Mini Golfing in a Museum Thanks to Par Excellence Redux

I received tickets in exchange for sharing my honest opinion.

Museums are usually look but don’t touch. Well some do have interactive exhibits and things for kids to do, but did you ever think you would be able to mini-golf in a museum? Yes really!

Well the Elmhurst Art Museum has joined forces with Colossal founder Christopher Jobson to curate two 9-hole golf courses made by artists, Par Excellence Redux. The first course is going on now thru September 16, 2021 and the second half of the course will run from October 13 – January 2, 2022.

Looking for something to do inside or just different for your kids? Honestly, I love mini golf but the thought of doing it in this crazy heat or unpredictable rainstorms has made it so we didn’t tackle any courses this year. Luckily we were able to head to our local museum to not only mini-golf but mini-golf on an amazingly artistic course. fully playable course, designed by artists and architects from the Midwest and beyond, pays homage to the School of the Art Institute of Chicago’s wildly popular 1988 exhibition, Par Excellence.

Par Excellence Redux promises a unique experience with courses your family will recognize to courses that may alter your score!

Front 9, on display throughout the Museum’s main galleries, includes:

●        Hole #1, “Cross-Section Castle” by A Couple of Putts design duo Robin Schwartzman and Tom Loftus (Minneapolis, Minnesota), features an alternative take on a mini-golf castle by providing players a glimpse at the ball’s journey through ramps and around custom-made figures inside.

●        Hole #2, “Participation Trophy” by Jesse Meredith (Chicago, Illinois), features numerous golf holes on a rounded turf, providing multiple routes for a winning shot.

●        Hole #3, “Straight Shot,” created by design collective Current Projects (Milwaukee, Wisconsin) sends players through a small room constructed to skew perspective and create an optical illusion of greater depth.

●        Hole #4, “Razzle Dazzle” by Andrea Jablonski & Stolatis Inc. (Chicago, Illinois) utilizes ramps, a loop, and intersecting geometric shapes to provide fun and difficulty through contrasting camouflage patterns.

●        Hole #5, “Greens of Cabrini,” by Julie Cowan (Evanston, Illinois) allows the player to putt through time, starting with the aspiration opening of The Cabrini Green Homes, through the rise of the Old Town Square retail development.

●        Hole #6, “Just Desserts” by Latent Design (Chicago, Illinois) is a spiraling colorful cone that a golfer must use to bridge from the heights of the putting green and the lows of the hole.

●        Hole #7, “Chairy Who?” by Gautum Rao (Indianapolis, Indiana) features obstacles of iconic mid-Century furniture in homage to the Museum’s McCormick House.

●        Hole #8, by Elmhurst Art Museum’s Teen Art Council, a putter-free hole, sends golf balls through maze-like tubes with their own set of rules.

●        Hole #9, “Determine Your Fate” by Annalee Koehn (Chicago, Illinois) is equal parts skills-challenge, game of chance and fortune cookie.

Check out Par Excellence Redux

Tee time reservations are made online at elmhurstartmuseum.org/golf.