Schedule a School Tour 

School Tour Facts

• School tours can be scheduled Tuesday through Thursday from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and Friday 9:00 a.m. until noon.
• The maximum number of students for a tour is 50. 
• The maximum number for an activity is 36 students.
• Optional art activities are available for grades 1- 5.
• School tours are one hour and activities are a half hour in length.
• The fee for a docent school tour is two dollars per student and the fee for an art activity is one dollar per student.
• Please allow at least four weeks advance notice from the time of the request to the date of the tour.

During the school year, the Galleria is buzzing with children coming to the Mazza Museum on a school field trips.  They arrive at the Virginia B. Gardner Fine Arts Pavilion and meet the head docent (art museum tour guide) for their tour.  She welcomes them in the Great Hall where they see the cascading waterfall.  Some children may want to throw coins into the fountain and make a wish.  Then the head docent escorts them through the galleria, past the exciting original art, to the amphitheater.  There students view a short introductory video that answers questions such as “Why is the Collection called Mazza?,” “What was the first artwork in the Collection?” and “How does the Galleria protect its artwork?”

Every tour has a special focus and goal. The head docent may instruct the students to look for award-winning art or listen for new art terms.  The highlights tour is a discussion of a few of the artworks from each of the teaching units.The teaching units include such exhibits as a printmaking exhibit, the Mother Goose Corner, a borders section, the book-making process, an historical art gallery and an art media exhibit. Other tours may be scheduled which focus on awards, Ohio artists,  oops!, multiculturalism, history of children’s illustrations, or environmentalism.
                                
The children circle around each of the five galleries with their docent.  The docent shares stories about the art and the artists and asks questions that encourage the children to think critically about the artwork.   During tours, docents introduce students to a variety of art styles and techniques.  When the bell rings, the tour is almost over and the students return to the amphitheater to discuss what they have seen and learned.  Their enthusiasm is the reward for our volunteer docents.

After the tour, some groups opt to have an art activity.  The students get to use the ideas they saw in the galleria to produce their own artwork.

The teachers return an evaluation after the tour is completed.  One of the comments is that the tour was not long enough.  We always prefer to leave people wanting to come back for more.
_______________________________________________________________

Schedule a School Tour

 Questions?
 Terry Olthouse, Education Coordinator
 at 1-800-472-9502 Ext 4777