What happens after the DePaul Art Museum closes

The DePaul Art Museum is scheduled to close to the public on June 22, but DePaul says that does not mean the museum’s collection is disappearing.

Instead, the university says the permanent collection will remain at the Lincoln Park campus and continue to be used for educational visits and loans to other institutions. The change ends the museum’s public-facing operation while keeping the works in place as an academic resource.

The closure follows months of pressure on DePaul’s budget and follows earlier reporting that the university was preparing to shut the museum down. The new question is what comes next for the collection, the building and the university’s arts programming.

What DePaul says will happen next

DePaul says the permanent collection will stay at its current Lincoln Park location. The university also says the works will remain available for teaching and educational access, while also being loaned out to other institutions.

That means the museum’s role will change from a public exhibition space to something closer to a collection-based resource tied to academic use and lending.

DePaul’s museum page now points visitors to an update about the future of the permanent collection, signaling that the closure is being handled as a reorganization rather than a full dispersal of the works.

How the closure unfolded

Axios first reported in early March that the museum was expected to close in June as part of DePaul’s budget cuts. On June 16, Axios Chicago reported the key detail now shaping the museum’s future: the public museum is closing, but the collection is staying in place.

That reporting followed DePaul’s earlier announcement in February that the museum would close amid financial pressure. The June 22 closure date now gives the decision a concrete end point.

DePaul president Robert Manuel has said the university was facing a $12.6 million shortfall for 2026 and more than $27 million in spending cuts, underscoring the financial backdrop to the museum shutdown.

Why the museum mattered

The DePaul Art Museum has been part of the university’s arts presence in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood since 2011. Axios reported that the museum has shown more than 600 Chicago-based and underrepresented artists and that its collection includes more than 4,000 pieces.

That history is part of why the closure has drawn criticism. Faculty and arts advocates have argued that the museum has been important for social-justice-centered programming and for helping students develop critical thinking through art.

The closure therefore affects more than a campus venue. It changes how students, staff and the public encounter work that has been used to support instruction and community-facing programming.

What remains unclear

DePaul has not said how often the collection will be loaned out or which institutions will receive works.

The university also has not announced a new public-facing exhibition program to replace the museum, and Axios reported that DePaul does not plan to tear down the museum building.

That leaves the building’s next use unresolved. For now, the confirmed change is narrower but still significant: the public museum is closing, while the collection remains in Lincoln Park for teaching and lending.

What to watch next

The next developments will likely come from how DePaul implements the permanent-collection plan after the closure takes effect.

Watch for announcements about loan activity, any revised educational programming, and whether the university assigns a new use to the museum space.

Further faculty or community response could also shape how DePaul explains the future of the collection and its public role after June 22.