The Art Institute of Chicago Archives is the institution’s official archival repository, providing a foundation for institutional memory by collecting, organizing, and preserving unique materials of enduring historical value created by and about the museum (AIC) and School (SAIC), as well as art, architecture, and design resources that complement and extend the museum’s curatorial collections. Composed of three units, the Archives includes the Institutional Archives, Institutional Photography Archive (IPA), and the Ryerson and Burnham Art and Architecture Archives, as well as digital preservation efforts. Since 2010, these have been unified under the Art Institute of Chicago Archives banner, situated within the museum's Research Center.
Appointments are required and available:
Please review the Archives access guidelines and procedures for staff before your appointment. For staff working remotely, Archives staff will continue to provide reference services via email to the best of our abilities. Please contact us at archives@artic.edu for all Archives-related questions.
The Archives Appointment Request Form serves as an information gathering tool and will be followed up by a direct email from Archives staff within 2 business days of receipt. Our follow-up email will:
Our self-service appointment scheduling software will provide you with a confirmation of your appointment date and time. Unless otherwise specified, all archival research appointments will be held in the Research Center's Franke Reading Room. Please check in with an Archives staff member at the Reference Desk upon your arrival.
All archival materials are considered non-circulating and may not travel outside of the Research Center. Unless otherwise specified, all archival research appointments will be held in the Research Center's Franke Reading Room. You can also request specific portions of archival materials as scans.
All requested materials will be available at the date and time of your confirmed appointment, unless otherwise noted.
Access retrieval times will depend on the status of the materials requested (e.g., onsite, offsite, restricted, uncataloged, etc.) and is always subject to Archives staff availability. Onsite materials, including all cataloged materials in the Ryerson and Burnham Art and Architecture Archive and many core components of the Institutional Archives, are typically available within two (2) business days. However, offsite or restricted materials may not be available for up to four (4) business days. Because research is a process of discovery, the Research Center's paging schedule includes one opportunity during each appointment session for researchers to request additional materials.
In-person research appointments for access to the Imaging Archive are not currently available. Please see the 'Existing Images' section of Imaging's intranet site on how to access existing digitized and born digital images from the Imaging archive. If you would like access to an image that you don't currently see in our systems (CITI, NetX, public website) or if you have a general reference request relating to the Imaging archives, please submit the appropriate Jira ticket:
Limited reference services will be provided for physical archive materials that have not yet been digitized, on a two days per month basis, based on capacity.
Please review the information available on the Imaging department’s intranet site for more information about how to place requests and turnaround times for work that can be accommodated. Please also see this guide on how to access existing digitized and born digital images from the Imaging archive.
Unfortunately, due to the unique and often fragile nature of archival materials, the digital scanner and microform reader available in the reading room are NOT available for use with most archival collections. However, the following photoduplication options are available:
Institutional Archives:
Ryerson and Burnham Art and Architecture Archives:
Input a keyword into the search box and then click Search to search through the archival collections.
Unfortunately, resources in the Institutional Archives, including the Imaging Archive, are not yet searchable here; see below for a list or related resources or visit this page for more information.