Engage the minds and imaginations of your students while they experience works of art in a museum setting. The Tucson Museum of Art offers a variety of programs for students to learn about art, history, and culture. Whether it's a guided art experience complete with hands-on art activities or a self-guided tour of special exhibitions and the permanent collection, students will have the opportunity to explore one of Tucson's treasures
.Designed for the first time visitor and museum-goer, this is an overview of the permanent collections and five historic houses, including Tucson's oldest remaining house, Casa Cordova. Docents will provide interactive tours of a selection of highlights from the collection. Learn what a museum is,and discover the different objects you can find in it. All ages. 60 minutes.
Spend your visit focused on the issues and objects explored in the special exhibitions. We can design this tour around thematic links to your curriculum. All ages. 60 minutes.
Art is a powerful stimulus for literary response. Encouraging interdisciplinary learning opportunities, this program enhances students use of visual art in their writing lessons. Concentrating on the permanent collection of modern and contemporary art, students will have the opportunity to use metaphors, sensory descriptions, and imaginary dialogues in their writing. The guided tour will be followed by independent time to choose a work of art to interpret as a poem. Available in April only. Grades 6 - 12. 2 hours.
Works of art are complex visual objects that invite multiple interpretations. Students become the participant and learn how to look at art recognizing elements of art, principles of design, and discovering how artworks are made learning about process and materials. This engaging tour of either the permanent collection or special exhibition starts students thinking about their own thinking as they consider meanings from visual information. Grades 9-12. 90 minutes.
Discover portraiture and understand the elements of art such as shapes, colors, and lines. We will discuss parts of the face while learning about the related five senses and the techniques artists use to tell the viewer about the character of their subject. In the Art School students use hand-held mirrors to study facial features and create a self-portrait. Pre-Kindergarten - Grade 2. 90 minutes.
Many artists like to include animals in their work and represent them in many different ways. Students will explore how artists in the permanent collection illustrate animals in paintings, drawings, and sculptures. In related art-making activities, students create a take-home work of art of a real or imaginary animal friend. Pre-Kindergarten - Grade 5. 2 hours.
Students will identify colors, lines, shapes, texture and patterns throughout the museum and will learn to investigate art objects through observation and discussion-based tours. Objects from the museum's study collection, which can be touched, are available for these tours. Students then have the option to create their own works based on what they have seen on the docent-led tour. Pre-Kindergarten - Grade 5. 2 hours.
During the 19th century artists traveled a great deal to capture the American frontier, its people and ways of life. The result of their travels - their paintings, drawings and sculptures - provide a glimpse into a special time in American history. During the interactive tour, students will learn about the geography of the United States, and what life was like between 1830 and 1875. We'll walk back in time exploring the historic Casa Cordova and discover paintings by Nicolai Fechin, Olaf Wieghorst, and Charles M. Russell.Following the tour, students will make an original painting in the Art School. Grades 2 - 5. 2 hours. Pre-visit materials available upon request.
Examine a variety of objects made by the indigenous peoples of North, Central, and South America from ancient times to the present. Students examine pre-Columbian art, Mexican folk art, and enjoy gallery lessons highlighting Latin American culture. Students will make their own clay figurine after an interactive tour of the Palice Pavilion of Art of the Americas. Kindergarten - Grade 5. 2 hours.
The Tucson Museum of Art wants to meet your classroom's unique interests. Please contact the Director of Education about extending your classroom learning with special tours. All tours of the museum's special exhibitions and permanent collections can be tailored to complement curriculum topics in the fine arts, social studies, language arts, and the sciences.
The museum welcomes teachers and group leaders to self-guide groups smaller than 50 students. Sefl-guided groups must make a reservation in advance. Both Docent-Led and Self-Guided Tours are offered at $2 per student.
Share your self-guided tour lesson plans and materials with other teachers! Submit the tools and ideas you have used successfully to the Director of Education.
To schedule a docent-led tour, please email your request to Tours@TucsonMuseumofArt.org or call 520-624-2333 ext. 111. Please schedule your tour at least three weeks in advance of your desired date. Reservations are contingent upon availability, and tours are not scheduled until confirmed via telephone. Please have the following information available when booking your tour:
If you must cancel or reschedule, please call 520-624-2333 ext 111 as soon as possible.
Docent-led tours and art making experiences address state and local learning standards. Tours are led by docents trained to discuss objects in an age-appropriate and interactive manner, and all art amking projects are led by Tucson's finest artist educators. Contact the Director of Education for more in-depth curriculum-related preparation.
Discussions of where, why and how you are visiting go a long way. Convey guidelines for acceptable behavior including encouraging students to show respect for the objects by not touching. One chaperone for every ten students is required. Photography is not permitted inside the museum. Backpacks must be stored in the entry lobby and are not allowed in the galleries. Students are encouraged to draw in the galleries with pencil only.
If students are bringing lunch and drinks, they must be left on the bus or in the entry lobby. Locations for outdoor lunch include the Plaza of the Pioneers, the Courtyard in the Tucson Museum of Art Education Center or El Presidio Park (across Alameda at the court houses).
The museum, historic block, Research Library, and Art School are all wheelchair accessible.
Director of Education:
Email: Education@TucsonMuseumofArt.orgPhone: 520-624-2333 ext. 123
Librarian:
Email: Library@TucsonMuseumofArt.orgPhone: 520-624-2333 ext.122
Administrative Assistant:
Email: Tours@TucsonMuseumofArt.orgPhone: 520-624-2333 ext. 111
Fax: 520-624-7202
Buses may park next to the Education Center on Telles.
Join the museum's professional development workshops for K-12 educators. This is a great opportunity for teachers in all disciplines to
explore current exhibitions; design interdisciplinary curricula in collaboration with their peers; meet artists, scholars, and writers; and
devleop an individual relationasip with the arts. Everyone who attends will walk away with strategies and materials that can be used in the
classroom! Please contact the Director of Education for a schedule of upcoming workshops.
Research Library
A growing collection of more than 12,000 books are available for use by educators. Although the print collection is non-circulating, you are welcome to work in the library Monday through Thursday from 10:00 am - 3:00 pm and the first Thursday of the month until 6:00 pm. Call for summer hours.
Art SchoolLearn new skills or improve your technique at the Tucson Museum of Art School. Classes in ceramics, painting, sculpture, and much more are offered year round for children and families. Contact the Director of Education for a catalog of current and upcoming classes.