Chicago museums, including MCA, Driehaus, American Writers hosting first-ever member swap this weekend
Chicago is a museum lover's dream and this weekend you have a unique chance to explore the city's famous institutions as part of the first-ever museum member swap.
If you are a member of the American Writer's Museum, Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art, National Hellenic Museum, Intuit Art Museum, Driehaus Museum, Illinois Holocaust Museum, International Museum of Surgical Science, National Public Housing Museum, Glessner House, Uma or National Museum of Mexican Art, you'll be able to visit any of the other participating museums for free.
In October, Matthew Masino from the American Writer's Museum started asking other museums if they wanted to participate. The response, he said, was surprising.
"I was overjoyed by how much excitement there was," he said.
"My first reaction was, that's a great idea, why didn't anyone think of it before?" said William Tyre of the Glessner House.
Tyre said he was on board right away.
"One of the big issues is people don't know we exist, so one of the benefits is getting the word out," he said. "A lot of us are smaller with smaller budgets and this is a good way to pool our resources."
And though the swap is just from Thursday Jan. 29 through Sunday Feb. 1, the cooperation could be the start of something new.
And of course, during the swap members can still go to their membership museums for free.