School Tours
Support your students’ critical thinking, creativity, empathy development, and visual literacy skills with an on-site or virtual tour of the Milwaukee Art Museum. Tours are designed to enhance curriculum in accordance with state and national standards for learning.
On-site school tours are currently available Wednesday–Friday. Virtual tours are currently available Monday–Friday. Plan your experience with the tour and pricing information in the drop-down menus below. Request your tour in advance: 6–8 weeks for guided tours; 4 weeks for self-guided and virtual.
Tour Information
Guided Tours
Experience the Museum guided by a docent educator. Get more information to plan your visit and choose a theme from the menu below.
- Tour admission is $5 per student, unless otherwise stated.
- One teacher or chaperone is required for every group of 10 students; those adults receive free admission.
- Additional adults will be charged the adult group tour rate of $16.
- Request a guided tour 6–8 weeks in advance.
- Schedule buses or transportation early, allowing travel time to and from the Museum.
- The Museum does not have lunch facilities. Please plan accordingly.
- Guided tours are one hour long unless otherwise stated.
- Confirm student attendance and final payment with the Tour Administrator 2 weeks before the tour.*
- Prepare students and chaperones; review What to Expect and Chaperone Guide prior to the tour.
- All students receive a Family Pass for free admission for two adults and up to four children under age 17.
Guided Tours + Studio
Enhance your tour experience with a studio activity led by a Museum Educator. Studio workshops are available 9:30–2:00 pm, October–May, Wednesdays–Thursdays with select availability on Tuesdays and Fridays.
- Tour admission + a studio workshop is $10 per student.
- Guided tours and studio workshops are each one hour for a two-hour Museum experience.
- Studio workshops can be paired with the following tour themes:
- Experiencing Art Through the Senses
- Elements of Art
- Communities and Traditions
- Studio workshop capacity is limited to 30 students per hour and 60 students per guided tour + studio workshop experience.
- One teacher or chaperone is required for every group of 10 students; those adults receive free admission.
- Additional adults will be charged the adult group tour rate of $16.
- Request a guided tour + studio workshop 6–8 weeks in advance.
- Schedule buses or transportation early, allowing travel time to and from the Museum.
- The Museum does not have lunch facilities. Please plan accordingly.
- Confirm student attendance and final payment with the Tour Administrator 2 weeks before the tour.*
- Prepare students and chaperones; review What to Expect and Chaperone Guideprior to the tour.
- All students receive a Family Pass for free admission for two adults and up to four children under age 17.
Self-Guided Tours
Guide your group through the Museum with activities and resources from our Teacher Resources.
- Tour admission is $5 per student unless otherwise stated.
- One teacher or chaperone is required for every group of 10 students; those adults receive free admission.
- Additional adults will be charged the adult group tour rate of $16.
- Request a self-guided tour 4 weeks in advance.
- Schedule buses or transportation early, allowing travel time to and from the Museum.
- The Museum does not have lunch facilities. Please plan accordingly.
- Confirm student attendance and final payment with the Tour Administrator 2 weeks before the tour.*
- Prepare students and chaperones; review What to Expect and Chaperone Guide prior to the tour.
- All students receive a Family Pass for free admission for two adults and up to four children under age 17.
Virtual Tours
Bring the Museum into your classroom with a virtual tour led by a Museum docent educator. Each tour is 45 minutes, with inquiry-based conversations and activities using works of art in the Museum’s collection. Virtual tour themes are indicated in the list below.
- Virtual tour cost is $150 for one class with up to 35 students.
- Request a tour 4 weeks in advance.
- Virtual tours are hosted on Zoom; a link will be provided upon confirmation.
- All students receive a Family Pass for free admission for two adults and up to four children under age 17.
Before Your Virtual Tour
Virtual tours offer engagement opportunities for a variety of learning styles. We recommend that students have a pencil and a sketchbook, notebook, or scratch paper for drawing or writing activities during the tour. Museum educators will open or join Zoom 10 minutes prior to the start of the tour to test audio and visual access with the teacher and to decide on student response procedures.
*No changes to headcount or tour theme will be accepted after the two-week deadline. The Museum cannot offer a refund if your head count decreases after your payment has been made.
Tour Themes
Grades PK–3
A Is for Art
Take a tour with the alphabet! Inspired by the book A Is for Art by Marjorie Nelson Moon, this experience explores art from many cultures while reinforcing language development.
Virtual available
Animals in Art
Discover a menagerie of friendly animals and fantastic beasts in paintings and sculptures from different cultures and times.
Virtual available
Art from Many Places and Times
Explore highlights from the Museum collection and discuss the making and meaning of art from different cultures while honing art vocabulary and critical-looking skills.
Experiencing Art through the Senses
Take a journey with art using your senses and imagination. Explore how works of art might smell, taste, feel, and sound.
Virtual available, Studio workshop available
Line, Shape, Color
Learn how artists begin to create masterpieces by getting to know the building blocks of art: line, shape, and color.
Virtual available
Storytelling in Art
Engage visual and verbal language skills to imagine, tell, and listen to stories that artists portray in their work.
