Tour Topics

All topics can be adapted for students in grades K–12 and university students, except where noted.

Looking and Learning

Ideal for first-time art museum visitors, this tour engages students in careful observation, discussion, and interpretation of objects from many time periods and parts of the world. Students strengthen critical thinking skills by learning to articulate their ideas about what they see and share those insights with classmates.

Exploring Ancient Greece and Rome

Students explore the origins of democracy and the monuments of ancient Greece and Rome in the museum’s renowned Halls of Architecture and Sculpture. After learning about the principles of visual balance and harmony demonstrated in the plaster casts of buildings and sculpture, students compare them to classically inspired artwork from later centuries to illustrate the ancient world’s ongoing influence.

Athena to Zeus: Mythology in Ancient Greek and Roman Art

Discover representations of the human figure from ancient Greek and Roman paintings, sculpture, and architecture. Learn the importance of mythology in the ancient world and how it explains life experiences and the cycles of nature.

Art and Christianity

Learn about art created for religious purposes between the 14th and 20th centuries. Docents guide students to interpret the meaning and significance of the symbols and stories found in these Christian-themed sculptures and paintings.

Impressionism: An Artistic Revolution

Students examine works by major Impressionist painters, such as Monet, Renoir, Degas, and Cassatt, to discover why their innovative subjects and techniques capture personal experiences of the late 19th century’s social, scientific, and industrial revolutions. This tour is also ideal for French-language classes.

Historic World Architecture: The Grand Tour

Students visit architectural monuments in the museum’s Hall of Architecture.  These full-scale casts represent ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome; French Romanesque and Gothic; and Italian Renaissance. Activities include learning about structural and cultural aspects, the process of making casts, and sketching, writing, and photographing their “voyage” stops.

European Experience

Grade 5 and up

Paintings, sculpture, and decorative arts spanning ten centuries of European history offer many curricular connections.  Students discover the evolution of art and how changing lifestyles, politics, and belief systems find expression in new artistic subjects, styles, and techniques. Focused topics can include: the Middle Ages and Renaissance, the Enlightenment, and European Modernism.

Art of the 20th and 21st Centuries

Students investigate and analyze art from the 20th and 21st centuries, a period that witnessed an explosion of new media, including modernist canvas paintings to video and sculptural installations. Students become skilled in aesthetic and critical response by considering the intersection of art and contemporary experience.

Art and Writing Topics

Find the cure for “writers block.” Works of art can inspire creative stories and personal interpretations that become rich subjects. Writing projects are tailored to your classroom curriculum.

Art Inspires Narrative Writing

Grade 6 and up (90-min. tour)

Students discuss works of art to identify and analyze depictions of character, setting, theme, and plot. Writing prompts allow students to practice developing their own narratives as a framework for original writing back in the classroom. A poetry extension is available upon request.

New!  Learn about the structure of our Art Inspires Narrative Writing Tour, see suggestions for pre- and post-visit activities, and  examples of prompts used to engage students during their museum experience.

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