Gallery Visits for Students

The Museum welcomes school and camp groups year-round. SVMA students K-12 and their teachers are admitted free and can experience the current exhibition on a self-guided visit, or when booked in advance, with a Museum Guide.

Guided school group visits are approx. 40–50 minutes long and are facilitated by trained volunteer Museum Guides. Schools outside of SVUSD will be charged $5/student if a hands-on workshop is included with their tour.

SVMA is proud to be among the top museums in the country that partner with Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS) to improve critical thinking and language skills for elementary students through discussions of art images. For classes implementing VTS curriculum, the Museum is the site for the students’ culminating lesson, where they can view and discuss selected works of art on view in the galleries.

Sonoma Valley Museum of Art (SVMA) is currently engaged in a Re-imagining Art Education initiative to explore new and robust ways of delivering the arts to students, teachers, and families in our community.  For over two decades, SVMA has provided free art education to all 4th- and 5th-grade classrooms in Sonoma Valley through its Art Rewards the Student (A.R.T.S) program.

“The tremendous success and evolution of A.R.T.S. has been gratifying. We are grateful to all the Sonoma Valley teachers, our teaching artists, volunteers, funders, and the community for supporting this dynamic program over the years, which has delivered art education and its associated benefits to thousands of students.”

—Linda Keaton, SVMA Executive Director 

One of the central changes driving SVMA’s re-assessment of its art education programs is Proposition 28, a measure passed by California voters in November 2022 that requires the State to establish and provide funds for a new, ongoing program supporting credentialed arts instructors in schools beginning in 2024. In response to this new opportunity, as well as the challenges of post-pandemic education, SVMA is initiating a year of research, planning, and re-imagining its art education programs to test new programs and assess how to serve best Sonoma Valley Unified School District (SVUSD) and teachers to help deliver the instruction that Prop 28 is making possible for students.

Prop 28 will greatly impact art education in schools throughout California. “SVUSD has enjoyed a long relationship with SVMA. We are fortunate to have such a high-quality museum and art education expertise in this community, and we look forward to a continued relationship as we implement Prop 28.”   

—Jeanette Rodriguez-Chien, SVUSD Superintendent 

Over the last few months, the Museum has formed an SVMA Art Education team and organized meetings and conversations with a coalition of community educators—teachers and representatives from SVUSD, Creative Bridges, Visual Thinking Strategies, and others dedicated to ensuring standards-based art education for students in Sonoma Valley. The consensus is clear—new times call for new approaches in art education.

“Our aim with this initiative is to support SVUSD in fulfilling its changing needs around delivering art instruction in the classroom, while also exploring new and creative ways the Museum site can serve as a significant resource for educators and students alike.” 

—Margie Maynard, SVMA Deputy Director, Engagement & Exhibitions 

In addition to ongoing meetings of the SVMA Art Education team to assist in planning for Prop 28 implementation, the Museum is exploring some pilot programs such as using the Museum to serve as an academic resource and training center for teacher professional development.

SVMA will also continue hosting free School Visits to exhibitions and our hands-on Visual Art Studio for school groups and local youth organizations, as well as extending our Family Make-In opportunities where families create and learn together at the Museum. Additionally, the Museum now has the opportunity to explore after-school programs for teens.

“As a major supporter of SVMA’s art education programs for the youth of Sonoma Valley, we applaud the museum’s efforts to refresh and reinvent its arts education programs in response to changing needs. Prop 28 and the post-pandemic era have opened up opportunities for organizations such as SVMA to develop new options for art and creativity in Sonoma Valley.”

—Cathy Good, Co-President of Sonoma Plein Air Foundation’s Board of Directors