School Tours
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The National Gallery of Art offers a positive and welcoming learning environment for school groups. Our tours, led by skilled docents, emphasize careful observation and an open exchange of ideas and interpretations. During four to six tour stops, students are given the time and space to explore original objects in an informal learning setting that supports critical thinking and visual literacy skills. A variety of teaching strategies—such as sketching, creative writing, and group activities—meets the needs and interests of a range of learners. Docents consult with teachers to ensure that thematic tours enhance, support, and extend classroom learning and curriculum objectives.
Pre-visit materials are available (online) for some tours; see program descriptions.
Student-Centered Learning in the Art Museum: The Benefits of Object-Based Teaching
The National Gallery's tours immerse elementary, middle, and high school students in a uniquely rich and varied learning environment that features one of the country's finest collections of Western art from the 1300s to the present.
Museum tours, tailored to specific grade levels, allow students to develop multidisciplinary skills and gain knowledge of content that complements and augments their academic studies. Students connect fine art with such disciplines as studio art, history, social studies, and language arts. Below are some of the educational benefits teachers cite for bringing students to the museum.
- Language development and critical-thinking skills: As students examine objects and discuss them with educators and peers, they build vocabulary as well as skills in reasoning and debate.
- Seeing original art: Looking at a reproduction is not the same as coming face-to-face with an original work by Rembrandt van Rijn—the ultimate primary source! Museums offer an extraordinary arena for aesthetic experience, discovery, wonder, and inspiration, as well as practical discussions of the various tools and techniques for making art.
- Object-based learning: Many students are concrete learners; they are motivated when educational resources are tangible and physical. Others are more engaged when stimulated emotionally or aesthetically. Museums are an ideal alternative learning environment for all types of learners.
- Multidimensional knowledge: Museum discussions about art often show students that there is seldom one single answer to a problem and that works of art can possess multiple levels of meaning, each equally valid. In this respect, museum learning emulates the complexities of real life.
- Student-centered learning: Inquiry-based programs allow educators to adapt their teaching to students' interests, observations, and questions. Student-centered museum programs can spark the imagination and capitalize on students' intrinsic curiosity about newly discovered treasures and the museum environment itself.
- Historical and global awareness: Museums with wide-ranging collections offer students the opportunity to journey back in time and across cultural boundaries, fostering powerful discussions about what societies have valued and chosen to preserve.
- Lifelong-learning and cultural stewardship: Museum programs show that learning can occur in informal, non-classroom environments. Studies indicate that lifelong museum visitation habits and cultural interests are formed during childhood.
- Tours must be scheduled at least four weeks in advance.
- Foreign-language tours must be scheduled at least ten weeks in advance.
- Tours are offered at 10:15 a.m., 12:00 noon, 1:30 p.m., and 2:00 p.m., except where noted.
- Groups must contain at least ten students.
- Requests for tours in fall 2009 (October 5 to December 11) will be accepted August 1 through November 14, 2009.
- Requests for tours in winter and spring 2010 (January 11 to May 28) will be accepted from December 1, 2009 through May 1, 2010.
To begin the scheduling process:
- Browse the school tour themes to decide which tours meet your curriculum needs and consider when you would like to visit.
- Select "request tour" to access the online Tour Request Form.
- Fill out the form completely, then click "submit." You will receive an automatic response indicating receipt of your request.
Alternatively, you may mail or fax the school tour request form.
You will hear from us within seven business days regarding the status of your tour request. For foreign-language tours, please allow fourteen business days regarding the status of your tour request. You will receive a written confirmation once your tour has been scheduled. Pre-visit materials are available (online) for some tours; see program descriptions.Questions about Tours
Our staff scheduler is available to answer questions about tours on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday between 2:30 and 4:30 p.m. (September through May). Please contact Jennifer Cross at (202) 842-6249 or schooltourrequests@nga.gov.
Canceling or Changing Your Tour
To cancel or change a tour, please call (202) 842-6249 at least seven days before your tour date so that your slot may be made available to others.
Chaperones
Tour groups must be accompanied by one adult chaperone for every ten students. Chaperones must remain with the group at all times. It is the responsibility of chaperones to maintain orderly student behavior at the Gallery. Chaperone information cards outlining Gallery visitor policies will be distributed on the day of your tour.
Number of Students
If the number of students in your group exceeds the amount permitted for your desired tour theme, you may consider:
- scheduling the same tour theme at different times on the same date
- scheduling different tour themes at the same time
- scheduling the same tour theme on different dates
Museum Tours for Ages 4–6 and Elementary School Students
These tours engage our youngest viewers through a multisensory approach involving discussion, imagination, creative dramatics, and visual aids.
