Sun closed)

A historic building that once served as a ComEd warehouse is now a center for arts that is home to studios, exhibitions, and more.


National Hellenic Museum

Near West
333 S. Halsted St.
Link
Sat & Sun: 10am-4pm

Delve into Greek and Greek-American history with exhibits and hands-on workshops in Chicago’s Greektown.


National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts & Culture

Humboldt Park
3015 W. Division St.
Link
Sat & Sun: 10am-2pm

Sited in Humboldt Park, the striking NMPRAC opens its doors for a self-guided or docent-led tour as well as a dance lesson.

The National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts & Culture (Photo: Paul R. Burley, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)


Ramova Theatre*

Bridgeport
3520 S. Halsted St.
Link
Sun: 10am-5pm (Sat closed)

The Ramova Theatre sat unoccupied for nearly 30 years before its long-awaited reopening in 2023. One of Chicago’s original movie palaces, the Bridgeport theater has been lovingly reconfigured as a music venue, brewery, and restaurant.


Seventeenth Church of Christ, Scientist

The Loop
55 E. Wacker Dr.
Link
Sat: 10am-5pm & Sun: 12pm-5pm

Architect Harry Weese’s iconoclastic house of worship commands attention in its Wacker Drive site. In addition to religious services, the venue holds an Aeolian-Skinner pipe organ and hosts music events, in particular, Classical Music Chicago’s popular Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert series, which airs weekly on WFMT.

The Seventeenth Church of Christ, Scientist, Chicago (Photo: John Cahill Photography)


South Side Community Art Center

Bronzeville
3831 S. Michigan Ave
Link
Sat: 10am-5pm (Sun closed)

The US’s oldest Black arts center, the SSCAC was founded by a group of Chicago arts luminaries, including Dr. Margaret Taylor-Burroughs. Today’s collection features artists including Chicago-born Faheem Majeed.


St. James Episcopal Cathedral

River North
65 E. Huron St.
Link
Sat: 10am-5pm & Sun: 1pm-5pm

St. James is one of the oldest churches in Chicago — the building was completed in 1875 in the wake of the Great Chicago Fire. Today, it is the seat of the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago, and it also plays host to organ and chamber concerts.

St. James Cathedral (Photo: Eric Allix Rogers)


Steppenwolf Theatre*

Lincoln Park
1646 N. Halsted
Link
Sat & Sun: 10am-1:30pm

One of Chicago’s essential performing arts troupes welcomes Open House Chicago visitors for the first time. The Lincoln Park company expanded its facilities in 2021 with an addition designed by Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture.


Teatro ZinZanni*

The Loop
32 W. Randolph St.
Link
Sat: 10am-5pm (Sun closed)

Teatro ZinZanni’s patented brand of dinner theater spectacle fuses music, cabaret, and circus. The troupe is in residence at the Loop’s Cambria hotel.


UChicago Rockefeller Memorial Chapel

Hyde Park
5850 S. Woodlawn Ave.
Link
Sat & Sun: 10am-5pm

UChicago’s Rockefeller Memorial Chapel cuts quite a figure on the South Side institution’s campus. Visitors can explore the gothic revival structure, including the chapel’s tower carillon.

Rockefeller Memorial Chapel (Photo: Matt Frankel)


Willie Dixon's Blues Heaven Foundation (Chess Records)*

Near South Side
2120 S. Michigan Ave.
Link
Sun: 10am-5pm (Sat closed)

Step into one of the hallowed halls of Blues. The historic home of Chess Records, Willie Dixon’s Blues Heaven Foundation preserves music history as custodians for the recording locations of “Johnny B. Goode,” “Rescue Me,” and more.


Zhou B*

Bridgeport
1029 W. 35th St.
Link
Sun: 10am-5pm (Sat closed)

A Chinatown-based gallery celebrating cross-cultural connections and enriching the careers of 50 resident-artists.


These 22 sites are just a small sampling of Open House Chicago's 2024 slate. Visit app.openhousechicago.org to peruse the full list and create your itinerary!