School Programs & Partnerships
In the spirit of Noguchi’s artistic vision, education programs at The Noguchi Museum encourage exploration and discovery while honoring diversity, thereby affirming the value of each individual’s unique interpretations.
School Visits
School tours at The Noguchi Museum are available to students in grades Pre-K through 12, and are inquiry-based, exploratory experiences. Tours last approximately one hour, and stop at 3-5 works of art. Additonally, The Noguchi Museum offers Tour and Workshop Programs, in which students visit the galleries and participate in a related hands-on art making workshop.
Cost and Reservation Information
Please plan to schedule your visit 4-6 weeks in advance as time slots are limited. Please note, the Museum does not allow outside lecturers; teachers who opt to book a group visit without a guided tour may give their students information or activities that students can do independently or in pairs during their visit. This option is available to high school students only. Reservations are required for all groups.
To book a tour or visit for your class, please click here.
A one-time visit to the Museum is free for all New York City public school classes. For independent schools, or those outside of New York City, the fee for a guided tour is $5 per student with a minimum of 10 students. Chaperones are free. Groups interested in participating in a hands-on art making workshop following their guided tours may do so for an additional fee of $75 per class (up to 30 students). For more information please email education@noguchi.org or call 718.204.7088, extension 203.
Add a Pre-visit and a Post-visit workshop with a Noguchi Educator
A Noguchi Educator can come to your classroom before a Museum visit to prepare students, or after your visit to extend the art experience. Pre- and post-visits are planned by educators in response to the tour theme selected, and the information you share about your students and their classroom curriculum.
Pre- and post-visits are 45 minutes. The cost for each is $100 for one class, $150 for two classes (45 minutes per class). Pre- and post-visits must be booked at the same time as your tour. For more information please email education@noguchi.org or call 718.204.7088, extension 203.
Available Tour Themes and The Noguchi Guides for Educators
Below is a list of tour themes appropriate for different grade levels. Each of these themes is accompanied by a curriculum guide with activities for use in the classroom before or after your visit. Teachers may also suggest alternate themes when booking a tour.
Download all tour themes [PDF]
Click on a level to view themes and available curriculum guides by grade level.
Grades Pre-K - 2
Art and Me
Students on this tour will learn to look closely at a work of art as a way of understanding it better. They will learn basic art vocabulary and how artists use elements such as shape and texture in a work of art.
Click here to download Guide.
Nature and Art
Students will have the opportunity to examine the multiple ways that Noguchi incorporated nature into his art. They will identify the natural materials he worked with and consider the places they came from.
Click here to download Guide.
The Senses
Students will use sight, sound, smell, and touch to explore The Noguchi Museum and the art on view.
Click here to download Guide.
Grades Pre-K - 5
Places in Art
This tour explores the relationship between art and the places we live, travel, imagine, and care about.
Click here to download Guide.
Mining Art: Basalt, Granite, Marble
Students will look at the sculptures of Isamu Noguchi through the lens of geology. They will learn about the different natural properties of the materials Noguchi worked with while exploring the differences between nature's marks and the artist's mark on stone.
Click here to download the Guide.
Grades 3 - 12
What Is Sculpture?
Noguchi wrote, “I am ever mindful of the notion that to discover or rediscover the true meaning of sculpture, the experience of sculpture has to be expanded.” Students on this tour explore the idea of sculpture, including how it might be applied to space, furniture, and other objects not traditionally considered “sculpture.”
Click here to download Guide.
Exploring the World
Isamu Noguchi traveled around the world, learning from art and traditions from Japan, India, and Italy, among other places. He also lived in New York City for much of his life, and learned from and made art in response to New York. Students will learn about Noguchi’s own explorations as they explore the ways different traditions and places are reflected in his art.
Literature and Art: Writing in the Museum
For centuries, artists have inspired writers, and writers have inspired artists. Students will view sculptures in which Noguchi was inspired by literature, and read or listen to some of his own writing. While viewing the art, they will write their own creative writing pieces inspired by Noguchi’s sculpture.
Click here to download Guide.
Grades 5 - 12
Identity and Art
Noguchi’s work can be read as a lifelong quest to understand who he was and what he had to say. During this tour, students will learn about Noguchi’s personal journey, and consider Noguchi’s artwork and individual vision through a span of his career.
Click here to download Guide.
Abstraction and Meaning
Many of Noguchi’s abstract pieces have deep symbolic resonances. Students will consider how abstraction can convey meaning in art.
Click here to download Guide.
School Partnerships
The Noguchi Museum is committed to supporting local schools and community organizations. The Museum offers a range of partnership programs, each developed in collaboration with the partnering school. If you are interested in discussing ways in which The Noguchi Museum might collaborate with your school, please call 718.204.7088, extension 205.
Below is a list of selected current and recent program partners; click and expand on a program for more information.
High School Partnerships: Learning to Look
The Noguchi Museum’s High School partnership program entitled Learning to Look currently partners with three local high schools: Renaissance Charter High School, Long Island City High School, and the Academy of American Studies. The program varies at each site, depending upon the needs of the school.
The Museum's partnership with Renaissance Charter High School is a ten-session sculpture program, which takes place at the Museum during school hours. Images and information from the Spring 2012 program can be found on our Noguchi Teens tumblr site.
At Long Island City High School, a Noguchi educator collaborates with a teacher of English Language Learners and Students with Interupted Formal Education to offer an in-school residency focusing on abstraction and language skills. View the catalog of student artwork from Spring 2011, created by partner teacher, Leo Smith.
At the Academy of American Studies, during Spring 2011 and Spring 2012, a Noguchi educator worked with students who are English Language Learners. For Spring 2013, this partnership will expand to work with over 60 students in two English Language Arts classes. In particular, this in-school residency will explore the relationship of an artist's biography to his or her work.
Learning to Look is funded by the New York State Council of the Arts.
Elementary School Partnerships: One-to-One
The Noguchi Museum has collaborated with fourth-grade students and teachers at PS 122Q since Spring 2009. During Spring 2012, students explored how an artist gets to know his or her material, and created a group installation with rocks. The previous year, after learning about Isamu Noguchi's light sculptures, students created their own light sculptures.
During the 2010-2011 school year, VOICE Charter School families visited the Noguchi Museum for a series of workshops that combined the visual arts with music. Families wrote songs about selected sculptures, including both lyrics and the melodies. They performed at the Museum for their friends and families. These songs can be viewed here.
