National Calendar of Art Exhibitions

with an emphasis on American representational art

at museums and other non-profit organizations

How to make the most of your visit to an exhibition

If you are touring, you will find American art venues to visit Indexed by State within the United States. Call the museum in advance to see if you can:

• join a docent tour to interpret the exhibition
• make a reservation to have lunch in the museum cafe
• use your camera to take pictures of the art
• download an iPod tour at home to play while you are in the galleries
• use your cell phone in the galleries to play an audio tour

Exhibition dates may and do change without prior notice from museums to TFAO. Always verify dates directly with museums before visiting their exhibitions.

Museums often have closed days. Mondays are common in the USA but sometimes there are other closed days or multiple closed days. It's a good idea to arrive early or late in the day when there are less crowds. Many museums have tours for school children in the morning, causing increased traffic. Some museums have evening hours and many offer free days throughout the year.

When arriving you can get an idea of what the museum considers it's most cherished works by scanning the postcards in the museum gift shop. Or take a look through books that describe the museum's collection. Larger museums have kiosks, brochures, and even computer rooms for viewing the collection on a screen.

Search Resource Library to read articles and essays about many of these exhibitions.

Don't forget your tablet or smartphone. At some exhibits with thick crowds it's hard to comfortably read wall panels and extended object labels. Increasingly, visitors are using mobile devices to solve this problem by either reading the texts online distant from the art objects while in the galleries or before their visit. For several years Resource Library has provided this solution for numerous exhibits, plus related information, at no charge to the public.

To enrich your museum visit read TFAO's Museums Explained. Also, to learn how museums put together exhibitions and tour them, please see TFAO's Planning, Organizing and Touring Art Exhibitions.

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