Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago

The MCA in Chicago has an absolutely amazing collection. I say that because you might not see any of it - so much space is given over to temporary shows (many of which are excellent and tour internationally) that most of this collection will never see the light of day. Installation periods are very long and so often that you might visit only to find that part of the museum is closed - the ticket price will be reduced, but not for students. The quality of the shows here are often excellent, but the museum normally seems to like hanging work very sparsely, and this is a shame because it doesn't have enough space to pull that off. The shop is very disappointing - practically no material on art (maybe 10-30 books at any one time, almost no postcards) - all stuffed with luxury goods which you can get anywhere else.

I've been to the MCA Chicago a dozen times perhaps and nearly every time it's been worth the time I took to get there. The building is quite new has liberal space for traveling exhibits. I've seen some great shows on Cindy Sherman, Tom Wesserman, Archigram and others there. MCA's opening was a real eye popper. The stairway is beautiful but a pain to climb at any speed. Don't miss some of the art in the lowest level by the bathrooms.