Tour Description

90 minutes | Grades 2–12 | Up to 48 participants per timeslot

Step into history and explore how artists depicted American history and ideas on a tour through three iconic venues at Indiana University. Plus, enjoy a printmaking activity or demonstration during your tour!

Lilly Library: See one of the first printed copies of the Declaration of Independence, created by John Dunlap on July 4, 1776.
Eskenazi Museum of Art: View Gilbert Stuart’s famous portrait of George Washington, painted around 1796.
IU Auditorium: Experience Thomas Hart Benton’s monumental murals, The Social and Industrial History of Indiana.

This tour addresses the following Indiana state standards for social studies:
Elementary: exploring how life in the past was different
Middle School: tracing the development of the Republic from its founding
High School: understanding the role of founding documents in U.S. history

Tour Availability
Tuesday–Friday, March 24–May 21
10:00–11:30 a.m. or noon–1:30 p.m.
Indoor lunch space available by reservation: 11:30 a.m.–noon.

We can host up to 48 students per timeslot. For larger groups, please submit one request for the total number of students and note additional dates and times in the comments.

Tour Map

This tour visits three iconic venues on the Fine Arts Plaza at Indiana University. Chaperones will use this map to walk their groups to each venue, using the itineraries provided for each pod color.

The tour starts and ends at the Indiana Arc (red sculpture) outside the Eskenazi Museum of Art.

Tour Start Location

The tour starts and ends at the Indiana Arc (red sculpture) outside the Eskenazi Museum of Art. Here, participants can use our wagons to store belongings. If it's raining, everyone can come inside the art museum to store their belongings at the start.

Facilitating the Visit

Get Ready

Help bring wagons outside, near Indiana Arc.
Check / Prepare a tote bag of 12 mini clipboards with pencils and half-sheets of blank paper for the tour stop at George Washington. To start, put this on the white table outside the gallery.
Check / Prepare a tote bag of visual aids for the George Washington tour stop. To start, put this on the white table outside the gallery.
Check / Prepare musical aid for the Swing Landscape Stop. QR code for music found on Quest stop instruction sheet. Our use this link to pull up the music on your phone: G T Stomp

School Group Arrival

This tour starts and ends at Indiana Arc, where they can use our wagons to store lunches and belongings.

Greet the group and extend a warm welcome.
Orient the chaperones. They will need to walk their pod to each of the three buildings, so make sure they get the itinerary and map so they know where they are going, when. Point out the locations of the three buildings. Make sure they have the itinerary for their pod color.
Direct your pod to leave belongings in the wagon(s). Make sure everyone stores items that aren't allowed in the gallery.
Walk your group to the first tour stop.

Portrait of George Washington

Have chaperones or students help you bring all the wagons inside, even the wagons for pods who are heading over to Lilly Library first. Park the wagons in the atrium.
Lead your pod to Portrait of George. The stop will be the same as the interview with George Washington that we are doing for the Art Investigators tour. Portrait of George Washington | Art Investigators

Swing Landscape

Have chaperones or students help you bring all the wagons inside, even the wagons for pods who are heading over to Lilly Library first. Park the wagons in the atrium.
Swing Landscape | Revolution and Reflection

