The Stanley School Programs offers tailored tours for your K–12 class or organization. Led by trained docents or museum staff, students will learn about the history of the museum, view key works in our collection, and engage in lively discussions and activities to ignite their critical thinking skills and imaginations.

Field Trips and Class Visits

We recommend submitting fieldtrip requests as early as possible. A staff member will contact you within two weeks of your request to discuss logistics and share pre-visit materials.

A girl looks at a sculpture in a gallery

Tours

Please submit tour requests at least one month in advance. Available time slots are indicated on the request page. Staff will respond to all requests within ten business days.

A woman speaks to a group of children sitting on the floor in a museum. Some children have their hands raised. Masks and sculptures are displayed on the green wall behind them.

Pre-Visit Guide

Share this guide with students and chaperones prior to their visit. We also recommend sharing it with parents and caretakers to inform them of your students' upcoming visit to the museum. 

Themed Tours:

Choose from our themed tours list. Our themed tours include:

  • Collection Highlights: See key works on view.
  • African Art: Learn about the rich artistic traditional and cultures of Western Africa.
  • Collectors & Collecting: Curious about how and why Stanley’s collection came to be? Find out in this tour.
  • Social Justice: Artists and activists.
  • The Iowa Tour:  This tour focuses on how the experience of living in the State of Iowa intersects with teaching, research, and artmaking at the University of Iowa and in the Stanley's collection.

Connections to State Standards

A fieldtrip to the Stanley is an extension of the classroom and an opportunity for students to apply their knowledge in new ways. Our themed tours aligned with Iowa Core Standards, including:

  • All the Universal Constructs
  • Literacy: Speaking & Listening Standards
    • Comprehension and collaboration.
    • Presentation of knowledge and ideas.
  • Social Studies Anchor Standards
    • Constructing questions
    • Constructing supporting questions.
    • Developing claims and using evidence.
    • Communicating and critiquing conclusions.
  • Visual Arts Anchor Standards: Presenting, Responding, and Connecting
    • Select, analyze, and interpret artistic work for presentation.
    • Develop and refine artistic techniques and work for presentation.
    • Convey meaning through the presentation of artistic work.
    • Perceive and analyze artistic work.
    • Interpret intent and meaning in artistic work.
    • Apply criteria to evaluate artistic work.
    • Relate artistic ideas and works with societal, cultural, and historical context to deepen understanding.

Have another standard in mind? Let us know! We can tailor the tour to your class’s needs.

Field Trip Logistics

The class or grade level will be broken into groups of 10 students or less for a one-hour tour of the museum. A docent or museum staff member will lead each group through the galleries. The school must provide at least one teacher or adult chaperone per group to manage museum etiquette and help move students through the galleries.  

Coordinate with Other Units on Campus

The Stanley has partnered with Hancher Auditorium, the Pentacrest Museums, and UI Libraries Special Collections to provide a rich, multidisciplinary experience for students visiting the University of Iowa campus. Please indicate on the request form if you would like to coordinate a visit with another campus unit.

Questions?

Please contact Joshua Siefken, associate curator of education, with questions about K–12 tours.

contact joshua

Please note:

All docents have completed a one-year training course and passed a background check to lead tours.