The 6th Street entrance to the West Building and the 4th Street entrance to the East Building have ramps to accommodate wheelchairs and strollers, and elevators at these entrances provide access to galleries and public areas. To provide an address for MetroAccess Paratransit, please use 201 6th Street NW for the West Building or 150 4th Street NW for the East Building.

We have limited parking set aside for vehicles bearing appropriate tags or placards for visitors with disabilities on the 4th Street Plaza outside of the East Building.

Find a map of our entrances and information about getting here.

Visitors may borrow wheelchairs at all entrances on a first-come, first-served basis for use within the East and West Buildings. The two buildings are connected by an underground moving walkway. All public spaces and facilities are accessible by elevator. If you require assistance, please ask a security officer.

Visitors who need assistance standing for long periods are asked to bring a wheelchair or use one of the limited number of wheelchairs the National Gallery has made available.

Please note: for elevator access throughout the East Building, there are two available elevators outside of Tower 1 and Tower 2. For elevator access from the East Building Ground, Mezzanine, Upper Levels, or Towers to the Concourse Level or West Building, please use the elevator outside of Tower 2. A larger elevator, located in Tower 1, is also available and provides access to all levels of the East Building

Service dogs are permitted in the East and West Buildings as well as in the Sculpture Garden.

A Braille transcript of the East Building audio tour is available on request at the Information Desk in the atrium of the East Building. Braille transcripts of the West Building Featured Selections and Kids West Building audio tours are available on request at the information desk in the West Building Rotunda.

Large print transcripts of audio tours are available on request. Transcripts for the East Building Tour: Featured Selections available at the Information Desk in the atrium of the East Building. Large print transcripts of the West Building Featured Selections and the Kids West Building audio tours are available at the information desk in the West Building Rotunda.

We are pleased to offer color-enhancing glasses designed to assist those with red-green colorblindness, the most common form of color vision deficiency. Both adult and child sizes are available and can be checked out with an ID at the 6th Street, Mall, and East Building checkrooms.

East Building auditoriums and the West Building Lecture Hall are equipped with listening enhancement systems. The receivers and neck loops necessary to use these systems can be borrowed from Information Desks in the East Building (near the entrance) or West Building (6th Street and Constitution Avenue entrance).

Portable assistive listening devices
Assistive listening devices are also available for use on any public program with three weeks’ advance notice. Please contact us at (202) 842-6905 or via email.

Website
All videos on our website can be played with closed captioning.

In the National Gallery
Films shown in conjunction with special exhibitions are closed captioned. A closed caption button is located at the entrance to every film viewing space within special exhibitions. A closed caption button is also located at the entrances to East Building auditoriums for all films related to special exhibitions.

A transcript is available for each track of our online audio tours.

We ask that everyone follow some general guidelines during their visit.

• Keep hands and arms near their bodies so they don’t touch the works of art.
• Walk in the museum.
• Use quiet, inside voices.
• Stay with family or friends.
• Carry backpacks on one shoulder only.
   

Some galleries, open areas, and dining spaces can become crowded and noisy depending on the time of day and time of year, but quieter spaces can usually be found. Galleries farther away from the central atrium or passages (toward the perimeter of the buildings) are likely to be less crowded.

An underground moving walkway connects the East Building to the Cascade Café and the West Building. The walkway is lit by Leo Villareal’s Multiverse, a work of art comprising dozens of strands of lights embedded into the ceiling and walls surrounding the moving walkway. Thousands of small lights blink and sweep across the walls and ceiling.

Elevators and stairs connect all levels of the East and West Buildings. Ask a member of the security or visitor services staff (dressed in black) if you need assistance locating the elevators.

An escalator near the Terrace Café in the East Building also connects the Mezzanine Level to the Upper Level.

Restrooms in the East Building are located on the Ground Level near the Study Center entrance; on the Concourse Level across from the gift shop; on the Mezzanine Level near the stairs; and next to the Terrace Café on the Upper Level.

Restrooms in the West Building are located inside each entrance and off the Rotunda.

A family/companion care restroom can be found in the underground connecting link between the East and West Buildings, across from the Cascade Café. Another is available off the Rotunda in the West Building.

Toilets flush automatically. Paper towels are available, but some restrooms also have automatic hand dryers.

Toilet flushes and hand dryers are loud.

Sandwiches, salads, snacks, and drinks are available after 10:00 a.m. in the Terrace Café, located on the Upper Level in the East Building. It can be busy and noisy around lunchtime, but is usually quieter from 10:00 to 11:30 a.m. and after 3:00 p.m.

A selection of soups, salads, specialty entrées, burgers, signature sandwiches, and fresh pastries and desserts are available at the Cascade Café after 11 a.m. This food-court environment can be busy or noisy during prime lunch hours. Tables off to the side (near Villareal’s Multiverse and the Education Studio) are often quieter than those near the cash registers. The chairs can create loud noises when moved.

Pizzas, sandwiches, salads, and desserts can be purchased in the Pavilion Café in the Sculpture Garden.

Information desk volunteers can provide directions and suggestions for quiet spaces.

Security officers and visitor services staff (dressed in black) can also answer questions.

Contact Lorena Bradford in accessible programs at (202) 842-6905 or [email protected] with any questions or for more information.