This was the first time that we visited the Elmhurst Art Museum.  Our daughter was invited to…read morepreview the exhibition "Picasso: Fifty Years Later" before it opened to the public, Hubby and I were her guests.  The exhibition focuses more on the influence of Picasso fifty years after his death.  So, other than some nice prints from Picasso, there was artwork from his colleagues and contemporary artists as well.  Interestingly, some of the work from other artists might appear to be even more "Picassoesque" than Picasso's work in this exhibit.  All in all, it was a good show and professionally done.   We met the Executive Director John McKinnon as soon as we entered the museum, who was very friendly and professional, and enthusiastically gave us a brief introduction of the exhibition.  John was also the co-curator of the show.  Katie, the publicist of the museum, was also very friendly and welcoming.  She talked about how proud the artists must have been to be able to have artwork exhibited alongside Picasso's art, and that the Director John even improved the air system in order to meet the requirements of the lenders of the Picasso collection!  I like that both John and Katie are very passionate, enthusiastic, and professional about what they do!   The museum itself is rather small.  It's very clean with professional setup.  It would have been nice if the rest of the museum was opened to explore when we visited on the preview day.  However, nothing was opened except for the Picasso exhibit, even the small gift shop was closed.  There is a sculpture named Skycube in the museum courtyard that is worth visiting.  It is a great spot to take interesting selfie.  All in all, Elmhurst Art Museum provides a good opportunity for art museum-goers in the suburbs to visit without driving all the way to the city, and you don't need to worry about parking, as it provides ample free parking as well!

We didn't end up going inside because of a rain storm, but we did enjoy the art on the outside of…read morethe building. Located next to the Elmhurst public library. They have a beautiful outdoor setting. The building is welcoming and from the outside looking in, it looks like a great place to explore some local artists creations. Hope to come back one day and see more.

Jessica is amazing! She has an eye for finding beautiful items. I will be back again and again…read more Thanks, Tanya

Love this store!! So fun to walk in, very inspiring. Jess is the owner, super nice lady and…read morefriendly!! Affordable and lots of fun items. A little something for everyone :)

Adam and his team of pros do an outstanding job with photographing and printing my art, color…read morematching to perfection, with so many options available ... paper, canvas, etc. I get MANY compliments on my giclee prints, including from others who do this professionally.

Excellent service and quality printing. Adam is always professional and friendly. I take all my…read moreoil paintings there to be photographed and the resulting prints are gorgeous.

Custom art requires custom framing. I have been present in an art framing store when someone was…read moreSHOCKED at the cost of custom framing a baptismal gown. She thought about $100. You could not even do it yourself for that amount of money. Get a grip people. So the artist of our piece has her work framed here for her shows, so if it works for her, we will give it a try. Angela and Frank, the owners, worked patiently with us suggesting different frames. Our piece happened to be 63 inches tall ~ a little on the tall side. They suggested a frame from Italy ~ it was beautiful with the artwork. Even the artist came in and thought it would be beautiful. SOLD It really did not take any longer than other art pieces we have had framed ~ this is not an instant gratification process. When it was completed we were totally pleased. I would certainly recommend this service.

This is a locally owned business, and their work is impeccable. Anything important that I want to…read morehave framed for keeps, I take to them, because they can frame things just how I want them, and the results have stood the test of time. I have taken them antique prints, valuable family photos, a delicate magazine image I loved, and also had them make a giant mirror for a room in my house--some of them done 10+ years ago, and they are all still looking fantastic. BTW, this is not where you go if you want a cheap frame that will start to warp and bend after it has been hung up for a few years. They use quality materials. They epitomize the phrase, if you want something done right, take it to a professional.

Donna is absolutely amazing!…read more I always think she should just open her own gallery in Elmhurst mainly showcasing her amazing works. She's a master upcycler and finds the most amazing inspirations in even the everyday (see my uploaded pictures of art from shampoo and conditioner bottles.) I've seen her use vintage jewelry pieces to make new jewelry or nails hammered in just the right way to show an image. VERY CREATIVE I always see her work at Flight 112 or at Art in the Park. You can like her on Facebook.com/DonnaCastellanosDesign or on her web page- See business listing. I couldn't find a phone number but I did get her e-mail:castellanosdonna@gmail.com Can't wait to see what she has in store for this holiday season.

What a fabulous place! I expected to see rocks - polished and unpolished. Yet this small museum…read morecrams in antique and ancient rock carvings - beautiful and impressive. We went on a Wednesday, a free day at the museum. (Make sure you leave a donation.) What you see are beautifully carved stones - precious and not precious, jade, rock crystal, and much more. There is even petrified wood (beautiful without carving). The size of the collection is impressive but (a word I'm overusing) everything is beautiful. There is plenty of free parking right outside the museum. The gift shop was also lovely. Definitely a must go to. We're already arranging another trip to Lazzadro with friends.

This museum has an absolutely beautiful and very impressive collection of jade. Even though they…read moredon't have as big or varied of a collection as a larger museum, each of their pieces are absolute works of art and left my family and I in awe. Despite it's small size, you could easily spend 2-3hrs here. Each piece has a nice introduction and it gives a great introduction to lapidry. In addition to the jade pieces, they also had stone dioramas, mosaics, and a gem collection. While we were there, they also had an exhibit on the minerals that go into cellphones, which was fun to learn about. Additionally, it's quite affordable for a museum with this impressive of a collection. It's $5 for students, $8 for 65yrs or older, and $10 for adults. I think that it is very worth a trip.

Another day in suburbia with nothing to do lead us to the Barbara A Keift Accelerator ArtSpace…read more There was purportedly an interesting exhibit that I was excited to see. On par with my sis in laws planning skills we showed up and the door was locked and no one was around. Well, perfect. The building itself looks like a very small warehouse. There is parking in the front and in the back. The door makes it clear there was at one time a working particle accelerator on the premises. The intercom sign next to the door is just a tease, there is no intercom, and no windows. We joked around about how horrible my sister in laws planning skills are and then decided to leave. (I decided to force Renita to come back with me the following weekend when we meet for coffee, luckily for Renita it won't come to that). We went back after lunch and they were open! Woo hoo! The interior looks like a small warehouse too, with a giant 50s era-looking machine on one side of the room. As art galleries go, it's pretty small. As particle accelerators go, it's pretty cool. The current exhibit, the Heartbeat Carillon was really interesting. As someone with a heart condition, I was excited to hear how my heartbeat would sound reverberating around a brick and mortar room after pealing off a chime in the corner. The chorus of our heartbeats was fascinating. I would gladly go back to the Accelerator ArtSpace for future exhibits. It's worth a visit just to check out the Kevatron accelerator actually. It was a working atom smasher built at UIC back in 1934. In the 60s it was given to Elmhurst College where it spent some useful time making nerds happy. It's been out of work since the mid 80s but is still an impressive and interesting sight (for us nerds at least).