School Tours
Spark your students' curiosity, creativity, and collaboration through field trips to the Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens. Docent-guided tours allow students to make meaningful connections with works of art through close-looking activities, thought-provoking questions, and lively conversation. Tours develop observation and critical thinking skills and address Sunshine State Standards, Duval County STEAM Standards, and 21st Century Skills.
The Cummer Museum offers uniquely-themed tours for each grade level featuring the permanent collection, temporary exhibitions, and the gardens. Tours are 90 minutes and include hands-on art-making.
Permanent Collection Tours
PreK: My Outdoor World
Kindergarten: The Art of Portraiture
First Grade: Types of Paintings
Second Grade: The World Through Art
Third Grade: Elements of Art
Fourth Grade: The Art of Florida
Fifth Grade: Art in 3 Dimensions
Middle School and High School: General Art History
Third Grade to High School: Touch Tours
Garden Tours
PreK Garden: Exploring Nature
Kindergarten Garden: Diversity of Nature
First Grade Garden: Being Part of Nature
Second Grade Garden: Patterns in Nature
Third and Fourth Grades Garden: Community and Nature
Fifth Grade Garden: Your World by Design
Special Exhibition Tours
Coming Soon!
Booking a School Tour
- School tours are available September through May.
- Tours are available Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays.
- Tours start at either 9:45 a.m. or 11:30 a.m. and will last 90 minutes.
- School tour pricing is $5 per student with one free teacher or chaperone required for every 10 students. Additional teachers and chaperones are $5 each.
- A $50 deposit is required to secure your tour date(s).
- Please submit the Date Request Form at least 30 days in advance of your desired tour date; dates are limited and fill quickly.
- Please consider testing and school schedules when choosing dates.
- Depending on the size of groups, multiple dates may be required.
SCHOOL TOURS – FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
DO YOU HAVE MATERIALS TO HELP ME PREPARE MY STUDENTS FOR OUR VISIT?
Tour packets are available at: www.cummermuseum.org/visit/education/school-tours#teacher-resources. The packets include an overview of what you and your students will experience while at the Cummer Museum as well as content standards and relevant vocabulary addressed during your tour. Pre- and post-visit activities are also included for you to complete before and after your visit.
Before your visit, please review with students the following museum etiquette:
- Please do not touch the works of art in the galleries as it can damage them.
- Always use walking feet.
- Inside voices (voice level 2) will make sure all visitors to the Museum have a good visit.
- No food, drink, or candy is allowed in the galleries, but can be checked in with a staff member if brought into the Museum.
- Always listen and follow directions from your teacher and Museum guide.
WHAT IF THE DATE, TIME, OR NUMBER OF STUDENTS ON MY CONTRACT IS WRONG?
Please email schooltours@cummermuseum.org or call 904.355.0630 immediately if anything on your contract is incorrect. Please let us know if the number of students booked drops from your original number at any time.
WHAT TIME IS MY TOUR AND WHAT TIME SHOULD I ARRIVE AT THE MUSEUM?
Tours are scheduled to begin at 9:45 a.m. or 11:30 a.m. and will last 90 minutes. We advise that groups arrive 15 minutes before tours are scheduled to begin. Unfortunately if your group arrives late, we will need to shorten your tour to fit within the time allotted. If you need to leave earlier than your scheduled time, please let us know so as soon as possible so that we may adjust your curriculum for optimal results.
WHERE DO I UNLOAD MY STUDENTS AND WHERE DO I PARK?
Buses, vans, or cars can drop students off at the north end of the Museum at the Education Entrance under the grey awning. A member of our Education team will meet you at the Education Entrance and will assist you with parking. If you choose to park in our lots across the street from the Front Entrance, please note that the doors will not open until 10 a.m. If your tour is scheduled before 10 a.m. you will need to enter through the Education Entrance.
WILL I NEED TO DIVIDE MY CLASS OR GROUP?
Every attempt is made to keep classes together, however splitting or shifting may be required to maximize your tour experience and to accommodate our smaller spaces and scheduling restrictions. Group sizes average 20 students per group and can reach as high as 25 students per group. A member of our Education team will coordinate with you when you arrive at the Museum to split or shift groups if needed. Since multiple schools can be scheduled at each time slot, please have students wear nametags with the student’s name, school name, and homeroom teacher.
WHEN AND WHERE DO I PAY FOR MY TOUR?
If your tour has a balance due on the day of your visit (minus the $50 required deposit), a member of our Education team will assist with final payment at the admissions desk inside the Education Entrance. Final numbers will be updated and payment in full will be required, which can be made by cash, check, or credit card. If chaperones need to pay individually, please advise them that a member of our Education team will let them know when and where to pay on the day of your tour.
DOES THE MUSEUM HAVE A PICNIC AREA?
The Museum does not have picnic or lunch facilities; however two local parks are nearby. Riverside Park is located on the corner of Margaret and Park Streets and has picnic tables and a playground. Memorial Park is on Riverside Avenue about a half-mile south of the Museum and is on the river. Neither park has public restrooms. An amphitheater-style space is available under the Fuller Warren Bridge, located within walking distance to the north of the Museum.
CAN I TAKE MY STUDENTS TO THE CUMMER SHOP?
Students are welcome at the Cummer Shop and must be accompanied by teachers or chaperones. A visit to the Shop is not included in the 90 minutes allotted for your tour, so you will need to plan accordingly.
CAN I STAY IN THE MUSEUM ONCE MY TOUR IS FINISHED?
School groups are welcome to stay in the Museum and visit any of the galleries, gardens, or Art Connections. As other school groups may be in the Museum, we do ask that you please respect the spaces that are needed for those students and yield to any guided group.
TEACHER RESOURCES
Tour Packets
Want to book a school tour? Click here.
Please click on the tours below to access the tour packet with information about your visit to the Cummer Museum, as well as pre- and post-visit activities to use in your classroom.
Kindergarten: The Art of Portraiture
First Grade: Types of Paintings
Second Grade: The World Through Art
Fourth Grade: The Art of Florida
Fifth Grade: Art in 3 Dimensions
Kindergarten Garden: Diversity of Nature
First Grade Garden: Being Part of Nature
Second Grade Garden: Patterns in Nature
Third and Fourth Grades Garden: Community and Nature
Fifth Grade Garden: Your World by Design
Teacher Trainings
Connecting to Art at the Cummer: Art Integration for Teachers
This in-service uses multiple intelligence teaching strategies to introduce teachers to integrating the visual arts, music, creative movement, and performance into academic classroom subjects. Using a developmental approach that emphasizes both visual and critical thinking, problem solving, and communication skills, the course will support state standards in the visual arts, math, science, language arts, music, and social studies and is appropriate for grades pre-kindergarten through five. This in-service is currently only available to teachers that are participating in Cummer in the Classroom and the Weaver Academy of Art programs.
Start with the Arts: Early Childhood Education Program
Start with the Arts is an instructional program created by VSA, the international organization on arts and disability, for preschool and early elementary school learners that uses the arts to assist young children, including those with disabilities, in exploring themes commonly taught in early childhood classrooms.
The Cummer Museum periodically holds trainings for area teachers on how they may incorporate the themes and lessons of Start with the Arts into their classrooms. These hands-on trainings demonstrate art-making activities, literacy exercises, adaptive materials, and classroom modifications, as well as other techniques to make art learning accessible to all students, regardless of ability.
The entire Start with the Arts curriculum is available for free through The Kennedy Center.