West Chicago City Museum offers a variety of summer activities
With new and ongoing exhibits, summer camps, Late Night openings and Depot Days, the West Chicago City Museum, 132 Main St., is prepared to be a summer destination for people of all ages.
The museum participates in the Passport to Adventure program that suburban museums partner in now through Labor Day. Open to children between the ages of 4 and 12, the program gives stamps in a Passport book for each museum they visit and, at the end of the summer, children may receive prizes based on the number of museums visited.
Families may pick up Passport books at the City Museum or Kruse House, as well as at the West Chicago Public Library. Each Passport book contains a listing of participating museums, including address, hours, admission fees (if any) and a brief description of the exhibits available at each location.
The West Chicago City Museum offers the following this summer:
Exhibits
The City Museum will open two new exhibits at Blooming Fest Saturday, May 16. "Be Well: A Dialogue of Health and Wellness through History" will explore the notions of health and wellness and how they have changed through time.
Visiting Danish artist Diana Velasco also will open her Sense of Place exhibit May 16. The exhibit displays postcards filled out by residents with memories they have of local places, and a selection of photographs of those locations will accompany the memories. Velasco will be at the museum during Blooming Fest to meet visitors before she heads to the Danish Museum of America in Elk Horn, Iowa.
Museum visitors also will be able to see the local history exhibit "Building Community" as it gets a new look this spring and summer. Visitors may stop in and see the changes staff is making to this second floor exhibit and contribute input on what future exhibits would be of interest.
Summer camp
The City Museum will offer half-day summer camps again this summer for children ages 6-12. The camps will be held June 15, July 15 and Aug. 12. Registration is free to West Chicago children and $5 for nonresidents. Children may register by contacting museum@westchicago.org or (630) 231-3376.
Depot Days
The City Museum will have the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy 1860s Depot open for Depot Days from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, May 16, and noon to 4 p.m. Saturdays, June 13, July 11 and Aug. 15. Visitors are encouraged to stop in during these days to see some of West Chicago's railroad history. Kids also are invited to make a craft and take part in the hands-on activities. Depot Days are free.
Late nights
An opportunity to view exhibits will be available from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, June 5.
"This is a particularly active season for the museum," Director Sara Phalen said. "With kids home from school later this month, and parents looking for fun, creative and educational things to do, we have some exciting programs to satisfy both. We want our residents to think of the City Museum as one of many summer community resources."