Available Friday–Wednesday, 6:00–11:30 p.m., May–September (weather permitting)
Capacity: 75 seated dinner, 100 reception style, 75 ceremony
The outdoor Bluhm Family Terrace is located on the third level of the Modern Wing, just outside Terzo Piano, and offers stunning views of the Chicago skyline and Millennium Park. The terrace is shaded just enough that you and your guests can experience the ambiance of an evening outdoors without having to brave the elements.
The Bluhm Family Terrace is the perfect complement to the adjacent Terzo Piano. Combining these two event spaces creates a magical setting for evening receptions and seated dinners alike.
Supported Layouts and Capacities
Available Friday–Wednesday, 6:00–11:30 p.m.
Capacity: 100 reception style, 110 ceremony
The Chicago Gallery is an intimate space located just outside the Chicago Stock Exchange Trading Room. This unique space, with its plentiful sunlight and lush views of Grant Park, is the perfect place to host a cocktail reception or to exchange vows.
Supported Layouts and Capacities
Available daily, 8:00 a.m.–11:30 p.m.
Capacity: 300 reception style, 300 seated dinner, 200 classroom, 300 theater
This unique and elegant venue offers main-floor and balcony-level seating and is the perfect setting for an evening of dinner, entertainment, and amusement. Set a traditional stage for a stand-up buffet reception or choose from a three- to four-course seated dinner, making use of the authentic officers’ rostrum for important remarks and speeches.
Designed by Chicago architects Lois Sullivan and his partner, Dankmar Adler, the original Chicago Stock Exchange was completed in 1894. When it was demolished in 1972, sections of the Trading Room, including Sullivan’s elaborate stenciled decorations, molded plaster capitals, and art glass, were preserved and used in the 1976–77 reconstruction of the room here at the Art Institute. Today, the Stock Exchange Trading Room lends historic opulence to a wide variety of events, from wedding receptions to corporate gatherings.
Supported Layouts and Capacities
Available Friday–Wednesday, 6:00–11:30 p.m.
Capacity: 200 reception style
Columbus Court is located in direct proximity to both the Chicago Stock Exchange Room and Rubloff Auditorium, providing the perfect space for your next reception. Your guests will enjoy miniature replicas of famous sculptures and monuments well as Marc Chagall’s beloved America Windows.
Supported Layouts and Capacities
Available Friday–Wednesday, 6:00–11:30 p.m.
Capacity: 370
Step back in time to an era rich with beauty and lavish decor. Create a great performance. Enlighten your guests with a notable lecture, film, musical concert, or formal business presentation. Whatever your event, this gorgeous auditorium is sure to make an impression.
Built in 1898, Fullerton Hall was added to the north side of the museum’s main-floor lobby in an area that had once been an open court. Louis Comfort Tiffany designed the exquisite stained-glass dome, which still illuminates the auditorium today.
Supported Layouts and Capacities
Available Friday–Wednesday, 6:00–11:30 p.m.
Capacity: 500 seated dinner, 900 reception style, 500 ceremony
An elegant and light-filled venue, Griffin Court is heart of the museum’s Modern Wing, designed by world-renowned architect Renzo Piano. This expansive, luminous space is a blank canvas that can be arranged to host seated dinners and large-scale receptions and is one of the most sought-after events spaces within the Art Institute.
Combine Griffin Court with the adjacent Pritzker Garden to provide your guests with a tranquil, outdoor retreat.
Supported Layouts and Capacities
Available Friday–Wednesday, 6:00–11:30 p.m., May–September (weather permitting)
Capacity: 175 seated dinner, 300 reception style, 200 ceremony
Serenity in the city—the remarkable McKinlock Court is among Chicago’s best-kept secrets. Plan your next special event in this exceptional outdoor courtyard, encircled by museum galleries, creating a completely exclusive and intimate experience. Plan your special event around the centerpiece fountain, a replica of Carl Milles’s Fountain of the Tritons in Copenhagen.
