Next time you're strolling through Lincoln Park on a nice day, stop in at the DePaul University Art Museum. Located in DePaul University's Lincoln Park campus, this 4,000 square foot facility offers a wide variety of exhibitions throughout the year.

A changing selection of the university's permanent collections is always on view. Since the college has been acquiring art over the roughly 100 years of its existence (though, not systematically collecting until the 1970s), the museum boasts a strong collection, particularly hearty in mid-century Midwest painting, but also in Old Master paintings and prints, and in modern photography.

Unlike other art museums in the city, like the Museum of Contemporary Art or the Art Institute, the DePaul Museum is refreshingly mid-sized and able to be thoroughly enjoyed in one hour-long visit.

The space pulls in some of the nation's best mid-sized traveling exhibitions: in 2005 a photographic exhibition "Eclipse," featuring Afghanistan artist Zalmai, won considerable critical praise. The curated shows tend to have either a historical or culturally-critical approach. Occasional exhibitions of faculty work prove interesting too, as they afford us some insight into the minds that are shaping the artists of tomorrow.

Centerstage Reviewer: Joanne Hinkel