Art Tales: "Little Cloud" by Eric Carle
Art Tales provides an engaging three-step process for exploring works of art. Children's literature is used to introduce themes in art; students are then encouraged to apply these themes when observing and discussing the works in the galleries. An art activity at the end of each program helps students make hands-on connections to the themes discussed and works observed.
For more information and to request this tour, click here.
Art Tales: "Matthew's Dream" by Leo Lionni
Art Tales provides an engaging three-step process for exploring works of art. Children's literature is used to introduce themes in art; students are then encouraged to apply these themes when observing and discussing the works in the galleries. An art activity at the end of each program helps students make hands-on connections to the themes discussed and works observed.
For more information and to request this tour, click here.
Color, Line, and Shape
How are color, line, and shape used to make works of art? In this tour, careful looking exercises and hands-on activities help students understand the basic elements of art.
For more information and to request this tour, click here.
Children in Art
What was childhood like long ago? On this tour, students learn how art can tell stories, teach about children and people from the past, and learn to recognize different types of art, such as portraiture and sculpture. Students will be encouraged to make personal connections and interpretations, using evidence from the works of art.
For more information and to request this tour, click here.
Color, Line, and Shape
How are color, line, and shape used to make works of art? In this tour, careful looking exercises and hands-on activities help students understand the basic elements of art.
For more information and to request this tour, click here.
Nature in Art
How does an artist paint the movement of the wind or the texture of a dog's fur? On this tour, students explore the ways that artists depict the natural world. By carefully observing works of art, participants discover creatures great and small as well as the wonders of nature.
For more information and to request this tour, click here.
American Art
How does art send messages about national identity? Students learn about works of American art and their historical and cultural connections.
For more information and to request this tour, click here.
Exploring the Elements of Art
What are the different elements that make up a work of art? This tour examines the elements of color, line, shape/form, space, and texture. Guided looking, art-making, writing, and discussion activities help students understand how artists consciously manipulate these elements—often in combination—to achieve particular effects. After registering for this tour, educators will receive a twenty minute DVD entitled, Art Elements: An Introduction for the students to view prior to their tour. This film is no longer screened at the National Gallery as part of the tour.
For more information and to request this tour, click here.
Every Picture Tells a Story
Using a narrative lens, this tour looks at paintings as unfolding stories with multiple perspectives. Students learn to "read" works of art, creating dialogue and discovering dramatic tension and meaning. Through careful looking and conversation, they are encouraged to develop their own interpretations and ideas.
For more information and to request this tour, click here.
Mythology
Which dramatic moment in a mythological story did an artist choose to depict, and why? This tour unravels Greek and Roman myths, that have been imaginatively and dramatically portrayed by artists through the ages. Students explore representations of character, plot, and setting as well as underlying messages that the artist may have been conveying.
For more information and to request this tour, click here.
Sculpture and Sketching
What are some of the characteristics of sculpture? Looking at works ranging from figurative bronze and marble sculpture to objects that challenge traditional definitions of a medium, students investigate sculptors' use of materials and techniques as well as the sculptures' subject matter, function, and effect on the viewer.
This two-building tour (with six stops) includes careful observation, sketching, and discussion. Participants are encouraged to develop their own ideas and interpretations.
For more information and to request this tour, click here.
Museum Tours for Middle School Students
American Art
How does art send messages about national identity? Students learn about works of American art and their historical and cultural connections.
For more information and to request this tour, click here.
Every Picture Tells a Story
Using a narrative lens, this tour looks at paintings as unfolding stories with multiple perspectives. Students learn to "read" works of art, creating dialogue and discovering dramatic tension and meaning. Through careful looking and conversation, they are encouraged to develop their own interpretations and ideas.
For more information and to request this tour, click here.
Exploring Modern Art: Breaking the Rules
What is modern about modern art? Students investigate the ways artists "break the rules" when they depart from realistic representation, use innovative techniques, and engage the viewer as a partner in the creation of meaning. Through careful looking and conversation, students are encouraged to develop their own interpretations and ideas.
For more information and to request this tour, click here.
French Art
This tour is temporarily unavailable due to gallery reinstallations.
Mythology
Which dramatic moment in a mythological story did an artist choose to depict, and why? This tour unravels Greek and Roman myths, that have been imaginatively and dramatically portrayed by artists through the ages. Students explore representations of character, plot, and setting as well as underlying messages that the artist may have been conveying.
For more information and to request this tour, click here.