Tour Itineraries

Morning Tour Schedule

9:45 a.m.	Museum Guides arrive to get ready. Meet at Indiana Arc. If bad weather, meet in the museum atrium.
9:50 a.m.	School group arrives to meet us at Indiana Arc. Teacher organizes them into pods by 9:55 a.m. Put belongings into wagons.
9:55 a.m.	Walk to first tour stop. Guides going into museum should ask students and chaperones to help bring wagons inside.
10:00 a.m.	Museum Guides lead Orange and yellow pods into the art museum. Orange starts with George Washington. Yellow starts with Swing Landscape. Madelyn (or a staff member substitute) leads Green and blue pods to Lilly Library to see Declaration of Independence. A Community Guide will show the students the Declaration of Independence and Madelyn (or a substitute) will do a printmaking demonstration. Then Madelyn has a coloring activity the kids can do.
10:12 a.m.	Museum Guides walk orange and yellow pods to next artwork. Orange goes to Swing Landscape. Yellow goes to George Washington. Green and blue pods continue with their activities at Lilly Library.
10:25 a.m.	Museum Guides make sure pods depart museum on time. Chaperones walk pods to second venue. Blue and Green come to museum. Yellow and Orange go to Lilly Library.
10:30 a.m.	Museum Guides repeat the George Washington and Swing Landscape stops for blue and green pods. Blue starts with Swing Landscape. Green starts with George. Orange and Yellow pods are together with Madelyn at Lilly Library. A Community Guide will show the students the Declaration of Independence and Madelyn (or a substitute) will do a printmaking demonstration. Then Madelyn has a coloring activity the kids can do.
10:42 a.m.	At the museum, blue and green pods rotate. Green goes to Swing Landscape. Blue goes to George.
10:55 a.m.	For all pod colors, chaperones walk their pods to the IU Auditorium Hall of Murals. Museum Guides stationed at the art museum are finished. Just make sure to send your last pod on their way at 10:55.
11:00 a.m.	All pod color tour the Benton Murals together. Jean or a staff member or Guide (who is trained on Benton Murals) will be stationed there to facilitate.
11:30 a.m.	Tour ends for all pod colors. Option for school to stay for lunch. Picnic outside if weather is ok. Otherwise, Martin Commons.
11:50 a.m.	If they're eating indoors at the museum, time to clean up.
12:00 p.m.	If they're eating indoors at museum, it's time to leave to go back to school.

Afternoon Tour Schedule

11:25 a.m.	School bus arrives at museum, if they are eating lunch here before the tour.
11:30 a.m.	Picnic outside if weather is ok. Otherwise, Laura brings them to Martin Commons to eat lunch.
11:45 a.m.	Museum Guides arrive to get ready. Meet at Indiana Arc. If bad weather, meet in the museum atrium.
11:50 a.m.	If they're eating inside, time to clean up.
11:50 a.m.	If they've eaten lunch elsewhere, the bus arrives to drop them off. We meet at the Indiana Arc. If bad weather, we meet inside the art museum. Teacher organizes them into pods by 11:55 a.m. Pods meet their first tour guide. Put belongings into wagons.
11:55 a.m.	Guides and staff walk pods to first tour stop. Guides going into museum should ask students and chaperones to help bring all of the wagons inside, even the wagons for the pods who are heading over to Lilly Library first. Orange walks to George Washington. Yellow walks to Swing Landscape.
12:00 p.m.	Orange and yellow pods tour the Eskenazi Museum of Art. Orange starts with George Washington. Yellow starts with Swing Landscape. Green and blue pods go to Lilly Library to see Declaration of Independence with Madelyn Cage.
12:12 p.m.	Orange and yellow pods rotate. Orange goes to Swing Landscape. Yellow goes to George Washington
12:25 p.m.	Museum guides make sure pods depart museum on time. Chaperones walk pods to second venue. Blue and Green come to museum. Yellow and Orange go to Lilly Library.
12:30 p.m.	Guides repeat the George Washington and Swing Landscape stops for blue and green pods. Blue starts with Swing Landscape. Green starts with George. Orange and Yellow pods are together with Madelyn at Lilly Library.
12:42 p.m.	At the museum, guides lead pods to next artwork. Green goes to Swing Landscape. Blue goes to George.
12:55 p.m.	For all pod colors, chaperones walk their pods to the IU Auditorium Hall of Murals. Museum Guides stationed at the art museum are finished.
1:00 p.m.	All pod color tour the Benton Murals together. Jean or a staff member or a Museum Guide (who is trained on Benton Murals) will be stationed there to facilitate.
1:30 p.m.	End of tour for all pod colors. Optional group photo at Indiana Arc. Return to school.

Object Information

For Community Guides who want a deeper dive on the two artworks for this tour, here is the recording of the January 20 virtual training session with Jenny McComas discussing Swing Landscape and the portrait of George Washington.

PreVisit Materials

Here's what we share with the teacher, with their confirmation message. It includes, maps, parking info, itineraries for each pod color, etc. You do not need to do anything with this. I'm just sharing this for your awareness.

Teacher Guide - Essential Info for Revolution and Reflection Tours - Morning Visit.pdf

Teacher Guide - Essential Info for Revolution and Reflection Tours - Noon.pdf

Post Visit:

After the visit, when they get back to school or home, high school students can finish their writing assignments.