Docent-Guided Adult Tours

(be sure to read the scheduling a tour section below)

The Museum offers tours for adult groups. Our tours feature the permanent collection of the museum, but may include a visit to related special exhibitions.  If you are interested in a tour that is not on the following list, please speak to our tour coordinator about designing a special tour for your group. All groups are admitted to the museum FREE of charge. We also have regularly Daily Highlights Tours, Saturday Gallery Talks or Sunday Topic Tours. To find out when these tours are scheduled, you can link to the Museum’s listing of events.

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE BIRMINGHAM MUSEUM OF ART TOUR
This tour allows the first-time visitors to get an overview of the Museum’s vast and diverse collections.  Visitors are introduced to Pre-Renaissance and Renaissance European art, 18th & 19th French art, Impressionism, 19th American art and 20th Century Contemporary art all on the 2nd floor.  On the 3rd floor visitors see our expansive African, Asian, Southeast Asian, Precolumbian collections, and Decorative arts as well as our outstanding collection of Wedgwood, which established the Birmingham Museum as a center for research and study of 18th Century English Ceramics.

GRACIOUS LIVING: DECORATIVE ARTS TOUR

Gracious Living is a tour designed from the Birmingham Museum of Art’s decorative arts collection.  Decorative arts such as silver, ceramics, glass and textiles illustrate as much about history as they do art.  These everyday, useful objects tell us something about the people who enjoyed them, their artistic taste, their need for self-improvement, their fashions and social decorum and gracious living that dictated their times.  These functional objects are a reflection of superb craftsmanship and design and yet a part of everyday life, thereby occupying a special, heartfelt place that gives both aesthetic and nostalgic pleasure.

ART HISTORICAL CONNECTIONS
This tour dispels the stereotype that art exists merely as a collector’s piece, disconnected from history and culture.  Instead, it will show that art is created in a cultural and historical dynamic. Art Historical Connections introduces Western art by presenting works of art in the context of Western history, which includes cultural, social and biographical information. You will see the objects as part of the accumulated experience of humankind, examine the time and place of their creation, and discover the ideas that generated them.  Ultimately, connections will be made between our contemporary world and the past.

AMERICA THEN AND NOW

Examine art in the United States from the eighteenth to the twentieth century. Identify styles, themes, and cultural values that exemplify the nation’s diversity. The European settlement of America, the expansion of the West, and the World Wars will be discussed through works of art in the permanent collection.

 

AFRICAN AMERICAN HERITAGE TOUR

Celebrate and learn about the traditional arts of African masks, sculpted figures, and textiles that have played a role in the creation of works of art by African Americans.

 

CROSSCURRENTS OF CULTURE

Inquiring minds want to know what an African mask or a Native American totem pole can tell us about the varied roles art has played in different cultures. Learn about traditions, rituals, and customs by studying the art of African, Native American, and Precolumbian cultures by exploring function, style, and meaning of the artifacts from these cultures.

 

COLOR MY WORLD

Introduces basic techniques used to create works of art: manipulation of line, color, light and shadow, pattern, texture, and shape.  Discover how the elements of art have developed from pre-Renaissance to the modern day.

 

IMAGINASIA

Gain insight into Asia’s varied history, beliefs, and values by studying painting, sculpture, prints, ceramics, and design. Discover a variety of materials, techniques, and motifs while studying the unique creativity revealed in the arts of China, Japan, Korea, India, and Southeast Asia.

 

MYTHOLOGY:

TIMELESS TALES OF GODS AND HEROES

What do the ancient stories of Greek gods and heroes tell us? Hear the various myths of ancient Greece, their lessons of friendship, sacrifice, pride, love and loyalty, and will learn how the Western world itself, to this day, expresses the ideas of ancient Greece.

 

A HISTORY OF PORTRAITS

By observing various portraits at the Birmingham Museum of Art learn about fashion, traditions, social customs, politics, and biographical information. Ultimately, students will make connections between our contemporary world and the past.

 

HANDS ACROSS ART

Tour for Visually Impaired Students or Adults

The Museum has been providing access to blind and visually impaired visitors since the mid-1980s and today is one of the national leaders in museum tours created specifically for sight-impaired visitors. Hands Across Art has specially trained volunteer docents and sighted guides who present the permanent collection of the Museum to the visually impaired visitors by means of pictorial descriptions of the art and three-dimensional tactile models based on the paintings and sculpture.  The experience is enhanced by the use of period music.

Tour Scheduling

For all tour scheduling contact Sally Stephens, Coordinator of Tours, Docents and School Services, Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m.- 4:30 p.m., by phone 205-254-2318, or e-mail. Tours are scheduled THREE WEEKS in advance depending on available time and gallery space. Tour bookings are made on a first-come, first-served basis.

Preparing for Your Visit
After scheduling your tour, you will receive a confirmation letter with important information about your visit, tips for teachers and chaperones, and suggestions for pre-visit and post-visit activities.  This letter will also include information on where to meet your tour guide, how to make arrangements for visitors with special needs, and telephone numbers to call if you need to make changes in your scheduled tour.  Closer to your scheduled tour date a second confirmation letter and map for your driver(s) will be mailed.

Age Level
Kindergarten (5 years-old) through Adult

Group Size
The minimum size for a guided tour is 8 people. Most school tours can accommodate 45-90 students. K & 1st grade must have one adult for every 10 students.  Older school groups should have an adult for every 12 students. Teachers are responsible for supervising their students while in the museum. Special arrangements can be made for larger groups when time and space are available. 

Availability and Cost
Scheduled tours are available from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Tuesday through Friday; Saturday 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.; and Sunday 12 noon to 3 p.m.  School groups are admitted FREE to the Museum except for Special Exhibitions.

Special Needs
In order to better serve the schools and give all children a wonderful learning experience, the Department of Education and Public Programs would like school teachers to consider the following suggestions when booking a tour for school children who have learning and/or behavioral disorders, or any other special needs:

  • Please advise the tour coordinator of your group’s special needs.
  • Request additional docents. 
  • Have extra chaperones accompany your group.