School Tours are conducted by volunteer docents who have been professionally trained by the museum’s Education Department. All tours focus on the museum’s permanent collection or special exhibitions. Tours of the museum’s permanent collection are thematic and cover a variety of topics and themes. Many tours have an optional workshop component which extends the tour theme with an art making project. The workshops are available for a nominal fee. Tours of the permanent collection are free; cost of school tours of a special exhibition vary per student. Kindergarten through third-grade tours are 45 minutes (or one-and-a-half hours with a workshop, unless otherwise noted). Fourth through 12th-grade tours last one hour (or two hours with a workshop).

Tour Description

Tours for School and Home School Groups
Ohio Academic Content Standards are available for all school tours.

Special Exhibition

September 20, 2008 through January 4, 2009

Children in American Art

Tour is $5 for groups of 10 or more. Free for members.
Workshop is $6 per participant.

Discover work by some of America’s greatest painters, including Copley, Whistler, Homer, Cassatt and Sargent in this exhibition on loan from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. With children as their subject, these paintings reflect the changing attitudes toward childhood in America from the mid-seventeenth to the early twentieth century.

Tour and Workshop for Schools and Home Schools
Take a docent-led tour through Children in American Art. In the studio, create an altered book and incorporate a short story based on a period painting of a child.

This tour meets Academic Content Standards for Visual Arts and Social Studies including History, People in Societies and English Lanuage Arts. Click below for standards.

Ohio Academic Content Standards - English Language Arts

Ohio Academic Content Standards - Visual Arts

Ohio Academic Content Standards -Social Studies

New! for Boy and Girl Scouts
Have fun and work towards Badge and Belt Loop requirements! Begin with
a docent-led tour of Children in American Art followed by a hands-on workshop. Available for groups of 10 or more. Tour is $5; workshops are $6
Call 937-223-5277, ext. 337 to schedule your group

PERMANENT COLLECTION
Tours of the Permanent Collection are free; workshops are $6

Preschool-Grade 1

(Preschool through grade 2 tours are 45 minutes)

Look, Listen and Create
The following tours are designed to engage younger children in fun and interactive learning activities in the galleries. $6 per participant.

A Dragon's Tale: Listen to the story The Egg. Search for dragons in the Patterson-Kettering Wing of Asian Art and create an illustrated book about dragons. Ohio Academic Content Standards

Color, Shape and Line: Listen to the story Harold and the Purple Line and participate in a gallery hunt in the Contemporary Gallery. Create a stick puppet using shapes, colors and lines. Ohio Academic Content Standards

Looking For Goldilocks: Listen to the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Look for clues about Goldilocks in the Dicke Wing of American Art and decorate your own porridge bowl. Ohio Academic Content Standards

Grades K-2
(Kindergarden through grade 2 tours are 45 minutes)

ARTventures from Far Away
In the museum galleries, travel around the world to learn about the art and folktales of different cultures. The following interactive tours include an art-making activity in the gallery. $6 per participant

Lon Po Po, A Red Riding Hood Story from China

Listen to the folktale of Lon Po Po and find out how three sisters outsmarted the wolf. Go on a gallery hunt in the Asian Galleries and make an accordion book.

Ohio Academic Content Standards

Safari Art Adventures

Listen to the African folktale Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain, then explore the African, Asian, Pre-Columbian and Oceanic galleries. Look for animals throughout the galleries and make an animal puppet. Ohio Academic Content Standards

Grades K-3

Artful Creatures

See how artists have depicted animals in art, from the real to the imaginary, while learning about the elements of art (line, shape, color, space, texture, and pattern). Workshop: Create a collage of a real or imaginary animal.

Ohio Academic Content Standards

Art Rangers

Use clues to find objects from diverse cultures used for daily life, ceremony, and adornment. Workshop: Use mixed media to create and embellish a special pouch to hold small reproductions of artwork from the tour.

Ohio Academic Content Standards

Storytelling Adventures

From the narrative images in an artwork to the art-making techniques of an artist, learn the many different ways that art can tell a story. Workshop: In the workshop create a narrative “comic strip” that can be rolled into a scroll when complete.

Grades 4-12

Myths and Legends

Gain an understanding of myths and legends as they are depicted in works of art. Workshop: Create a collage depicting a myth or legend.

Ohio Academic Content Standards

Sculpture Survey

Explore sculpture from around the world and learn about the natural materials used to create it. Workshop: Create a sculpture using found materials.

Ohio Academic Content Standards

World Tour

Tour the world while viewing art from diverse cultures. Workshop: Create a vessel representative of your culture. Ohio Academic Content Standards

Grades 7-12

It Looks Just Like You

Look at portraits from around the world, including contemporary images that explore the person beyond their physical appearance. Workshop: Create a mixed media portrait of a person either from history or popular culture.

Ohio Academic Content Standards

The Art of American History

Trace the history of the United States from colonial to modern times through works of art. Workshop: Create a landscape painting in the style of the Precisionists. Ohio Academic Content Standards

Grades 9-12

Humanities Tour

Choose from 12 different cultures to explore the art, literature and music associated with each period. Workshop: Custom workshop available upon request. Ohio Academic Content Standards