Summer guided tours are led by Museum Education college and graduate school interns, who interact with students to engage them in detailed looking, discussion, and critical thinking about works of art in the collection. Please consult the list of tours below to select the tour that is appropriate for your students' grade level and your area of interest. Guided tours meet all Illinois State Goals in Fine Arts and numerous goals and standards in English, Language Arts, Social Sciences, Science, and Math.

Guided Tour Times and Lengths

Summer guided tours will be offered Monday–Friday from June 25th through August 3th. Guided tours meet at 10:30 only and vary in length. See the descriptions below for information about program durations.

Teachers may choose to lead their students through the galleries without an Art Institute educator. We welcome teacher-led groups but also require these groups to submit an online tour application due to space considerations. Teacher-led tours begin at 11:00 and run every half-hour until 4:30.

Guided Tours

ABCs of Art: Lines, Shapes, and Colors
Grades Pre-K–3 (40 student maximum)
45 minutes
These thematic, interactive tours bring works of art to life for young children. On the 45-minute tour, students will discover two to four works of art related to the theme by reading a picture book, engaging in looking activities, and doing hands-on projects with such materials as crayons, yarn, pipe cleaners, and wooden blocks.

Museum Introduction: Art from Many Places
Grades 1–12 (90 student maximum)
45 minutes for grades 1–2; 1 hour for grades 3–12
An encyclopedic museum encompasses art from many geographic locations, historical eras, and varied cultures. Students will develop looking and critical thinking skills as they explore the differences and similarities among works of art throughout the museum.

Museum Introduction: Art From Many Places with Studio
Grades 4–8 (60 student maximum)
Monday–Wednesday, Friday, 1.5 hours
Building on the Art From Many Places guided tour, this program offers student groups the opportunity to engage in hands-on work through a studio art-making activity in the Ryan Education Center.