Discover history through text analysis, hands-on encounters with objects, and focused time in our exhibitions.

Recommended for grades 3 and 4
45-minute experience per class. Cost: $3 per student

Designed around the Common Core, these in-depth workshops help students work collaboratively, think critically, and consider multiple perspectives. Workshops are available Monday through Friday and can accommodate ten to sixty-five students (or two classrooms) per day. Please note: One workshop is typically held for each registered classroom. Free pre-and post-visit activities are provided to support your workshop experience.

Wonderful World’s Fair

Imagine spending the day at the World’s Columbian Exposition! This workshop introduces students to the buildings and innovations of the fair, including the first-ever Ferris wheel. Journey back to 1893 through hands-on object and photograph analysis, a mapping exercise, firsthand accounts, and time in the Chicago: Crossroads of America exhibition. Make a reservation.

Painted Memories: The Great Chicago Fire

There are no known photographs of the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, but artists’ vivid depictions of it help us understand this important event. This workshop engages students in a close reading experience with Julia Lemos’s painting Memories of the Chicago Fire and her written account of the disaster. Students share their responses to the painting and the artist’s words through writing, drawing, discussion, and movement. The workshop concludes with an opportunity for students to create a cover for their own fire narrative. Make a reservation.

Painted Memories: The Great Chicago Fire Workshop is supported by a generous grant from the Terra Foundation for American Art.