Photo: Daniel Perales
School Tours at Sarasota Art Museum
Students & Teachers, Welcome to Sarasota Art Museum!
Bring your students for a Museum visit, free of charge!
Sarasota Art Museum’s school tour program is designed to integrate visual art into the classroom and enhance student literacy, critical thinking, observation, and communication skills through museum visits, and classroom resources. School tours introduce students to original works of contemporary art, a range of media and processes, and related vocabulary to broaden students’ understanding of artistic concepts, increase comprehension of visual vocabulary, develop art-making skills, and build student self-confidence and communication skills.
School Tour Details
Registration is required for both guided and high school self-guided tours.
Guided tours last about 60 minutes and are offered on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10 am to 12 pm.
Self-guided visits can be as long as you’d like and are offered any day of the week, beginning at 10 am. One adult chaperone per 10 students is required.
Chaperones receive free admission and must remain with their group for the entire visit.
School Tour Availability
Guided tours are free for school groups. Reservations must be made at least three weeks in advance. Guided tours are a 60-minute tour led by a Museum Guide including interactive activities in the galleries.
Self-guided tours are free for school groups, with registration made at least two weeks in advance. We invite you to explore the Museum on the day of your choosing and at your own pace. Self-guided tours can be as long as you’d like! Take a deep dive and spend the day on campus visiting our galleries, SHOP, and Bistro, or pop-in to check out your favorite pieces with your students.
About School Tours
Observe, discuss, and connect! Contemporary artists often use unconventional methods, media, and messages to push traditional art forms’ boundaries. With all three of our Guided School Tours, your students will learn to look at and appreciate the art of our time.
During your visit your students are encouraged to observe closely and think critically, so they can express their ideas confidently and creatively about any work of art. Tours are designed to support your work in the classroom by developing students’ visual literacy and critical thinking skills through collective reflection and interpretation.
We have also designed a series of resources to accompany your tour – the Inside Out Videos and Educator Guides – to engage your students before and after your visit. Our resources are carefully designed to inspire curiosity, imagination, and understanding, as well as cultivate in our young learners an appreciation for contemporary art.
Join us for a conversational tour.
CREATION TOUR (K-12) (10 am and 11 am tour, Tuesdays or Thursdays)
(OFFERED DURING THE SCHOOL YEAR)
Students will use visual thinking routines incorporating mindfulness and movement to observe and interact with the art. Students will practice reasoning skills, putting their thoughts and reflections into words by sharing in the group conversation. They will also take time to reflect and sketch, accessing their imaginations to create their own interpretation of the art. Students will acquire new vocabulary to help them express their ideas fluently when describing and reflecting on works of art.
Incorporates Visual Arts and English Language Arts standards.
ARCHITECTURE TOUR (K-12) (10 am and 11 am tour, Tuesdays or Thursdays)
(OFFERED DURING THE SCHOOL YEAR)
Students will observe the building, the space and the art in the space in order to make spatial reasoning connections in the museum. They will learn how the art relates to the space in terms of dimensions, color, and light. Students will use visual thinking routines that incorporate mindfulness, slow looking, and sketching in order to process what they observe. They will practice making observations, asking questions, and making inferences as part of the group discussion. Students will acquire new vocabulary to help them express their ideas fluently when describing and reflecting on works of art.
Incorporates Visual Arts, Mathematics and Science standards.
DISCOVERY TOUR (K-12) (10 am and 11 am tour, Tuesdays or Thursdays)
(OFFERED DURING THE SCHOOL YEAR)
Students will explore the elements of art via observable properties such as line, color, shape, weight, and texture while also practicing numeric operations and geometrical reasoning. For grades K – 5, students will learn properties of matter. For grades 6 – 12, students will practice making observations and inferences verbally and in written form. All students will acquire new vocabulary to help them express their ideas fluently when describing and reflecting on works of art.
Incorporates Visual Arts, Mathematics and Science standards.
How to Book Your School Tour
We’re excited to welcome your group to the Museum! Please be aware our tours have limited capacities. Reservations are required for all school visits and must be made at least three weeks in advance, pending availability.
For more information, contact Group Services at 941-309-4300 or email: Groups@SarasotaArtMuseum.orgcreate new email (Monday through Friday between 10 am and 5 pm) or submit your booking form below.
High School Self-Guided Tours
We welcome you to explore the Museum on your own as well! We have resources available and activities to do both at the Museum and at home to supplement your visit.
School Tour Guidelines
For more information about what to expect and what to know before you go, download our comprehensive School Tour Guidelines below.
Lunch Options
If you would like to order lunch from the Museum’s Bistro, please contact Carolyn James, Catering Manager, at Carolyn.James@ConstellationCulinary.comcreate new email