Guided Tours for Pre-K–12 Student Groups
Groups of 10+ pre-K–12 students are invited to schedule a tour of the Museum’s Collection and/or our special exhibitions. Our inquiry-based Guided Group Tours, led by volunteer educators or Museum staff, challenge students to hone their observation skills. Guided Tours for students take place Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday 10am–4pm; at least two weeks' advance booking is required. Museum staff will work with each group contact to subdivide the group as necessary to comply with state and county capacity guidelines. Our current capacity is a maximum of 60 students/pre-K–12 group. Student groups of larger sizes may be subdivided into time slots throughout the day, or multiple visits. On the tour request form, pre-K–12 teachers or group leaders may choose a tour theme from among three curriculum-based tours (see below), or a special-exhibition tour. Guided tours cover approximately 5-7 artworks during the designated 45 minutes. Tour themes include:- Literacy Through Art: Inspired by the Asheville Art Museum’s K-12 outreach program for WNC counties, Literacy Through Art uses language arts to explore the visual arts, making connections to descriptive and narrative writing techniques and parts of speech. Literacy Through Art visits the Museum’s Collection Hall and selected special exhibitions.
- Discovering Art in Asheville: This tour focuses on looking at artworks through the lens of the elements of art and principles of design, using visual-arts and museum vocabulary. Discovering Art in Asheville is used as the foundation for facilitating a group discussion; it also includes the Museum’s Permanent Collection of American art of the 20th and 21st centuries, exploring the connection between art and artists of WNC/Southern Appalachia, Black Mountain College, and the US at large. This tour visits the Collection Hall and selected special exhibitions.
- More Than Math: Inspired by our teacher professional development curriculum. This tour uses mathematical concepts to explore visual art, identifying similarities and differences in lines, shapes, and patterns. This tour visits the Collection Hall and selected special exhibitions.
- Extended Tour Art Activity (formally studio add on): Extend your tour with a 45-minute hands-on art activity related to the selected tour theme in the Learning and Engagement studio, led by AAM Staff. This is encouraged for groups of 30 or more students. Note: Extended Tour Art Activities are not available mid-June through mid-August due to Summer Art Camp.
- Group admission for Guided Tours is $6/pre-K–12 student.
- Group admission is $7/pre-K-12 student for the Guided Tour + Extended Tour Art Activity.
- One chaperone is free per 10 students, with additional chaperones charged the student rate. Some restrictions apply. The Museum will invoice the group contact via email. Payment may be made via credit card, check, or cash. Check must be payable to The Asheville Art Museum.
Depending upon available funds, grants may cover admission fees, bus transportation, or some combination of both. Funding is contingent upon participation by your group in a Guided Tour. Funding is not available for student lunches or Self-Guided Tours.
In order to extend funds to as many groups as we can, we can only offer partial funding based on your school or group’s needs and our program costs. We receive many requests and try to match every request with appropriate funding whenever possible, but group financial assistance is limited. How do I know if I received funding?
When we have received your Guided Group Tour Request, we will check our calendar and current available funding. Then we will email you with your visit dates and possible financial assistance amount. We may request additional information before determining financial assistance.
College and university student groups: Click here for more information.
Self-guided pre-K–12 groups: Click here for more information.
To request a guided tour for a group of pre-K–12 students, click on the button below.
