K-12 Educators

School Tours

Visit the museum in person - or virtually - this school year!

Engagement with works of art encourages students to investigate ideas. It fosters critical and interdisciplinary thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity. Above all, a museum experience is designed to nurture wonder and curiosity in students of all ages.

Tours can focus on a particular exhibition, Orozco's mural cycle titled The Epic of American Civilization, or a theme carried across the collection. 

Thematic Tour Topics

Across Cultures and Time

This tour uses the Hood Museum's collection to investigate what unites humanity across the world and throughout time while simultaneously celebrating our differences through. Your students will learn about the rich, diverse, and fascinating stories behind various artifacts and artworks. They will gain a deeper appreciation for the world's cultural heritage through objects ranging from the ancient Assyrian reliefs to global contemporary paintings and sculptures.

Art and the Construction of History

Throughout history, art has influenced perceptions of events and people. This tour explores how artists have constructed and reconstructed history through their practice. Participants will gain insights into the ways in which art reflects and impacts its cultural, political, and social contexts.

Linguistic Connections for Foreign Language Classes

This tour connects students to the culture you are learning about through selected works on view. Adaptable to various proficiency levels, the activities for these tours emphasize speaking, reading, and writing in the language students are studying. All tours are conducted in English.

Visual Stories: Art and Creative Writing

Participants will explore how visual art can evoke emotions, ideas, and narratives and try techniques to translate these elements into compelling written pieces. This tour will inspire and ignite creativity by using works of art as catalysts for storytelling, poetry, or literary connections. 

How Did They Do That? Making and Materials

This tour introduces students to how art is made, how materials are sourced, and how those materials are connected to the messages artists seek to convey. 

Identity

What can a work of art reveal about identity? On this tour, students will explore how artworks convey personal expression and self-awareness, as well as the impact of cultural, relational, and historical influences upon them.

Excavating the Past: An Archaeological Tour

Students will learn about the archaeological process from excavation to analysis and gain insights into the methods used to uncover and interpret historical artifacts. Students will undertake their own archaeological review of selected works on view, exploring the significance of these objects and what they reveal about the civilizations that produced them. Students will also discuss ethical collecting practice. 

Customized Tour

Share with us what you are learning about in your classroom, and we can design a customized tour that connects to your learning goals. Tours can focus on a single gallery or make links across various works of art on view.  

Multiple Visit Programs

The Hood Museum of Art offers two multiple-visit programs for elementary school students: ArtStart (for grades 2–3) and Images (for grades 4–6). Each program offers a journey of discovery, creativity, and expression. Guided explorations and interactive teaching in the museum enable students to develop critical-thinking skills for interpreting works of art and relating them to their lives.

Images

Images is a program offered for regional elementary school students in grades 4 through 6 that brings groups to the museum four times during the year. Each visit includes time in the galleries, where students learn from and discuss original works of art with a professional museum educator. Afterward, in the studio, students complete a hands-on art project that relates to what they looked at and learned in the galleries.

Images is an innovative art education program that provides students with valuable skills for analyzing and interpreting works of art and increases their understanding and appreciation of the history, customs, beliefs, and artistic traditions of cultures and peoples from around the world.

ArtStart

ArtStart is a multiple-visit program designed for students in grades 2 through 3. Participants visit the museum four times during the year. During each visit, students spend time in the galleries exploring art objects from around the world and in the studio creating their own works of art.