Best of the Modern Wing

The Ryan Education Center Visitors no longer have to pay full admission to bring their families to the Art Institute’s kids’ programs. This free facility has 20,000 square feet of space for crafty activities galore—the museum says it’s increasing educational activities and programs by 30 percent—computers and digital cameras for teen workshops, and ingenious cubbies with doors on two sides for school groups’ coats and backpacks (inspired, Hogan says, by Piano’s nine-year-old son). Located on the ground floor of the Modern Wing, the center also boasts glass walls that allow sunlight to enter, rendering it 20,000 times less depressing than the main building’s lower-level kids’ area.