This summer, bring your students on a fun tour at the museum! All tours are free!
We are now taking reservations for our summer fun tours.
Our Fall 2013 tours will be posted online July 1, 2013.
Docent guided school tours allow students of all ages, pre-school, elementary, and high school classes to make meaningful connections with art by careful observation and interactive experiences such as discussing, sketching, writing, and hands-on activities with objects.
K-12 School Tours include hands-on activities for a specific grade level and provide a cross-cultural experience in several galleries. These engaging tours all include fun gallery activities and run 1.5, 2 or 3 hours.
Docent guided school tours are scheduled at 9:00 am and 10:30 am on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Afternoon tours may be requested at any time.
All tours are free except the See Art Make Art program that is $4 per student to cover the cost of a professional art teacher and art making supplies.
Spalding House Tours at 2411 Makiki Heights Dr.
We have a whole new type of exhibition at the Honolulu Museum of Art Spalding House. These uniquely designed exhibitions and tours use the visual arts to teach the core curriculum subjects; each exhibition offers an adventure in one subject: literature, math, music, science, social studies or physical education.
Music through Art (Gr K-12)
Starts June 18, 2013
What could be more fun that connecting art and music? Artists paint a symphony of colors to make their art sing. Come enjoy our exhibition with your eyes and ears and learn a shared vocabulary of artists and musicians.
Request this tour.
Honolulu Museum of Art Tours at 900 S. Beretania St
Georgia O’Keefe and Ansel Adams: The Hawai‘i Pictures (Gr K-12)
July 18, 2013 to January 14, 2014
1.5 hours
Visit our blockbuster exhibition and then participate in a student online project! While exploring the paintings and photographs created by Adams and O’Keefe during their visits to Hawai‘i, students will discuss how these artists reveal a sense of place unique to the islands. The tour includes an art making project for all ages and a story for the younger children. Following the tour, all students are invited to submit images and writings for an online display that documents Hawai‘i today through their eyes. This project is supported by a grant from the Hawai‘i Council for the Humanities.
Request this tour.
See Art Make Art: Asian Masterpieces (Gr 1-12)
3 hours
Tuesdays, 9am-noon
Students explore the Honolulu Museum of Art and view masterpieces from China, India, Japan, and Korea. They'll see what inspired these artists, then go to the Museum studio classroom and courtyards to paint their own expressive Asian-style masterpiece, complete with a personal seal and poem. The tour is free, however, the art project with this tour is $4 per student.
Request this tour.
Animals in Art (Gr Pre-K-3)
1.5 hours
During this entertaining multicultural introduction to an art museum, students discover animals in paintings, sculpture, the decorative arts, and other media. The tour includes several popular hands-on activities that address science, math and fine arts benchmarks.
Request this tour.
Elements of Art (Gr PK-3)
1.5 hours
How do artists use color, lines, and shapes? This hands-on introduction to the museum focuses on the Museum’s colorful paintings and sculpture from the Western collection. Students learn about the parts of art as they recreate art in the galleries with colorful activities as they learn the vocabulary of art. Students will be encouraged to select their favorite works of art and express their own personal connections to make it their museum.
Request this tour.
Kamishibai: Japanese Storytelling (Gr 1-2)
1 hour
Students love to hear the Kamishibai or “paper drama” stories told from a small stage on the back of a bicycle in our Chinese courtyard. This form of storytelling dates back to 12th century Japan, when monks cycled from town to town, attracted an audience by selling candy, then taught valuable lessons through the stories. A tour of the highlights of Japanese art is included.
Request this tour.
Roots: A Cultural Celebration (Gr 2-3)
1.5 hours
Echoing the mission statement set forth by founder Anna Rice Cooke, Roots: A Cultural Celebration celebrates the many cultural legacies of diversity in Hawai‘i.
Request this tour.
Literature through Art (Gr 3-6) Includes a booklet of art and stories!
1.5 hours
Do your students love stories? In this engaging tour, s tudents “read” works of art from our permanent collection and make connections between art and literature. Through careful observation, sketching, lively discussions, and reading, they explore how artists and writers make engaging works to interpret literary texts, describe and illustrate characters, giving meaning to words through art.
Request this tour.
The Great Outdoors (Gr 3-8) Includes art-making!
1.5 hours
Using the Honolulu Museum of Art's collection of landscape paintings, students will explore places around the world as they compare the environments of cities, country sides, and seascapes, and discover how landscapes have changed over time. Students will see how Hawai’i, mainland America, and Europe looked long ago and will understand that artists document and express changes in the world.
Request this tour.
Symbols of Identity (Gr 3-6) Includes art-making!
1.5 hrs
Students will study portraits, landscapes, and textiles to understand expressions of individual and group identity. The students will examine how art conveys identity through symbolism, artistic expression, and context through the artist’s choices and the viewer’s perceptions. During the tour, students will begin a work of art and writing to be completed in the classroom that expresses their unique identity.
Request this tour.
Let’s Sketch (Gr 4-12) Includes art-making!
1.5 hours
Try out several different drawing techniques used by artists to develop their work. Students will explore 5-6 works of art from the museum collection by drawing in a specially designed tour sketchbook that they may take home. Everyone can be a successful artist using these exercises!
Request this tour.
Discover Your Art Museum (Gr 4-12)
1.5 hours
This popular “highlights” tour focuses on the Museum’s standout works from the Neolithic age to the present. Students look at painting, sculpture and functional objects from around the world then engage in art through fun activities and discussions. Students will be encouraged to select their favorite works of art and express their own personal connections to make it their museum.
Request this tour.
Art of the Ancient World (Gr 6-8)
1.5 hours
Journey back through time and discover ancient civilizations! Learn about architecture, sculpture, painting, ceramics, and mosaics of the Mediterranean and the Middle East. Consider the importance of art in communicating the powers of rulers, stories of the gods, or ideas of the afterlife.
Request this tour.
World Religions in Art (Gr 6-12)
1.5 hours
Art can be an expression of religious beliefs and stories from around the world. Students will see art as visual communication for Christian, Hindu, Buddhist, Daoist, Islamic, and Shamanistic beliefs.
Request this tour.
