ACCESS POLICY
The Archives of the Art Institute of Chicago strives to make its collections available for research to the fullest extent possible, in a fair and equitable manner. However, all access requests must be balanced against a variety of legal and ethical access considerations, including public statutes, donor contracts, privacy requirements and the legitimate proprietary rights of the museum. This policy applies to all records under the purview of the AIC Archives regardless of format, location, processing status, or provenance.
Guided by institutional policy, legal guidelines, and established professional best practices, the Archives reserves the right to restrict access to sensitive or confidential materials, records which could impair or compromise key functions or relationships within the institution, or anything that would compromise the Museum’s security or operations.
RESEARCH APPOINTMENTS
The Art Institute of Chicago Archives—comprising the Institutional, Imaging, and Art and Architecture archival collections—is open to the public for in-person research appointments in the Research Center's Franke Reading Room.
- Appointments are available Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays from 1:30pm until 5:00pm and may be requested here.
- Please visit this page for additional information on the Institutional Archives:
- Please visit this page for additional information on Archives access and research appointments:
- Archives staff reserve the right to limit appointments and/or access for any reason. Thank you.
Before completing this form, please note:
- General questions about AIC artworks should be directed to: collections@artic.edu
- General questions about art history should be directed to: reference@artic.edu
- For information about artwork reproductions and licensing: https://www.artic.edu/image-licensing