Portraits and Personalities
How does a portrait reveal the life and time of its sitter? This tour explores portraits and self-portraits from multiple points of view, examining works of art that reveal the sitters' personality, mood, status, and social and historical environment.
For more information and to request this tour, click here.
Renaissance Art
What radical changes in art and life marked the period known as the Renaissance? Students learn about new artistic developments of the period and how they were influenced by scientific discovery—as seen in the representation of the human figure—as well as the rise of humanist philosophy.
For more information and to request this tour, click here.
Sculpture and Sketching
What are some of the characteristics of sculpture? Looking at works ranging from figurative bronze and marble sculpture to objects that challenge traditional definitions of a medium, students investigate sculptors' use of materials and techniques as well as the sculptures' subject matter, function, and effect on the viewer.
This two-building tour (with six stops) includes careful observation, sketching, and discussion. Participants are encouraged to develop their own ideas and interpretations.
For more information and to request this tour, click here.
Museum Visits for High School Students
American Art
How does art send messages about national identity? Students learn about works of American art and their historical and cultural connections.
For more information and to request this tour, click here.
Every Picture Tells a Story
Using a narrative lens, this tour looks at paintings as unfolding stories with multiple perspectives. Students learn to "read" works of art, creating dialogue and discovering dramatic tension and meaning. Through careful looking and conversation, they are encouraged to develop their own interpretations and ideas.
For more information and to request this tour, click here.
Exploring Modern Art: Breaking the Rules
What is modern about modern art? Students investigate the ways artists "break the rules" when they depart from realistic representation, use innovative techniques, and engage the viewer as a partner in the creation of meaning. Through careful looking and conversation, students are encouraged to develop their own interpretations and ideas.
For more information and to request this tour, click here.
Exploring Modern Art: Materials and Techniques
From latex and lead to burning and dripping, this tour examines modern artists' and sculptors' innovative use of materials and techniques and response to a variety of influences. Students are encouraged to develop their own interpretations and ideas.
For more information and to request this tour, click here.
French Art
This tour is temporarily unavailable due to gallery reinstallations.
Portraits and Personalities
How does a portrait reveal the life and time of its sitter? This tour explores portraits and self-portraits from multiple points of view, examining works of art that reveal the sitters' personality, mood, status, and social and historical environment.
For more information and to request this tour, click here.
Renaissance Art
What radical changes in art and life marked the period known as the Renaissance? Students learn about new artistic developments of the period and how they were influenced by scientific discovery—as seen in the representation of the human figure—as well as the rise of humanist philosophy.
For more information and to request this tour, click here.
Sculpture and Sketching
What are some of the characteristics of sculpture? Looking at works ranging from figurative bronze and marble sculpture to objects that challenge traditional definitions of a medium, students investigate sculptors' use of materials and techniques as well as the sculptures' subject matter, function, and effect on the viewer.
This two-building tour (with six stops) includes careful observation, sketching, and discussion. Participants are encouraged to develop their own ideas and interpretations.
For more information and to request this tour, click here.
Spanish Art
How did Spanish artists respond to their artistic, cultural, and political surroundings? Students explore and compare the style, subject matter, and technique of artists ranging from El Greco to Picasso. Such influences as patronage, the role of the church, and politics are also presented.
For more information and to request this tour, click here.
French- and Spanish-Language Tours
Tours conducted in foreign languages by native speakers are intended for advanced high school language students. Owing to a small number of qualified docents, this tour has limited availability. If a foreign-language docent is not available for your requested time slot, the Gallery can make an English-language tour available as an alternative. Please check this option on the Tour Request Form if you are interested. Please choose one of the following topics:
- Gallery Highlights in French*
- Spanish Art in Spanish
For more information, click here.
*French Art tour is temporarily unavailable due to gallery reinstallations.
We are happy to work with you to customize a tour that meets the needs of your class, adapt an existing tour theme, or create a tour that closely connects to your curriculum. Please provide as much detail as possible on the Tour Request Form. Please note that tour content focuses on the Gallery's permanent collection only, however, self-guided print and online resources for children for some temporary exhibitions are also available.
School tours with religious art themes can be requested using the Special-Topic Tour Request Form. Please note that the Christmas Story tour is limited to fifty students and the Stories from the Hebrew Bible tour is limited to thirty students.
Logistical Information
Group Size: Up to 60 students
Length: 75 minutes
Meeting Location: West Building, Rotunda, Main Floor or East Building, Entrance (inside)
Museum policies
Student lunches
General information
What is object-based teaching and learning?
How was your tour?
