The Athenaeum Center for Thought & Culture is a not-for-profit organization whose mission and principal activities are to promote and support fine arts, cultural programming, and spiritual development for Catholics and the general public in Chicago, Illinois. Our mission is to invite people into encounters with beauty and to revitalize the great Catholic tradition of the arts from our location in one of Chicago’s most unique religious, artistic, and civic buildings.

Our performing art center was built in 1911 as part of St. Alphonsus in the Lakeview neighborhood of Chicago, as a place for the spiritual, physical, and intellectual growth of parishioners and the community. The Center has multiple performance and event spaces, including our 985-seat proscenium, Historic Main Stage Theatre.

At ACTC, we believe that beauty has the capacity to build up culture, transform society, and change lives. We hope to help our patrons contemplate, encounter, and delight in beauty.