National Museum of Natural History Virtual Tours
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The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History virtual tours allow visitors to take self-guided, room-by-room tours of select exhibits and areas within the museum from their desktop or mobile device. Visitors can also access select collections and research areas at our satellite support and research stations as well as past exhibits no longer on display.
Virtual Tour Tips
- To navigate between adjoining rooms in the tours, click on the blue arrow links on the floor or use the navigation map in the upper right of the presentation screen.
- Look for the camera icon which gives you a close-up view of a particular object or exhibit panel.
- Try zooming in as some of the images are stitched together from individual pictures in order to create very high resolution gigapixel images.
Please note: This tour and these presentations have been tested and should work on all common devices, browsers, and operating systems (using a desktop computer with Windows, Mac, Linux or a mobile device such as an iPhone, iPad, or Android). Functionality and appearance may vary as it will adjust automatically to accommodate the most visitors. While the virtual tour has no advertising, ad blocking software or browser settings that block JavaScript and/or XML may interfere with the functionality of the virtual tour. Please let us know what you think of the tour and how the experience can be improved. Send your feedback to the NMNH Web Team .
Site Credit: Imagery and coding by Loren Ybarrondo
Equipment Used: Professional Nikon digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) camera bodies and lenses. The photography is typically done using rectilinear lenses with minimized distortion and shooting equirectangular panoramas at 22K pixels on the long side.
Software Used: No authoring software is used. The tours are hand-coded in HTML5 and JavaScript using the krpano graphics library.
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Virtual Tours
Schedule a free virtual tour for your group of ten or more adults. These live, interactive tours feature high-resolution images of artworks and provide online visitors an opportunity to engage in conversation with the museum’s docents. The tours are thematic explorations of both the museum’s permanent collections and special exhibitions. Using the online meeting platform Zoom, participants have the opportunity to examine and respond to exceptional artworks. These tours for adults are approximately one hour long and can also accommodate children. To schedule your adult group, please use the virtual reservation form . All virtual tours must be scheduled at least four weeks in advance. the request form .-->
Virtual tours for adults are offered in the following languages by request: English, Cantonese, French, Hindi, Japanese, Korean, and Mandarin.
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Tour topics
New anyang: china’s ancient city of kings.
A Splendid Land: Paintings from Royal Udaipur
Art Across Cultures
Arts of the Islamic World
Cherry Blossom Tour
Chinese Brush Painting
Chinese Ceramic Art
Eat and Celebrate
Explore Buddhist Art
Freer in Egypt
Korean Ceramic Art
This docent-led online tour will feature works of art from the museum’s collections of Korean art. The tour will provide participants with the opportunity to take a close look at and gain an appreciation of the beauty of these artworks, including Korean celadon—one of the world’s best-known types of ceramics—while also learning about the history of Korean art and listening to interesting stories of how these works were acquired.
Nature in the Arts of Asia
The Peacock Room and American Art
Past Exhibitions
If you missed the exhibition when it was on view, you can still request a virtual tour.
Fashioning an Empire
One of our docents will share the art and culture of Safavid Iran (1501–1722), including textiles with sumptuous surfaces, original designs, and technical sophistication. These luxury textiles played a critical role in the social, cultural, religious, and economic life of Safavid Iran. Used for clothing, furnishing, and movable architecture, fabrics also functioned as important symbols of power and as ubiquitous forms of artistic expression.
The tour begins on March 1 to coincide with Nowruz, the celebration of the Persian New Year.
Hokusai and the Art of Japan
My Iran: Six Women Photographers
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Become a member
Phoebe Kline sits in the Kogod Courtyard.
SAAM Stories: How did you first come to the Smithsonian American Art Museum fifty years ago?
Phoebe Kline: Having been a volunteer in a program which took American art presentations to 4th graders in the Bridgeport CT public schools, I was looking for a similar opportunity in the Washington area. I saw a call for people interested in becoming docents in the Washington Post column “Anne’s Reader Exchange” and the rest is history!
What has changed the most for you as a docent in that time?
The name of the museum has morphed from National Collection of Fine Arts to, eventually, Smithsonian American Art Museum. The Kogod Courtyard and its usefulness has impacted how docents use the space. There have been four directors, each with their own approach, and probably most impactful, the size and diversity of the collection has expanded in a wonderful way.
Is there an artwork or an interaction with the public that stands out?
There are several pieces that I have enjoyed using for both adult and student tours. At the Renwick, I love sharing Karen Lamonte’s Reclining Dress Impression with Drapery which is a surprise to visitors with a preconceived notion of what glass can do. And it provides an opening for discussing feminism. I love Hugo Robus’ bronze sculpture One and Another with its very basic shapes. I have used it to talk to school groups about becoming an individual, and to talk about nudity!
One memory stays with me from about 1975: I was doing a tour with high school students from DC and as we looked at Sam Gilliam’s painting April 4 one of the boys said that it reminded him of looking through the curtains at his grandmother’s house while the city was reeling from the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. It took my breath away.
Phoebe Kline, bottom row, fourth from left, stands with SAAM's docent class of 1978.
What is the best part about being at docent?
Of course, the opportunity to continually learn is a given. But here at SAAM, we’ve been fortunate to have had professionals who consider us colleagues and recognize our value as the public face of the museum. It’s been a gift to know and work with curators, installation folks and administration over the years.
How do you keep it interesting?