Teachers are welcome to guide their students through the museum independently. Please complete the Self-Guided Group Form at least four weeks prior to your visit. This assists museum staff in preventing overcrowding in the galleries. Be sure to indicate whether you would like to receive information about teaching resources at the Gallery.
Before Your Visit
Thousands of images, art information, and tour planning tools can be accessed on the Gallery's Web site. Learn about the collection, search the collection, take online tours, see what exhibitions will be on view, explore floor plans, read visitor information, check the calendar of events, browse online educational materials, and borrow free-loan teaching resources.
Preview the museum in person or online, identify learning goals, and plot your tour route. Be sure to relate the visit to classroom curriculum and your students' personal experiences. Remember that exploring a few works of art in depth can be more rewarding than quickly surveying many works. Also, please be aware that works of art may be moved or removed from view before the Web site can be updated.
Students learn more during a museum visit when they feel comfortable in the environment. Prepare your students with a virtual tour of the museum and pre-visit activities. Reviewing key vocabulary terms and introducing an artist or theme from the tour can help students come to the museum ready to learn.
Student Lunches
Sack lunches may be stored in the checkrooms. Groups may not eat sack lunches in the cafeteria as there are no special lunch facilities for school groups. Groups may purchase their lunches from the full-service cafeteria. Group meal plans can be arranged by submitting an order form or by calling (202) 712-7458 72 hours in advance. View group meal plan menus and ordering information.
Cameras and Backpacks
Handheld cameras, pencils, and pads are allowed in the permanent collection areas but not in special exhibitions. Students may not wear backpacks in the galleries. Backpacks must be checked at a checkroom. We recommend that students leave all backpacks at school or on the bus to prevent entry delays. Visitors will be asked to present all carried items for inspection upon entering the Gallery.
The use of tripods, easels, and ink and chalk drawing materials is prohibited without special advance permission. See also museum policies.
During Your Visit: Suggested Strategies for Exploring Art
Pick up a museum map or get help finding your way at an information desk (located near each entrance). As you navigate the museum, give students time for quiet and careful observation. Try the thirty-second looking activity: Have students look silently at a work of art for thirty seconds, turn away from it and tell you everything they remember, and then look at it again to see what was missed.
Engage students in dialogue about art. Encourage them to tell you what they see, ask questions, and debate opinions. Ask open-ended questions to encourage participation and help focus student observation and discussion. Have students support their answers and opinions with evidence from the work of art. Paraphrase and summarize student responses.
Sample looking questions include:
- What is going on in this work of art?
- What are the clues that tell you this?
- Who sees something else?
- What questions do you have about this work of art?
- If you could ask the artist one question, what would it be?
- Why do you suppose these works are hung in the same room?
- How are they similar and different?
- If, together, these works told a story, what would it be?
- What title would you give this room?
Create opportunities during your visit for students to make choices about what they see or do:
- Have students choose the work of art they find most intriguing (or most confusing, most beautiful, etc.) and explain why.
- Discuss a particular theme or idea, such as innovations in subject matter, materials, or methods in modern art. Ask students to choose an object that seems the most unusual and explain why.
- Students may also help sequence parts of the visit. For example, in the East Building Alexander Calder gallery, ask, "Should we begin with a sculpture that is still or one that moves?"
Use wall labels, brochures, and this Web site to help answer student questions and find additional information.
During Your Visit: Museum Policies
Adequately supervise your students. Groups must have one adult chaperone for every ten students. Chaperones are responsible for monitoring and accompanying students at all times.
Please share the rules with your students and chaperones both before and during your visit.
- Do not touch works of art. A helpful guideline is to remain at least twelve inches away from any work of art.
- Do not lean on the walls, display cases, or pedestals to draw or take notes.
- Do not block doorways or aisles.
- Self-guided groups may be asked to yield to tours given by school docents or staff; only one group may be in a gallery at a time.
After Your Visit
- Continue the museum experience back in the classroom using online or free-loan materials.
- Send us student pictures or letters describing your visit, as well as ideas on how we can further support you.
- Post-Visit Feedback: Has your class or organization taken a National Gallery of Art school tour? Please take a moment to share your experience and comments with us by completing our Online Feedback Form.
Resources and Tips for Planning
Audio Tours
The Director's Tour
can be rented at the West Building Mall entrance. Exhibition-related audio tours are available for rental at the entrances to many exhibitions. For group reservations for audio
tours (ten or more), call (202) 842-6592.
NGA Classroom
Access NGA Classroom, our online compendium of electronic teaching resources. Here you'll find dynamic in-depth studies on individual works, artists, and periods as well as printable worksheets and classroom lesson plans. Teachers may search by artist, topic, or curricular theme to find information on subjects ranging from ancient Chinese art and archaeology to Dada, a World War I–era art movement.