The adjacent Museum Café can be combined with McKinlock Court to host stand-up buffet receptions or three- to four-course seated dinners.
Supported Layouts and Capacities
Available daily, 8:00 a.m.–11:30 p.m.
Capacity: 120 reception style, 120 seated dinner, 120 ceremony
An ideal space for intimate functions, the Nichols Board of Trustees Suite boasts wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling views of Millennium Park, the Frank Gehry Pritzker Pavilion, and Chicago’s northern skyline. This exclusive venue is accessible by private elevator and not open to the public, making its spectacular views a rare treat. The small lobby that accompanies the space may be used to welcome your guests with butler-passed champagne and hors d’oeuvres or to station your meeting’s registration.
Supported Layouts and Capacities
Available Friday–Wednesday, 6:00–11:30 p.m.
Capacity: 200 reception style
An intimate yet airy space, the Passerelle is located on the second floor of the Modern Wing. Overlooking Griffin Court, it features views of Pritzker Garden and is conveniently located adjacent to the galleries of contemporary art. This lofted space provides the perfect location for an evening reception.
Supported Layouts and Capacities
Available Friday–Wednesday, 6:00–11:30 p.m., May–September (weather permitting)
Capacity: 400 reception style, 150 ceremony
Pritzker Garden is a private oasis of rest and contemplation. This special event space, with its open terrace and serene garden, is the perfect complement to Griffin Court. The garden offers a shaded space for your guests to mingle while still being able to enjoy the outdoors.
Pritzker Garden and Griffin Court are separated only by a floor-to-ceiling glass wall. Your guests will be able to flow between the spaces without missing a beat of excitement.
Supported Layouts and Capacities
Available: Daily, 8:00 a.m.–11:30 p.m.
Capacity: 469 ground level, 80 loge level, 396 balcony level
This is the principle auditorium of the Art Institute of Chicago, complete with state-of-the-art control booth, cyclorama stage, and screen. This theater space is easily accessed from the Columbus Avenue lobby and provides luxurious comfort with multitiered seating on a main floor, loge, and upper balcony. Consider this venue for entertainment-oriented events, presentations, and large-scale business and shareholder meetings. Because of its direct proximity to additional event spaces, Rubloff Auditorium is superb for a multitude of special events that require breakout sessions, luncheons, receptions, and dinners.
Supported Layouts and Capacities
Available Friday–Wednesday, 6:00–11:30 p.m.
Capacity: 25 classroom, 57 studios
Featuring three large studios and five classrooms, the Ryan Learning Center offers an ideal setting for meetings, presentations, and small-group breakout sessions. From arts and crafts tables to multimedia displays, these versatile spaces are equipped to accommodate a wide range of needs and activities.
Supported Layouts and Capacities
Available Friday–Wednesday, 6:00–11:30 p.m.
Capacity: 375 seated dinner, 450 reception, 200 ceremony
Terzo Piano boasts a modern, fresh design. With its spectacular location on the third level of the Modern Wing, it offers panoramic views of Lake Michigan and the city’s skyline. A light-filled space with floor-to-ceiling windows, Terzo Piano makes a pristine blank canvas on which to create your perfect event.
This versatile space may be combined with gallery viewings for flowing receptions that can accommodate thousands of guests.
Supported Layouts and Capacities
Available Friday–Wednesday, 6:00–11:30 p.m.
Capacity: 40 seated dinner, 225 reception style, 200 ceremony
Located just off the Michigan Avenue lobby, this elegant staircase majestically welcomes your guests with stately polished-marble construction dating back to 1910. On the main floor, the sweeping staircase is encircled by the Ryerson and Burnham Libraries and Fullerton Hall; it rises with grace and grandeur to a sunlit space on the second level, surrounded by architectural fragments from some of Chicago’s most legendary buildings. The open atrium is adjacent to the Pritzker Galleries of Impressionism and Post-Impressionism, which may be booked for gallery viewing.
Supported Layouts and Capacities