• Docent tours for school groups
• Children's Workshops: (Tour+project)
• Chaperone Information and Museum Rules
• Canceling a Tour
• Parking and Bus Reimbursement

Docent tours for school groups

With the help of experienced docents, students (grades 3 and up) learn to fulfill the standards of the California State Framework for the Visual Arts: Artistic Perception, Creative Expression, Historical and Cultural Context, and Aesthetic Valuing. Spanish tour requests as well as tours in French, German, Dutch, Chinese, and Russian will be accepted according to availability.

The free docent tours listed below are available on Tuesdays through Thursdays at 10:00 a.m., 11:00 a.m., 1:00 p.m., and 2:00 p.m.; Fridays through Sundays at 1:00 and 2:00 p.m. No tours are available on the third Tuesday of the month, which is free day at SDMA.

An instructor must accompany college classes; K-12 classes must include one adult per 10 children. A maximum of 40 students in the morning and 30 in the afternoon are admitted each hour. Please wait for your confirmation before scheduling a bus.

To schedule a tour, please please contact Begonya Perez at (619) 231-1996 or bperez@sdmart.org, or click the link below to submit a request online. Tours must be scheduled at least four weeks in advance.

1. Museum Highlights
2. Baroque Art
3. American Art
4. Contemporary Art
5. Special Exhibition
6. Renaissance Art*
7. European (19th and 20th Century)
8. Asian Art
9. Sculpture Court
10. Customized Tour (per teacher's specifications)

* The Renaissance Art Cart can be incorporated into this one-hour tour or may be scheduled by itself as a 30-minute presentation. The cart contains a collection of objects that demonstrate Renaissance art techniques such as fresco painting, gold-leaf application, preparation of colors with pigment, and panel painting.

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Children's Workshops: (Tour+project)

Elementary school students (recommended for grades 3 through 6) can practice the second standard of the California State Framework for the Visual Arts: Creative Expression. The two-hour workshops include an introduction to the topic, a guided, interactive gallery tour, and a hands-on art project in the Museum.

A choice of four different workshops for a maximum of 30 students are offered on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon, October through May. These workshops cost $2 per student for materials (chaperones are free), and a $50 cancellation fee applies if a scheduled workshop is cancelled less than two weeks before its scheduled date.

To schedule a workshop for your class, please please contact Begonya Perez at (619) 231-1996 or bperez@sdmart.org, or click the link below to submit a request online. Workshops must be scheduled at least four weeks in advance.

• The Investigative Eye - Students learn about the elements of art and how to look at and interpret works of art, with an emphasis on the discovery process. They create their own art cube with six different details of paintings. (Curriculum connection: California State Art Framework Standard 1: Processing, analyzing, and responding to sensory information through the language and skills unique to the visual arts)
• Stories in Art - Students learn to find narrative elements in a work of art and how to interpret the story it tells. They create a unique art book. (Curriculum connection: Literacy)
• Our Place in the World - Students learn to identify and appreciate the differences and similarities in art from a variety of cultures and make an art tent of their favorite places in the world. (Curriculum connection: California State Art Framework Standard 3; Historical and Cultural Context)
• Portraits/Faces - Students look at different portraits and learn what they can tell us about the time, place, and personality of the people depicted in them. They explore the different art elements and techniques the artist used and produce their own three-dimensional portraits in contrasting art styles. (Curriculum connection: California State Art Framework Standard 1: Artistic Perception)

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Chaperone Information and Museum Rules

• Classes must be accompanied by an instructor (for college level) and one adult per 10 children (for school tours).
• Please stay with your group at all times. Instructors and chaperones are responsible for students' behavior while at the Museum.

Please review the following Museum rules with students before your visit:

• Walk at all times.
• Respect other museum visitors by using indoor voices.
• Remember to look and not touch the artwork. Fingerprints damage the artwork.
• To sketch in the Museum, groups of 10 or more must request prior permission at least two weeks in advance by submitting a sketching permission form. Forms are sent with tour confirmation.
• Sketching is limited to pencils, colored pencils, and crayons. Do not use pens or markers.

Please Note: Groups failing to respect museum rules may be escorted from the Museum by our security staff. Schools that are asked to leave will be considered a lower priority for future tour reservations.

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Canceling a Tour

To cancel a field trip, please contact Begonya Perez at (619) 231-1996 or bperez@sdmart.org at least two weeks in advance of the scheduled tour date. It is a courtesy to the docents, who make arrangements to come to the Museum that day to give the tour, and it will also enable us to make your time slot available to other classes. Schools with frequent cancellations will be considered a lower priority for future tour reservations. Please be aware that canceling a Workshop less than two weeks before its scheduled date will incur a $50 cancellation fee.

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Parking and Bus Reimbursement

Bus drop-off for students is at the white curb located between the Organ Pavilion and the House of Hospitality on Pan American Road. Buses should park at Inspiration Point off Park Blvd. north of President's Way. Free car and van parking is available at Organ Pavilion and parking lots throughout Balboa Park.

Limited bus reimbursement is available for designated Title I public schools in San Diego County on a first-come, first-served basis in combination with docent-led tours. Please contact Begonya Perez at (619) 231-1996 or bperez@sdmart.org for more information or to apply.

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