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Engage your students with interactive field trips designed to spark curiosity, foster creativity, and build critical thinking skills. Through close looking, conversations, and hands-on activities, students are encouraged to share ideas and connect to works of art.
Field trips are led by trained guides and designed so that students can delve deeply into works of art together. This includes a facilitated gallery experience, which typically lasts about one hour. It can also include a hands-on art making experience in the studios or a writing activity, each of which typically lasts approximately one additional hour. Following your facilitated activities, you are welcome to explore the galleries in small groups with chaperones.
The cost for field trips (apart from Title I schools) is $5 per student and $12 per adult beyond the 1:10 chaperone ratio.
The CMA also offers virtual field trips! Learn more about those here.
Share this letter with your principal or district coordinator to gain administrative support for your field trip.
Title I Schools
The Art for All program is designed to offer Title I schools the opportunity to enjoy a field trip to the Columbia Museum of Art free of charge, whether in-person or virtually. Title I schools are eligible to take advantage of this opportunity while funds remain. Funding stipends for transportation are provided for any school in South Carolina.
The program is supported by the Lipscomb Family Foundation, the Karen Brosius Fund for Children's Art Education, and Aflac.
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How do I book a field trip to the CMA?
The minimum number of students for a guided field trip is 10. Our capacity is 60 students per visit. We ask that you book your trip at least four weeks in advance. Please contact [email protected] for more information.
School Tours Offered
Playful Nature (Pre-K-Grade 3)
Artists and scientists both share a keen sense of observation and a curiosity about the world around them. On this tour we explore habitats and climates, search for animal activity, and look closely at environments and natural resources, all while embracing a sense of play and wonder at the natural world.
What’s the Story (Grades 1-5)
Art is full of stories. During this session students use artworks as a springboard to unravel tales unfolding, discuss parts of a story, and develop characters, settings, and ideas that they can use to create narratives of their own.
Southern Voices (Grades 4-12)
This session delves into American history and culture through the lens of the South. In discovering images and objects made for and by individuals in the Carolinas and the region at large, students consider multiple perspectives, including their own.
Shifting Perspectives (Grades 6-12)
We all experience the world from our own unique perspective. During this session we use art as a way to see things through different lenses, from around the world and around the corner, and reflect on how we might each get different ideas from the same visual information.
Art of Identity (Grades 9-12)
Art can be a window or a mirror, expressing or reflecting deeply held beliefs, personal emotions, or larger ideas about the world. In this introspective tour students examine artists’ portrayals of themselves and the world around them and discover how those might relate to our own exploration of identity.
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"Often, when you think of visiting a museum with children, you wonder if they will feel welcomed and feel engaged. Our students felt welcomed, engaged, and happy to participate during our visit. I strongly recommend this trip for classes. Reserving our visit was easy and flawless."
— Richland One First Grade Teacher
"What an awesome field trip! Your docents were a perfect fit for our visit. Most of our students have never been to a museum and this experience will stay with them for years to come. Thank you for taking the time to make our visit so special.”
— Laurens County Fourth Grade Teacher
"My students thoroughly enjoy their visit each time and see it as a great privilege to go on this trip. Many of them have never been to a museum, much less an art museum, and are receiving a gateway cultural experience that enriches their lives.”
— Aiken County Art Teacher
"I very much appreciate the museum providing and encouraging school visits! It is so important for people to see art in person to get an understanding and true appreciation for it."
— Lexington County high school teacher
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CMA Field Trip Orientation
Watch this video with your students to learn more about what you'll do when you arrive at the Columbia Museum of Art for your field trip!