I love new opportunities, so in addition to gallery tours, I’ve done community outreach and I was part of the genesis of our Distance Learning component. I had the privilege of traveling with Education staff to Germany in 2004 to train DoDEA (Department of Defense Education Activity) teachers in the use of our technology and the possibilities for integrating art into their curricula. In the 80’s a group of SAAM docents gave tours at Barney Studio House on Sheridan Circle, and in conjunction with the National Building Museum in celebration of the centennial of FDR we gave walking tours of buildings associated with Roosevelt.
It’s always worthwhile to interact with docents beyond your own museum. I became involved with the National Docent Symposium (NDS), presented programs at 3 symposia and served on the NDS Council for six years, as well as I was also on the steering committee for the symposium when it was held in Washington in 2019. Now I am a permanent member on our own Smithsonian Institution Docent Exchange, a roundtable of representatives from the local Smithsonian docent programs.
Phoebe Kline in action during a docent tour at SAAM.
How has leading years of access programs enhanced or changed your role as a docent?
Participating in our America InSight program has helped me personally as I age and my eyesight changes! Taking programs to senior centers and assisted living facilities reinforced how much art can be such a joy to us at any age. I have learned to look more deeply at objects myself, and become patient with others as they experience art.
What is the biggest misperception about being a docent?
Visitors often wonder how much an object is worth and that is something to which we are not privy. Aspiring docents often think that we know every object in the collection and that is an impossibility!
Any advice for a budding docent?
Join other docents in enrichment opportunities; you will have wonderful conversations and get great ideas for your own tours. Enjoy the opportunity to work with students; they give us fresh eyes. Don’t be afraid to say, “I don’t know, but I will look into it.”
Read an interview that marked the Phoebe's 40th anniversary as a docent at SAAM. Inspired by her work and want to learn how to become involved? Resources, including upcoming information sessions and how to apply, can be found on SAAM's volunteer page .
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COMMENTS
Docent Programs. Most Smithsonian museums operate Docent Programs through their public programs or education departments. Docents are volunteer teachers who provide group learning experiences in the form of museum tours, demonstrations, or instruction in special activity areas. The Docent Program year varies from museum to museum.
Highlights tours led by volunteer docents at 12:00 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. daily. Last-minute cancellations may occur due to volunteer docent availability. Free. No reservations necessary. ... Home Smithsonian Institution. Museum Location. National Portrait Gallery 8th and G Streets NW Washington, DC 20001. Hours. Open 7 days a week 11:30 a.m.-7: ...
Docent-led, walk-in tours are offered daily at two venues, the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Renwick Gallery. At SAAM, the Highlights tours yield lively exchanges about American art, history and culture. At the Renwick Gallery, visitors explore unique craft objects by contemporary artists to learn about process, material and technique.
Duties and Responsibilities. A docent's main duty is to serve visitors to the museum by: interpreting the museum's collections for visitors through interactive programming. communicating directly with visitors, including the general public, students, special-interest groups, and visitors with disabilities. Docents must also work in concert ...
Teachers are invited to consult with the Smithsonian American Art Museum staff regarding content for self-guided tours. Contact us via telephone at (202) 633-8550 or at [email protected]. You can also submit your questions using our School Group Request Form.
Hours. Mon - Sun: 10:00 am‑5:30 pm. Join a docent-led tour for visitors who are blind or have low vision. Discover highlights from SAAM's collection through rich verbal description and sensory experience. Touch tour components for sculpture may be included. Tours are often followed by live musical performances in the museum's courtyard.
The National Portrait Gallery welcomes volunteer docents of all backgrounds and those who speak different languages, especially Spanish. People from all walks of life visit us every day, with some traveling here from abroad. The Museum's volunteer docents are flexible, adapting their guided tours to our visitors' interests and needs so they ...
Permanent Collection Highlights Tour. Celebrate our museum's centennial with a tour featuring Charles Lang Freer's collection of Asian and American art. Join our docents on an interactive journey to explore the highlights of the museum's outstanding collections, including the famous Peacock Room. No reservation needed.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 17 ongoing tours and activities. Spotlights: Freedom Now! The Modern Civil Rights Movement (1945-1968) Monday, April 22, 2024 12:45pm to 3:10pm. Program meets at the entrance to Defending Freedom, Defining Freedom: The Era of Segregation 1876-1968 exhibition, located on C2. Each 25 min talk takes place at 12:45 PM and 2:45 PM.
Apply to become a docent at the National Museum of African American History and Culture! Docents are volunteer facilitators who provide group learning experiences in the form of museum tours, demonstrations, or instruction in special activity areas. They are an essential link between the public and the Museum. DOCENT VOLUNTEER DUTIES
Using existing models including those at the Freedom Center and other Smithsonian Affiliate Museums, the ACM tasked me with creating a guide for a Youth Docent Program that they could implement in upcoming school years. After a week of research, tours and interviews with adult docents and Education staff at the ACM, I was ready to put together ...
Narrated Tours. The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History virtual tours allow visitors to take self-guided, room-by-room tours of select exhibits and areas within the museum from their desktop or mobile device. Visitors can also access select collections and research areas at our satellite support and research stations as well as past ...
Schedule a free virtual tour for your group of ten or more adults. These live, interactive tours feature high-resolution images of artworks and provide online visitors an opportunity to engage in conversation with the museum's docents. The tours are thematic explorations of both the museum's permanent collections and special exhibitions. Using the online meeting platform Zoom, ...
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Join other docents in enrichment opportunities; you will have wonderful conversations and get great ideas for your own tours. Enjoy the opportunity to work with students; they give us fresh eyes. Don't be afraid to say, "I don't know, but I will look into it.". Read an interview that marked the Phoebe's 40th anniversary as a docent at SAAM.
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