The Center offers an array of tours appropriate for various ages and interests. Below is a sample of themed tours‚ with suggested grade levels. The Education Department is happy to customize tours according to both student and curriculum needs.

Animals in Art
Examines the relationship of animals to their habitat and how they interact with humans. (Grades k-4)

Art That Tells a Story
Looks at paintings with a clear narrative to help students read works of art by describing artists’ use of line‚ color‚ and shape. (Grades k-4)

Learning to Look
Introduces students to paintings and sculpture in the Center’s collections‚ and helps them focus on looking at‚ thinking about‚ and responding to works of art. (Grades k-6)

The Language of Art
Explores how artists create works of art. Line‚ color‚ shape‚ light‚ texture‚ and space are introduced through paintings from a variety of time periods. (Grades k-6)

British and American Society in the Age of Revolution
Uses portraits‚ landscapes‚ and conversation pieces to examine the English people‚ their social values‚ and the landscape at the time of the Revolutionary War. This tour may continue across the street at the Yale University Art Gallery to compare America and her people during the same period. (Grades 4-8)

The Nature of Landscape
Demonstrates changes from descriptive recordings of the landscape in the 18th century to artists’ more personal responses to the natural world in the 19th and 20th centuries. (Grades 4-12)

Museum as Architecture
Investigates concepts such as proportion‚ space‚ and volume‚ as well as design elements such as materials‚ lighting‚ and floor plan. Students examine how the building relates to visitors and the works of art on display (Grades 4-12).

Principles of Design
Examines how artists use symmetry‚ perspective‚ rhythm‚ and other forms of visual expression to convey ideas and feelings. (Grades 4-12)

Costume and Fashion
Presents a historical overview of English styles of dress and codes of behavior from the 17th to the 20th century. Students learn how social‚ cultural‚ and political influences affect dress and manners. (Grades 4-12)

The Artist as Spokesperson
Demonstrates how art can reflect the period when it was created. Students focus on how artists chronicle‚ comment upon‚ propagandize about‚ and criticize the societies in which they live. (Grades 6-12)

Serious Laughter: Satire and Caricature
Uses paintings‚ prints‚ drawings‚ and rare books to examine the use and function of humor in the visual arts. Students examine works by such artists as Thomas Rowlandson‚ James Gillray‚ and William Hogarth. (Grades 7-12)

Words and Pictures /Writers and Artists
Compares and contrasts how artists and writers use such elements as drama‚ humor‚ conflict‚ symbolism‚ climax‚ and point of view. Students discuss paintings drawn from the Bible‚ mythology‚ poetry‚ and novels. (Grades 7-12)

Survey of British Art
Examines the development of art in Great Britain from the 16th to the 20th century. Students interpret what works of art reveal about history‚ politics‚ and culture. (Grades 7-12)

Be a Part of History: Slavery & Abolition in Words and Pictures
Through this two part tour program at the Yale Center for British Art and the New Haven Museum and Historical Society students will be challenged to understand the ways in which imagery shaped opinions about slavery, resistance, and abolition. (Grades 9-12)  Please click here for more information.

Romanticism in British Art
Explores how artists in this period represent concepts of revolution‚ nature‚ and the artist as hero. Students also learn to recognize the variety of artistic styles and frequent literary references used by painters such as J. M. W. Turner‚ William Blake‚ and John Constable. (Grades 9-12)

Shakespeare and British Art
Uses paintings‚ prints‚ engravings‚ and rare books to consider how the visual arts express the descriptive elements and structure of Shakespeare’s texts. Images from Henry IV‚ The Merry Wives of Windsor‚ and The Tempest are among those surveyed. (Grades 9-12)

Cross-Currents: Trends in 20th-Century British Art
Explores the origins of the modern movement and some contemporary results. (Grades 9-12)

Portraiture
Focuses on a very popular subject in the history of British art by examining works by such artists as Joshua Reynolds‚ Thomas Gainsborough‚ and Francis Bacon. Students identify‚ describe‚ and explore portraits from the Renaissance through the 20th century. (Grades k-12)