K–12 Tours

The Museum is closed temporarily. All events and tours have been cancelled.

The health and safety of museum visitors, staff and volunteers is our top priority. Please check back for further updates. The university has adopted new policies on spring semester classes, residential life, travel, events and campus visitors. Find this update and the latest information on Duke’s Coronavirus Response website.

The Nasher Museum of Art offers guided gallery tours for K-12 students that address various learning styles through purposeful looking, collaborative investigation, engaging conversation, and thoughtfully planned gallery interactions.

Students are encouraged to use visual evidence to construct their own interpretations about objects of art and develop critical thinking and communication skills. Tours and activities are designed to reinforce classroom objectives and promote arts integration across the curriculum.

Guided tours are available Tuesday – Friday throughout the school year. Schools may bring up to 60 students to the museum at a time. For groups larger than 60, our staff will work with you to schedule multiple visits. Guided tours last 90 minutes for 3rd-12th grades, 60 minutes for PK-2, and include an art activity related to artwork from the tour.

Students will engage in discussion and critical thinking while viewing five to seven artworks in multiple exhibitions.

Guided tours this spring feature time in the following exhibitions, during the dates listed below:

The Collection Galleries: February 11 – June 5, 2020

Cultures of the Sea: Art of the Ancient Americas: February 11 – May 29, 2020

Ebony G. Patterson… While the Dew is Still on the Roses… : February 27 – June 5, 2020

Graphic Pull: Contemporary Prints from the Collection: April 2 – June 5, 2020

Art Odyssey

Recommended for grades PK-2 (Limited to groups of 30 or less for PK groups)
Available February 11 – June 5, 2020
The perfect tour for first-time art museum visitors! Students will explore the Nasher’s building and art collection with imaginative conversation, playful movement, and fun hands-on activities.

Double Exposure: Connecting Science and Art at Duke Gardens and the Nasher Museum

Especially for 2nd grade, Available February 11 – June 5, 2020
Students will sharpen observational skills, practice collecting data, discover connections between science and art, and engage in hands-on discovery as they visit both Duke Gardens and the Nasher Museum in a single day. This program includes 80 minutes of guided tours at each venue with a 50 minute lunch break. Students/schools bring their own lunch.

A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words

Recommended for grades K-5
Available February 11 – June 5, 2020
Explore the relationships between art and storytelling while building on classroom literacy skills. This playful and interactive tour reinforces the English Language Arts Common Core standards while introducing students to historical and contemporary art in a museum setting.

Art History 101

Recommended for grades 6-12
Available February 11 – June 5, 2020
Students will explore historical and contemporary issues through works of art on exhibition at the Nasher – from Ancient Europe and the Americas, to contemporary cultures from throughout the world. Students will look critically and engage in conversation inspired by what they see. Participants will take part in small group activities addressing a diverse array of subjects, which can be adapted to your group’s needs and interests.

Foreign Language Class Tour

Recommended for grades 6-12
Available February 11 – June 5, 2020
Bring your French or Spanish students to the Nasher for a cultural experience to enrich their language studies. Foreign language class tours are 60 minutes in length and are limited to 30 students at a time.

NEW – Spanish language or English/Spanish dual language K-12 tours now available. Inquire at nashered@duke.edu

Request a K-12 Guided Tour.

Before requesting a K-12 Guided Tour, please check this calendar for tour availability. Tour times listed on the calendar are currently available for the number of students listed in parenthesis.

This calendar will be updated as often as possible, but it does not reflect a “real-time” schedule of K-12 tour reservations.

Self-guided groups or teacher led tours are welcome in all of our galleries. Teachers should preview exhibitions to assure the content in each gallery is age appropriate. Self-guided tours must be schedule in advance.

Self-guided visits must be scheduled in advance. Complete this form. to schedule your self-guided visit or call 919-684-1169.

What to Expect

• Inquiry-based tour approach where students and Gallery Guide discuss artworks.
• Opportunity to practice critical thinking skills.
• Focused discussions on a selected group of about 6-10 works of art.
• All guided tours meet multiple North Carolina Department of Public Instruction Standards.
• Tours engage multiple learning styles.

Special Needs

Help us create an inclusive program. Please inform us in advance of any students with cognitive, emotional or physical disabilities in your group. We will do our best to adapt the program to best meet everyone’s needs.

Class Size

Classes will tour the museum in groups of 10 -15 students. Usually we can accommodate a maximum of 60 students per tour time.

Chaperones for Guided Tours

Grades K-5: 1 chaperone for every 5 students.
Grades 6-8: 2 chaperones for every 15 students.
Grades 9-12: 1 chaperone for every 15 students.

Chaperones for self-guided groups: We require 1 chaperone for every 5 students.

Lunch

K-12 school groups may eat lunch or snacks in the Community Classroom only if this space is reserved in advance. The Community Classroom seats a maximum of 32 people. Weather permitting, school groups may picnic on museum grounds in designated areas only. Outside food and drink are not permitted anywhere else in the museum or on museum grounds.

Bus scholarships are available for a limited number of K-12 guided field trips to the museum. Please contact nashered@duke.edu, or call 919-684-1169, to find out if your school qualifies.

Please contact the Education Associate by emailing nashered@duke.edu or calling 919-684-1169.