Design Museum of Chicago facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Design Museum of Chicago

As Seen from Randolph St (2021)
Former name	Chicago Design Museum
Established	2012
Location	Chicago, Illinois, United States
Type	Design museum
Public transit access	State & Lake Station, Chicago Transit Authority

The Design Museum of Chicago, also known as "DMoC", is a cool place in Chicago where you can explore all kinds of design. It was started by Tanner Woodford in 2012. At first, it was a "pop-up" museum, meaning it held shows in different places around Chicago in 2012 and 2013.

After a successful Kickstarter campaign in 2014, the museum found a permanent home. It opened in the Block 37 building. Later, in late 2018, the museum moved to Expo 72 at 72 E. Randolph St.

What the Museum Does

The main goal of the Design Museum of Chicago is to "educate, inspire, and foster innovation through design." This means they want to teach people about design, get them excited about it, and help new ideas grow.

How the Museum Works

The museum's programs are often done with the community. They rely a lot on local volunteers. These volunteers help with things like setting up exhibits, choosing what to show, and even marketing. Since the museum has a small staff, its strength comes from the many volunteers who share their ideas and hard work.

The museum is a non-profit organization. This means it's not trying to make money. They believe that design can really make life better for everyone. They offer free and open ways for all kinds of people to learn. This includes looking at their permanent collection, seeing new shows, and joining educational programs.

Cool Exhibitions to See

The museum's shows cover many different types of design. This includes graphic design (like posters and logos), architecture (how buildings are made), urban planning (how cities are designed), interior design (how rooms look), and even systems thinking (how different parts of a system work together).

Here are some of the past exhibitions:

• Letters Beyond Form: Chicago Types (November 9, 2024 – April 4, 2025)
• Voices Embodied: Reverberations (July 13 – October 13, 2024)
• Chicago Public Schools All-City Visual Arts Exhibitions 2024 (May 3 – June 2, 2024)
• SOLVE: Puzzle Design Exhibit (December 8, 2023 – March 31, 2024)
• At the Precipice: Responses to the Climate Crisis (July 14 – October 30, 2023)
• Chicago Public Schools All-City Visual Arts Exhibitions (April 29 – June 2, 2023)
• Free & Open Chicago: Cheers to 10 Years! (November 17, 2022 – April 2, 2023)
• ID@85: 85 Years of Making the Future (October 19, 2022 – Ongoing)
• The Correct Time: One Clock Per Minute (July 16, 2022 – October 17, 2022)
• Chicago Public Schools All-City Visual Arts Exhibition 2022 (May 11, 2022 – June 22, 2022)
• Tomorrow, and Tomorrow and Tomorrow (April 15, 2022 – April 16, 2022)
• All Together Now: Sound x Design (November 13, 2021 – April 3, 2022)
• Chicago Public Schools All-City Visual Arts Exhibition 2021 (January 1, 2021 – December 31, 2021)
• A Designed Life (June 12, 2021 – September 19, 2021)
• Chicago: Home of House at The Catacombs (May 8, 2021 – June 30, 2021)
• Chicago Public Schools All-City Visual Arts Exhibition 2020 (May 29, 2020 – December 31, 2020)
• Great Ideas of Humanity: Passing the Torch (February 25, 2020 – December 31, 2020)
• Setting the Stage: Objects of Chicago Theatre (June 29, 2019 – January 5, 2020)
• Chicago Public Schools All-City Visual Arts Exhibition 2019 (April 10, 2019 – May 12, 2019)
• Keep Moving: Designing Chicago's Bicycle Culture (October 27, 2018 – March 3, 2019)
• Keep Moving: Shifting Gears (November 17, 2018 – January 18, 2019)
• Great Ideas of Humanity: Out of the Container (April 20, 2018 – August 18, 2018)
• HEY! PLAY! Games in Modern Culture (October 20, 2017 – March 10, 2018)
• Confluence • 20+ Creative Ecologies of Hong Kong (October 14, 2017 – November 4, 2017)
• Dan Friedman: Radical Modernist (April 28, 2017 – August 12, 2017)
• City of Ideas: Architects' Voices and Visions (October 22, 2016 – February 25, 2017)
• ChicagoMade: Great Ideas of Humanity (December 1, 2016 – December 3, 2016)
• Unfolded: Made with Paper (April 5, 2016 – August 26, 2016)
• New Horizon: Architecture from Ireland (October 2, 2015 – January 30, 2016)
• The State of Detroit (April 28, 2015 – August 29, 2015)
• Deborah Sussman Loves Los Angeles! (November 13, 2014 – February 28, 2015)
• Starts/Speculations: Graphic Design in Chicago Past and Future (June 12, 2014 – September 30, 2014)
• Work at Play (June 1, 2013 – June 30, 2013)
• A—Z: Art on Track (September 22, 2012)
• Inaugural Exhibition: 700 N Sacramento (June 1, 2012 – June 30, 2012)

Special Projects and Programs

VaxChiNation Artist Campaign

Artwork by Langston Allston

In 2021, the Design Museum worked with the Chicago Department of Public Health and the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events. They asked over 80 local artists to create original art. This art explored themes like health, community, and getting vaccinated. The goal was to encourage everyone to get vaccinated. You could see this art on billboards around Chicago and on social media.

Many artists took part in this campaign. Some of them included Afrokilla, Alice Hargrave, Anthony Lewellen, and Langston Allston.

Great Ideas of Humanity

Great Ideas of Humanity exhibition in Hong Kong

"Great Ideas of Humanity" is a series of special art pieces. In this project, modern artists and designers create art that responds to quotes from famous scientists, philosophers, and thinkers. This series shows how ideas, ways of thinking, and culture are shared more and more around the world. It was inspired by an older campaign called "Great Ideas of Western Man."

These art pieces have been shown in downtown Chicago. You could see them on bus stop advertisements. They were also displayed in Hong Kong at a design expo.

Many talented people have contributed to this project. For example, Matthew Hoffman created art about Susan B. Anthony.

Chicago Design Market

Chicago Design Market

The Chicago Design Market is a series of "pop-up" shops. These shops bring together small, new artists with bigger, more established businesses. They are located on the third floor of Block 37. The shops don't have to pay for utilities or a fixed monthly rent. Instead, the museum takes a small percentage of their sales.

This setup helps small designers, like Aviate Press, sell their products in a retail space. It also lets larger companies, like Cards Against Humanity, try out new ideas. Stores are chosen through an application process. Some past participants include Cards Against Humanity, The Colossal Shop, and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

The Design Pack

Cards Against Humanity Design Pack

The Design Pack is an expansion for the game Cards Against Humanity. It has 30 illustrated cards. These cards are based on a famous comedy routine from 1972. All the money made from selling the Design Pack goes to help the Design Museum of Chicago. In its first few days, sales for this pack went over $130,000! Other similar packs from Cards Against Humanity have raised millions of dollars for different non-profit groups.

Many artists and designers helped create the Design Pack. Some of them include Laura Park, Shawna X, Susan Kare, and Milton Glaser.

Museum's Look and Feel

The current logo for the Design Museum of Chicago was created by a company called Substance Collective. The logo was inspired by Chicago's famous city grid. This grid shows how streets, main roads, blocks, and different neighborhoods are all connected.

See also

• List of design museums