The James Museum

Schooltime Tours

Bigger Than a Big Book!

In this hourlong tour, children are invited to build a connection between the artwork they see in a museum and their everyday lives. Students look at paintings and sculptures (bigger than their biggest book) and compare them to experiences that are familiar to them. Stories and in-gallery art manipulatives complete the connection.

Native American Life, Then & Now (revised 2025)

This 90-minute tour focuses on the cultural traditions of six Native American communities – Diné (Navajo), Apache, Lakota (Sioux), Hopi, Santa Clara Pueblo, and Apsáalooka (Crow) — who lived west of the Mississippi, and the impacts on them as settlers arrived in the West. Through close looking, in-gallery manipulatives, and stories, students learn how artists communicate ideas about the varied and rich cultures found in the American West.

Go West, Young Artist

What drew artists to the American West? How did artists interpret what they saw? How do they honor individuals and other cultures in their work? In this 90-minute tour, students will critically think about how artists compose and share their interpretations of the American West.

Headed West in 1845! What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

On this 90-minute tour, the works of Native and non-Native artists expose students to the Western territory during the years of Westward Expansion. Students will study modern and contemporary painting and sculpture to analyze and interpret depictions of this era.

The Western Experience & the Artist Perspective

The James collection documents many significant events related to American Westward expansion. This 90-minute tour combines a careful look at how artists have interpreted these events with conversations about their significance in American culture.