A Floating Museum Will Cruise The Chicago River This Month

By Mae Rice in Arts & Entertainment on Aug 3, 2017 6:10PM

Rendering of the Floating Museum at the Chicago Riverwalk

Keen-eyed people have already spotted deer and corpses in Chicago waters, but this month, you can also spot a floating museum: specifically, a barge outfitted with "art crates" displaying work from local artists, according to the museum's website.

The barge-museum was created by The Floating Museum, a Chicago-based collective of place-making artists with a special interest in bringing art to underserved areas of Chicago. The barge will spend time in Southeast Chicago and Pilsen—but it will also make an appearance downtown, starting August 14.

Here's the schedule, as listed on the website:

Now-August 4: SkyArts in Southeast Chicago (3026 E 91st Street)

August 7-13: Pilsen / Bridgeport's Bubbly Creek (2751 S Eleanor Street)

August 14-27: Chicago Riverwalk (at River Theater, between LaSalle and Clark)

August 28-TBD: Navy Pier, at Polk Bros Park

Wherever the barge docks, guests can expect a slate of free weekly events, including "Sticks and Tape," where guests build their own playful structures with... you guessed it... sticks and tape; "Breaking Bread," informal, Chicago-themed panel discussions with free food; and "Song Circles," during which guests can sit in on sessions with local blues and gospel talent. Every Friday, the museum will also host live music.

More generally, the museum will take an interest in history, and how it can inform Chicago's future. (The museum's curators also see it as a part of museum history, with roots in Marcel Duchamp’s 1941 portable museum—which fit in a briefcase.) It was, unsurprisingly, created in collaboration with a host of Chicago art and history institutions, including the Hyde Park Art Center, the Intuit Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art, and the DuSable Museum of African American History.

Who knows—maybe Chance the Rapper will make an appearance at the museum. He is, after all, on the DuSable museum's board.

You can read more about the Floating Museum's previous work here.