Guided Tours

Introductory Tours

Introduction: The West Building Collection
Monday-Saturday 10:30* and 12:30 Sunday 12:30 and 4:30 West Building Rotunda * (no 10:30 tours on Wednesdays and Saturdays)

Introduction: The East Building Collection Monday-Saturday 11:30* and 1:30 Sunday
11:30, 1:30, and 3:30 East Building art information desk *(no 11:30 tours on
Wednesdays and Saturdays)

Introduction: The American Collection Monday-Sunday 2:30 West Building Rotunda


Foreign Language Tours Foreign language tours of the permanent collection are
offered on Tuesday and Thursday. Tours of the West Building are at noon and begin
in the Rotunda. Tours of the East Building are at 2:00 and begin at the art
information desk.

March 7: French
March 14: Spanish
March 16: Spanish
March 21: German
March 23: Japanese
March 28: Italian
March 30: Russian

Volunteer Opportunities Available The education division is currently recruiting
volunteers for a variety of programs. Volunteers are needed to serve as docents
for student tours, pre-K through high school. Fluent speakers of Russian,
Japanese, German, and French are sought to conduct tours for high school and
adult visitors, and other volunteers are needed to offer tours of the collections
to adults on the weekends. A comprehensive training program is provided.
Volunteers play a vital role in fulfilling the National Gallery of Art's mission
to serve the public. Volunteering offers a rewarding experience and enhances
one's appreciation of the Gallery's permanent collection and special exhibitions.
For information and applications, please call the following numbers: school
programs (202) 842-6256; foreign language and adult weekend (202) 789-3013.
The application deadline is Monday, April 3, 1995.



Tours by Appointment Tours of the permanent collection and special exhibitions,
including tours with a sign language interpreter, may be arranged with at least
three weeks' notice. Please call (202) 842-6247 or TDD (202) 842-6176; for school
tours call (202) 842-6249 four weeks in advance. Written requests should be
addressed to: Education Division, Tour Scheduling, National Gallery of Art,
Washington, DC 20565. Include the type of tour you are requesting, two possible
dates and times, the size of your group, the grade if you are making a
reservation for a school group, your address, and a telephone number. You will be
notified either by telephone or in writing of the status of your request.



Audio Tours Permanent Collection "Inform," a new digitized system that allows
individualized access to interpretive commentary on paintings in the French
impressionist and post-impressionist galleries, replaces the conventional taped
audio tour, which offers information on a number of paintings along a fixed
route. The new self-selected approach lets the visitor choose to listen to
commentary on any or all of the works programmed into the "Inform" system. In
addition to enjoying the freedom of a personally selected tour, the visitor may
also limit the length of the commentary he or she wishes to hear on a particular
work or enlarge upon it by pressing designated keys. Narrated by Philip Conisbee,
curator of French paintings.

"Inform" tours are $4.00 ($3.50 for senior citizens, students, and groups of ten
or more). Tours may be rented near the Rotunda, on the main floor of the West
Building.

  • The Director's Tour, narrated by Earl A. Powell III, discusses fifteenth- through
    early twentieth-century masterpieces and includes some of the Gallery's
    best-loved paintings.

  • Special Exhibition The Glory of Venice: Art in the Eighteenth Century, with an
    introduction by director Earl A. Powell III and narrated by Andrew Robison, A.W.
    Mellon senior curator, National Gallery of Art, is available at the entrance to
    the exhibition.

    Audio tours are $3.75 ($3.25 for senior citizens, students, and groups of 10 or
    more). Tours may be rented in the Rotunda on the main floor of the West Building.

    Special headsets and/or scripts are available for visitors with hearing
    impairments. To reserve audio tours for groups, call (202) 842-6592.


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