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University Students

University & College Classes, K-12 Educators, & Non-Profit Social Service Agencies TOURS

The Akron Art Museum provides quality educational programs and exciting learning opportunities for students and educators from preschool to the university level. As the only art museum in Akron, the museum is committed to supporting the educational success of local youth. School tours, including tours for university students, are FREE when scheduled by a teacher, instructor or school official three or more weeks in advance.

The museum also offers complimentary tours for groups of K-12 educators and beneficiaries of Non-Profit Social Service Agencies.

Regular admission fees may apply for groups who arrive at the museum without scheduling a tour in advance.

Scheduling a Tour

All requests must be made at least 3 weeks prior to the tour date.
All requests are subject to docent availability.
All tour requests must be submitted online.

CLICK HERE to request your tour.

Once you submit your online request, a museum representative will contact you within 3 business days. PLEASE NOTE: Your tour is officially scheduled upon your receipt of mailed or e-mailed tour confirmation materials.

For questions regarding your tour, contact Director of Education Missy Higgins-Linder at 330.376.9186 x229 or mHiggins@AkronArtMuseum.org. Also contact her as soon as possible should any of the
following occur:
• Your confirmation or tour materials contain inaccurate information or do not arrive shortly after you scheduled your tour.
• The number of students changes.
• You must cancel a scheduled tour.
• Your arrival is delayed for any reason.

Gallery space and docents cannot be guaranteed for groups arriving more than 15 minutes late unless the Museum has been notified of the delayed arrival. The Museum cannot extend tour times to accommodate late arrivals. Your tour will end at the scheduled time regardless of when you arrived.

Times
Tours are available during regular business hours: Tuesday-Sunday, 11am-5pm, with the last tour starting at 3:30; Thursdays, 11am-9pm, with the last tour starting at 7:30. The museum is closed Mondays. Special exhibitions may have different hours available for group tours.

Tour Size
The maximum number of adult visitors the museum can comfortably accommodate on group tours is 50. Large groups will be divided into smaller groups of 10-12 people.

Self-Guided Tours
Self-Guided tours and sketching in the galleries are available for university and college classes when scheduled at least one week in advance. Please check in at the museum’s reception desk to receive wristbands.

Please respect the experience of visitors, other classes and tours taking place in the museum during your visit. If a museum docent is with a class in a gallery that you wish to use, please wait until they have finished before you enter the gallery with your group.

Guided Tour Choices

Building & Highlights Tour: An Introduction to the Akron Art Museum
Explore daring architectural ideas and spaces that connect past, present and future as demonstrated by the Akron Art Museum’s recently completed expansion project designed by Viennese architectural firm COOP HIMMELB(L)AU. Docents will lead your group through the museum’s new and renovated spaces in the 1899 and John S. and James L. Knight buildings in addition to introducing you to highlights from the museum’s collection, focused on art produced since 1850. This tour lasts approximately one hour.

Akron Art Museum Collection Highlights Tour (Collection works only)
Sample the treasures currently on view in the more than 12,000 square feet of gallery space dedicated to displaying the Akron Art Museum’s collection. Docents will lead your group through an introduction to the museum’s collection, focused on art produced since 1850 that includes outstanding examples of turn-of-the-twentieth century realism, American impressionism and an eclectic array of late twentieth-century Pop art, surrealist and post-modern works. Prepare to encounter the work of local and international artists, folk artists, rising stars and some of the most established and respected artists in the art world. This tour lasts approximately one hour.

In Our Own Backyard: Exploring Ohio Art & Artists
Discover the multitude of Ohio artists represented in the Akron Art Museum’s collection and the richness and diversity they bring to the galleries. On this guided tour, docents will introduce your group to the inspired visions of Ohio artists and the ways they depicted the both the urban and rural sides of the Ohio landscape. Highlights include a visit to the gallery dedicated exclusively to the works of William Sommer, one of this region's most important historical artists. This tour lasts approximately 45 minutes to one hour.

Mod Squad: An Introduction Modern and Contemporary Art
“Why is that considered art?” “My kid could paint that!” “I just don’t get it.” “I don’t like modern art.” Sound familiar? Modern art can be a puzzle. Let our docents help you put the pieces together! What exactly do artists mean when they talk about abstraction? Explore how abstract artists “see” their subjects and some of the reasons they reinterpret their subjects in less-than-literal styles. Discover how artists took art and ideas in new directions by using line, shape, color and unorthodox materials in innovative and exciting ways. This tour lasts approximately 45 minutes to one hour.

Current Special Exhibitions
For information and descriptions of special exhibitions currently available for tours, visit the current and upcoming exhibitions page.

Eating Lunch at the Museum
Tour groups may pre-order boxed lunches from a special menu or opt for a catered lunch with table service. For more information on eating at the museum, please contact 330.376.9186 x212 or sParker@AkronArtMuseum.org.

Tour Policy for Non-Profit Social Service Agencies

To schedule a tour for a Non-Profit Social Service Agency, click HERE.

  • A qualified agency representative must be present to accompany each group of 10-12 clients.
  • A surcharge may apply to special exhibitions.
  • Agencies providing services for children should refer to the museum’s K-12 Tours info page.

A “Social Service Agency” is a charitable organization that provides programs and/or services for the benefit of clients, e.g. human, social and family services. Services offered by Social Service Agencies:

  • Focus on social problems, their causes, their solutions and the human impacts.
  • Promote the physical, mental, and economic health of the recipients and thus benefit the entire community in addition to helping individual recipients.
Services can include:
  • Public Health, including rehabilitation and health counseling
  • Services to Persons with Disabilities, including education, employment training, physical and emotional therapy
  • Services to Senior Citizens, including health maintenance, respite and improvement programs, recreation and counseling
  • Services to Children, including counseling, camping and other organized recreation
  • Housing Services, including rental assistance and shelter for homeless
  • Services to other populations, including battered women’s shelters, employment and training programs and independent living skills counseling.