chicago-art-museum-mcp-server

AlexLin1234/chicago-art-museum-mcp-server

3.2

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An MCP server for the Art Institute of Chicago API provides a structured way to access and interact with the museum's extensive collection data.

Art Institute of Chicago MCP Server

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that provides access to the Art Institute of Chicago's public API. This server enables AI assistants like Claude to search and retrieve information about artworks, artists, exhibitions, galleries, and more from one of the world's premier art museums.

Features

  • Artwork Search: Search the museum's extensive collection with full-text queries
  • Artwork Details: Get comprehensive information about specific artworks including images, provenance, and exhibition history
  • Artist Information: Search for and retrieve biographical information about artists and cultural agents
  • Exhibition Data: Access current, past, and upcoming exhibition information
  • Gallery Information: Browse museum galleries and their locations
  • Universal Search: Search across all content types simultaneously

Available Tools

search_artworks

Search for artworks with support for pagination and field filtering.

{
  "query": "Monet water lilies",
  "limit": 10,
  "page": 1,
  "fields": "title,artist_display,image_id"
}

get_artwork

Get detailed information about a specific artwork by ID.

{
  "artwork_id": 27992,
  "fields": "title,artist_display,date_display,medium_display,dimensions,description,image_id"
}

search_agents

Search for artists, creators, and cultural agents.

{
  "query": "Pablo Picasso",
  "limit": 5
}

get_agent

Get detailed information about a specific artist or agent by ID.

{
  "agent_id": 36198
}

search_exhibitions

Search for museum exhibitions.

{
  "query": "impressionism",
  "limit": 10
}

get_exhibition

Get detailed information about a specific exhibition by ID.

{
  "exhibition_id": 9328
}

list_galleries

List museum galleries with location and status information.

{
  "limit": 20,
  "page": 1
}

get_gallery

Get information about a specific gallery by ID.

{
  "gallery_id": 2147483649
}

search_all

Search across all content types (artworks, agents, exhibitions, etc.).

{
  "query": "Renaissance",
  "limit": 15
}

Installation

Prerequisites

  • Python 3.10 or higher
  • Claude Desktop or another MCP-compatible client
  • pip (Python package manager)

Setup Steps

  1. Clone the repository

    git clone https://github.com/yourusername/chicago-art-museum-mcp-server.git
cd chicago-art-museum-mcp-server

  2. Create a virtual environment (recommended)

    python -m venv venv

# On Windows:
venv\Scripts\activate

# On macOS/Linux:
source venv/bin/activate

  3. Install dependencies

    pip install -e .

  4. Test the installation

    python server.py

    The server should start without errors. Press Ctrl+C to stop.

Configuration for Claude Desktop

Windows

  1. Open or create the Claude Desktop configuration file:

    %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

  2. Add the MCP server configuration:

    {
  "mcpServers": {
    "art-institute-chicago": {
      "command": "python",
      "args": [
        "C:\\path\\to\\chicago-art-museum-mcp-server\\server.py"
      ]
    }
  }
}

  3. Important: Replace C:\\path\\to\\chicago-art-museum-mcp-server with the actual path to where you cloned the repository. Use double backslashes (\\) for Windows paths.

macOS

  1. Open or create the Claude Desktop configuration file:

    ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

  2. Add the MCP server configuration:

    {
  "mcpServers": {
    "art-institute-chicago": {
      "command": "python3",
      "args": [
        "/path/to/chicago-art-museum-mcp-server/server.py"
      ]
    }
  }
}

  3. Replace /path/to/chicago-art-museum-mcp-server with the actual path to where you cloned the repository.

Using Virtual Environment (Recommended)

If you created a virtual environment, you should use the Python interpreter from within that environment:

Windows:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "art-institute-chicago": {
      "command": "C:\\path\\to\\chicago-art-museum-mcp-server\\venv\\Scripts\\python.exe",
      "args": [
        "C:\\path\\to\\chicago-art-museum-mcp-server\\server.py"
      ]
    }
  }
}

macOS/Linux:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "art-institute-chicago": {
      "command": "/path/to/chicago-art-museum-mcp-server/venv/bin/python",
      "args": [
        "/path/to/chicago-art-museum-mcp-server/server.py"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude Desktop

After updating the configuration file, restart Claude Desktop for the changes to take effect.

Usage Examples

Once configured, you can interact with the Art Institute of Chicago API through Claude. Here are some example prompts:

Searching for Artworks

Search for artworks by Vincent van Gogh in the Art Institute of Chicago collection.

Getting Artwork Details

Get detailed information about artwork ID 27992 from the Art Institute of Chicago.

Exploring Exhibitions

What exhibitions at the Art Institute of Chicago feature impressionist art?

Finding Artist Information

Tell me about the artist Georgia O'Keeffe using the Art Institute of Chicago database.

Gallery Information

List the galleries at the Art Institute of Chicago and their locations.

API Information

This server uses the Art Institute of Chicago's public API. The API:

  • Requires no authentication
  • Has no rate limiting for reasonable use
  • Provides access to over 117,000 artworks
  • Includes high-resolution images via IIIF
  • Updates regularly with new content

For more detailed API documentation, visit: https://api.artic.edu/docs/

Troubleshooting

Server doesn't start in Claude Desktop

  1. Verify the path to server.py is correct in your configuration
  2. Check that Python is installed and accessible from the command line
  3. Ensure all dependencies are installed (pip install -e .)
  4. Look at the Claude Desktop logs for error messages

Import errors

Make sure you've installed the package:

pip install -e .

Connection errors

  • Check your internet connection
  • Verify that api.artic.edu is accessible
  • The API requires HTTPS; ensure your firewall allows outbound HTTPS connections

No results returned

  • Try broader search terms
  • Check that the artwork/agent/exhibition ID is correct
  • Some resources may have limited metadata

Development

Running Tests

Install development dependencies:

pip install -e ".[dev]"

Run tests:

pytest

Code Formatting

This project uses Black and Ruff for code formatting and linting:

# Format code
black .

# Lint code
ruff check .

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request. For major changes, please open an issue first to discuss what you would like to change.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the file for details.

Acknowledgments

Support

If you encounter any issues or have questions:

  1. Check the Troubleshooting section above
  2. Review the API documentation
  3. Open an issue in this repository

API Terms of Service

Please review the Art Institute of Chicago's Terms and Conditions when using this server. The data is provided for educational and personal use.