Artful Adventures Tours
Artful Adventures tours offer specially designed programs for groups of kids and teens, ages 4–18. Taught by trained Museum educators, these interactive and age-appropriate programs last 90 minutes and include close looking at objects from the collection paired with a guided art-making activity.
Tour Options
Animals in Art
Search for animals found in objects in the Museum’s collection. Learn some of the hidden meanings and symbols behind each while discovering how artists have used a variety of art mediums, textures, and colors to create each one. Then create a real or imaginary animal sculpture of your own using clay, wire, and mixed-media!
Objects of Power
Discover some of the symbolism and meaning behind objects in the Museum’s collections that are believed to have helpful qualities such as special powers or protection. Then create embossed artwork that has a special meaning to you by pressing on the back of a piece of metal to create a design that pops out on the front.
Painting
Big and small, abstract and realistic—the MFA is filled with many different types of paintings from around the world and across time! Take a closer look at examples from the Museum’s collection, focusing on one of three categories during your program: portraits, abstract paintings, or landscapes. Then create your own painting using some of the same tools and techniques.
Portraits
What is a portrait? Learn about portrait and self-portrait paintings while thinking about what facial expressions, clothing, and background can communicate about the life and personality of a person or group. Then make a portrait adding clues and details of your own!
Abstract Paintings
What is abstract art? Does it remind you of anything you’ve seen before? Consider these questions while taking a closer look at art from the Museum’s collections. Then make your own abstract painting using a variety of paint colors, brushes, and texture materials in different sizes and shapes.
Landscapes and the Natural World
What is a landscape? Artists have been painting landscapes of real and imaginary places with brightly colored skies and sweeping, scenic views for centuries. Explore some of the different techniques used to capture the beauty of the world around us, then use watercolors to paint your own!
Availability
Through August 2023
- Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 10:30 am, 12:30 pm, and 2:30 pm
- Thursdays at 10:30 am and 12:30 pm
September 2023–June 2024
- Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays at 9:30 am, 10:30 am, 11:30 am, 12:30 pm, 1:30 pm, and 2:30 pm
- Thursdays at 9:30 am, 10:30 am, and 11:30 am
Note: On Tuesdays, groups must depart immediately after the program, as the MFA is closed to the public.
Price
25 people maximum per group
$350 per group
$175 per group for Title I, Boston, Lawrence, Maine, and New Hampshire schools or groups that find admission cost a barrier to visiting
All art materials are included.
Lunch Space
For PreK–12 audiences, reservations for lunch space for up to 50 people are available at an additional cost for the school year 2023–24. Check back here for pricing and reservation information. Groups are responsible for bringing bagged lunches.
Book Your Group Visit
To get started, select the desired date of your Artful Adventures tour in the calendar, then click on the Tickets button below the tour option you’d like to book.
Reservations are available until four weeks prior.
Reservations available for group visits through June 2024.
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Preparing for Your Group Visit
Find useful information about how to prepare your group for your visit to the Museum, including details about entrances, chaperones, and policies, as well as tips to make the most of your visit.
Preparing for Your Group Visit
Payment Policy
Partial or full prepayment for your visit is possible by credit card during the online reservation process; any remaining balance due will be confirmed after the reservation is complete, and final payment is due at the time of the visit. Payments at the time of the visit may be cash, check (US banks only), or credit card.
Cancellation, Rescheduling, and Weather Policies
If you need to make changes to your reservation or your group is running late, please call MFA Group Experience at 617-369-3310 as soon as possible. School groups arriving more than 30 minutes late for their guided tour will instead visit self-guided; we’ll be sure to provide chaperones with a map and visit suggestions.
We realize that cancellations due to unexpected school/institution closures may occur on short notice. If you must cancel your visit due to closure or significant weather, please notify us as soon as possible by calling 617-369-3310. It is also sometimes necessary for the MFA to close unexpectedly due to inclement weather. If bad weather is expected in the Boston area on the date of your visit, please check mfa.org or call 617-267-9300 x0 to confirm whether the Museum is open to visitors for the day. Groups will not be billed for visits canceled due to Museum closure or significant inclement weather.
Contact Us
groups@mfa.org
617-369-3310
Sponsors
MFA School Programs are sponsored by the Arbella Insurance Foundation. Supported by the Smith Family Thinking Through Art Program Fund; the Germeshausen Foundation Fund for Youth and Family Learning; the Edwin S. Webster Foundation Fund for School Programs; the Bernard J. Rothwell School Bus Fund; the School Programs for Lawrence Public Schools Fund; the Gallery Instructors and Gallery Instructor Associates Fund for the Partnership with the Boston Public Schools; the Ulf B. and Elizabeth C. Heide Education Fund; the Mabel Louise Riley Fund for School Programs; the Gloria and Irving Fox Fund for Education; the Education of Children in the Museum Fund; the Patricia and Robert Lawrence Fund for Education; the Dorothy Wagenknecht Fund; the Morton P. Prince Fund; and the Seth Sprague Educational and Charitable Foundation Fund.
The Gallery Instructor Program is funded through a generous endowment by Marcia and Louis Kamentsky. Additional support from the Bascha Snyder Education Fund, the Grace S. Dane Fund, and the National Docent Symposium Gallery Instructors Fund for Professional Development.
The Lunder Maine Student Membership Program at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston is generously funded by The Lunder Foundation.
The McLane Family New Hampshire Student Membership Program allows New Hampshire students of all ages in public and private school, as well as those who are home schooled, to visit the Museum free of charge.
Artful Adventures is supported by the Michael D. Dingman Fund, the Pamela D. Adams Fund for Artful Adventures, the Richard W. and Marjorie S. Dammann Fund, the Mrs. Charles H. Taylor Fund, the William O. and Sally Taylor Fund, the Rieka, Samuel and Renée Rapaporte Fund for Educational Outreach for Youth and Families, the Kennedy P. and Susan M. Richardson Endowment Fund for Learning and Community Engagement, and the Bramhall Fund.
Access Programs are funded in part by the Bank of America Fund for Access.