NGA Loan Materials
View a searchable library of 120+ teaching packets, videos, and DVDs on various periods, artists, and the art of specific cultures available on loan, free of charge, to educators, institutions, community organizations, and individuals. Teaching packet titles include Picturing France: 1830–1900 and Islamic Art and Culture. Packets may include in-depth, illustrated booklets; large color reproductions suitable for posting in the classroom; slides and image CDs; and timelines. Submit requests for loan materials online. Please allow one month for their delivery.
Or, request a free printed catalogue of loan materials:
E-mail: EdResources@nga.gov
Fax: (202) 842-6937
Mail: Education Resources
National Gallery of Art
2000B South Club Drive
Landover, MD 20785
NGAkids
Take an animated tour through the sculpture garden or visit a Dutch dollhouse. This hands-on treasure trove of interactive, "learning to look" online activities and projects is based on works of art in the National Gallery of Art's collection and from temporary exhibitions, with links to other Gallery resources and program offerings for children and families. Tailored for pre-Kindergarten through grade 6 students, NGAkids may also be enjoyed by children of any age.
Online Tours
Explore an artist, specific work of art, or theme in depth. More than fifty features are available online. Romare Bearden, Alexander Calder, Paul Cézanne, and Julia Margaret Cameron are among the featured artists.
Location and Hours
The National Gallery of Art, located on the National Mall between 3rd and 7th Streets at Constitution Avenue NW, is open Monday through Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Sunday from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. The Gallery is closed on December 25 and January 1. See also area
map, public transportation, parking.
Floor Plans: West Building | East Building
The National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden, located on the National Mall at 7th Street and Constitution Avenue NW, is bounded by Constitution Avenue and Madison Drive and by 7th and 9th Streets NW.
Accessibility
The 6th Street entrance to the West Building at Constitution Avenue and the 4th Street entrance to the East Building have ramps to accommodate visitors in wheelchairs. Please inform the tour scheduler and docents of any special needs before your tour. A Telecommunications Device for the Deaf (TDD) is available at (202) 842-6176. A TDD for use by visitors is located at the public telephone adjacent to the stamp machine near the Concourse Level Sales Shop. This TDD is situated to accommodate wheelchair users.
Parking
Metered street parking for cars and vans is available along the Mall. Buses
may let students off at the entrance noted on your confirmation sheet. Parking
for buses is usually allowed only on Independence Avenue near the Washington
Monument.
Public Transportation
The nearest Metro stops are Judiciary Square on the Red
Line, Archives/Navy Memorial on the Yellow/Green Lines, and
Smithsonian on the Blue/Orange Lines. Metro bus stops
are located on 4th Street and 7th Street NW. DC Circulator bus stops
are located at 4th Street and Madison Drive and at 7th Street
and Constitution Avenue NW.
Further information about Metrobus and Metrorail routes and schedules is available at the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority Web site. The WMATA RideGuide Web site provides a fast and easy way to plan your visit to the Gallery.
Security
Visitors will be asked to present all bags and parcels for inspection. All backpacks,
luggage, oversized bags, parcels, and umbrellas must be left in the checkrooms.
These items will be subject to x-ray screening prior to acceptance. We regret
that we are unable to accommodate any items larger than 17 x 26 inches (43
x 66 cm) into the Gallery or its checkrooms. Checkrooms located at the entrances to both the East Building and the West Building are provided free of charge.
We recommend that students leave their backpacks at school or on the bus to
prevent entry delays. See further information about cameras, art supplies, and backpacks.
Museum Shops
Reproductions, exhibition catalogues, and books on the collections are available to educators
at a twenty percent discount by mail order only. For more information, call
(202) 842-6002 or (800) 697-9350.
Calendars of Events
Find out what's happening this month at
the National Gallery of Art. The current bimonthly Calendar of Events is available in PDF format (PDF 1.1 MB) (Download Acrobat Reader)
To obtain a free bimonthly calendar of events by mail, call (202) 842-6662, or contact us by e-mail at calendar@nga.gov.
To receive a free quarterly film calendar by mail, contact us by e-mail at film-department@nga.gov. Please include your mailing address.
Subscribe to Our Free E-mail Newsletters
Stay up to date with the National Gallery of Art by subscribing to our free e-mail newsletters: CASVA, educators, exhibitions, family programs, fellowships/internships, films, gallery talks/lectures, music programs, teen programs, and Web. Select as many updates as you wish to receive. To edit your subscriber information, please go to our subscription
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