School Tour Options
Rockwell educators are standing by to help you design a tour best suited for your students and your classroom’s curriculum, with engaging options for grades pre-K through 12. Popular tours include El Dia de los Muertos, Westward Expansion and Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Art & Culture.
Educators provide pre- and post-visit materials to help you make the most of your Rockwell experience. These materials were created in collaboration with skilled grade-level teachers to include activities, a Museum guide and essential vocabulary to give your visit the biggest impact.
The pre-kindergarten tour provides young children with an introduction to an art museum. Students learn through manipulation of natural materials and touch objects while learning about the artwork. Students also participate in an age-appropriate clay project which they bring home after the tour, inspired by the Museum’s collection of Native American Pottery.
The Native American Kindergarten tour supports grade level curricula and the New York State Common Core Native American Listening & Learning Strand. Students learn about the ancient way of life of some of the Eastern Woodland Indians such as the Lenape, Wampanoag and Iroquois; also the Lakota Sioux of the Great Plains region. Students will explore how different geographical regions influenced the different lifestyles of Native people. Contemporary Native American art is included to highlight Native cultures living today. The tour includes experiential learning utilizing touch objects, music, drumming and singing.
Artists, in particular landscape painters such as Thomas Moran and others, captured the grandeur and beauty of the West and captivated audiences at a time when travel was limited. These artworks created a groundswell of support and inspired national leaders to protect and preserve these special places for all Americans. Learn about the artists and national leaders who instituted the earliest national parks!
For this tour, students learn about westward movement in the development of our country, and how art teaches us about the past and present. We discuss how paintings, sculptures and historical objects can record people’s daily lives, history, ideas and stories.
The fourth grade tour connects classroom study of Haudenosaunee life and culture to the Museum’s extensive collection through experiential, hands-on activities and discussion. Students will be encouraged to investigate and discuss the artifacts, objects, and artwork in the new Haudenosaunee Gallery. The program includes an artmaking activity in which students make a traditional cornhusk doll, which they will bring home after the tour. Students will also enjoy engaging in hands-on conversations about animal hides, musical instruments, and a variety of other objects from the Museum’s education collection.
For this tour, students learn about westward movement in the development of our country, and how art teaches us about the past and present. We discuss how paintings, sculptures and historical objects can record people’s daily lives, history, ideas and stories.
Offered only in the fall, in conjunction with our Day of the Dead exhibits and community celebration, this tour explores the customs and traditions of El Dia de Los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, which is based on ancient traditions traced to the Aztec civilization in Mexico. Today, El Dia de Los Muertos celebrations combine Native American and European customs and are practiced among Hispanic, Mestizo and Indigenous peoples from the American Southwest and Mexico. It is a festive and joyful time to welcome home the spirits of deceased loved ones as well as honor their memories. Students create art pieces in memory of a loved one or historical figure during the program, which will be displayed on an ofrenda in the Museum’s Education Gallery and returned after our community program.
This tour explores artists’ unique styles, techniques and inspirations. Focusing on artistic elements, we tour the galleries, looking at and discussing various pieces from our collection. The tour can be geared toward middle school, high school, or college students.
By listening to selections of the Museum’s new audio tour and engaging in group discussion, students will learn about artists’ diverse histories and how artistic practice and activism have long been intertwined in ways that are not always obvious. On this tour, students will get a glimpse into what being an activist means through different periods of American history, including present day issues and topics including LGBTQ+ activism, feminism, race and prejudice, animal rights and more. Students will consider how to best use their own personal strengths and interests to put their voices to work for causes they care about. Explore the work of a wide range of artists including Virgil Ortiz, Juane Quick-to-See Smith, Frank Stella and more. Optional 45-minute facilitated art project.