Grades 4–12
Art from Many Places and Times
Explore highlights from the Museum collection and discuss the making and meaning of art from different cultures while honing art vocabulary and critical-looking skills.
American Stories
Hear about stories, places, and people from across the United States, as represented by paintings, sculptures, and decorative artworks in the American art collection at the Museum.
Virtual available
Art by Artists of the African Diaspora
Take a closer look at artists of African heritage in the Museum’s collection. From folk art to fine art, explore connections between Africa, Europe, the United States, and beyond.
Communities and Traditions
Investigate the customs of people who live both near and far, discovering the differences, similarities, and cross-cultural influences portrayed in their art.
Virtual available, Studio workshop available
Modern and Contemporary Art
Get to know distinct art movements (the “–isms”), from Realism to Abstract Expressionism, while comparing works from the mid-1860s to the present day.
Portraiture
Discover the stories of people and animals by looking for visual clues in portraits from diverse times and places.
Virtual available
Social Concerns + Social Justice
Use a social justice lens to examine concerns such as poverty, racism, gender inequality, and representation while considering the perspectives of the artists and the impact of their stories.
Virtual available
Writing + Art
Discover works of art as inspiration for writing with activities from our book Look, Write, See: Activities for Teaching Writing and Learning About Art. For on-site tours, students receive a sketchbook for this 90-minute experience ($10 per student).
Virtual availableHave questions? Email grouptours@mam.org or call 414-224-3842.
- Georgia O’Keeffe (American, 1887–1986), Series I—No. 3 (detail), 1918. Oil on board. Gift of Jane Bradley Pettit Foundation and the Georgia O’Keeffe Foundation, M1997.192. Photo by Larry Sanders. © Milwaukee Art Museum
- Alex Katz, Sunny #4 (detail), 1971. Oil on canvas. Gift of Mrs. Harry Lynde Bradley, M1975.143. Photo by John R. Glembin © 2021 Alex Katz/Artist Rights Society (ARS), New York
- Edwin Landseer, Portrait of a Terrier, The Property of Owen Williams, ESQ., M.P. (Jocko with a Hedgehog) (detail), 1828. Oil on canvas. Gift of Erwin C. Uihlein, M1967.79. Photo by Larry Sanders.
- Sénèque Obin, Clugny Market [Marché Clugny] (detail), 1966. Oil on Masonite. Gift of Richard and Erna Flagg, M1991.145. Photo by Efraim Lev-er.
- Ellsworth Kelly, Red, Yellow, Blue II (detail), 1965. Acrylic on canvas. Gift of Mrs. Harry Lynde Bradley, M1977.113a-c. Photo by Malcolm Varon. © Ellsworth Kelly.
- Reginald Baylor, On Duty, Not Driving (detail), 2010. Acrylic on canvas. Purchase, with funds from the African American Art Alliance in honor of its twentieth anniversary, M2011.16. Photo by John R. Glembin © Reginald Baylor
- William James Glackens, Breezy Day, Tugboats, New York Harbor (detail), ca. 1910. Oil on canvas. Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Donald B. Abert and Mrs. Barbara Abert Tooman, M1974.230. Photo by John Nienhuis.
- Loïs Mailou Jones, The Ascent of Ethiopia (detail), 1932. Oil on canvas. Purchase, African American Art Acquisition Fund, matching funds from Suzanne and Richard Pieper, with additional support from Arthur and Dorothy Nelle Sanders, M1993.191. Photo by John R. Glembin. © Lois Mailou Jones
- Ludwig Knaus, Dance under the Linden Tree (detail), 1881. Oil on canvas Gift of the Ren´ von Schleinitz Foundation M1962.31. Photo credit: John R. Glembin
- Helen Frankenthaler, Hotel Cro-Magnon (detail), 1958. Oil on canvas. Gift of Mrs. Harry Lynde Bradley, M1966.153. © 2010 Helen Frankenthaler / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
- Attributed to Georg Anton Abraham Urlaub, Portrait of Two Young Men in Powdered Wigs (detail), ca. 1770. Oil on canvas. Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Myron Laskin in memory of their daughter Elizabeth, M1966.61. Photo by John R. Glembin.
- Rashid Johnson, Untitled Anxious Audience (detail), 2017. Ceramic tile, soap, and wax. Purchase, with funds from Mark and Debbie Attanasio, Marianne and Sheldon Lubar, Joanne Murphy, the African American Art Alliance, and the Modern and Contemporary Art Deaccession Funds, M2017.60. Photo by Martin Parsekian. © Rashid Johnson.
- Wendell Castle, Walking Cabinet (detail), 1988. Painted wood, cast aluminum, and mappa burl veneer. Gift of Karen Johnson Boyd, M1989.112.
- Josiah McElheny, Modernity circa 1952, Mirrored and Reflected Infinitely (detail), 2004. Hand-blown mirrored glass objects, chrome metal display, glass and mirror. Gift of the Contemporary Art Society M2004.359. Photo by Tom Van Eynde, Donald Young Gallery. © Josiah McElheny
- Johann Wilhelm Lindlar, Waterfall in Norway (detail), 19th century. Oil on canvas. Gift of Marie K. Ingersoll and George L. Kuehn M1962.1159. Photo by John R. Glembin
