Overview

ArtMuse offers exceptional art tours for adults, kids and families in New York City and abroad, exploring works both ancient and modern. Led by established art historians, our tours are tailored your schedule, your interests, your level of knowledge, and the ages of your children. We promise our clients a distinctive, personal experience that will introduce kids and adults to art in an engaging, memorable way.

ArtMuse was founded 11 years ago by Natasha Schlesinger, an award-winning independent art historian and art consultant who has worked in the field for 22 years. Schlesinger’s love of art began during her childhood in Russia, where she accompanied her father on visits to the Tretyakov Gallery and the Pushkin Museum. When she had a child of her own, she was disappointed that the education programs at many museums weren’t designed for different age groups, and came up with her own creative ways to give her daughter an engaging experience. It occurred to her that she could extend this art education to other kids, too. Natasha launched her children’s program, Museum Adventures, in 2001. Before long, parents were asking for tours as well, so she created ArtMuse, offering tours and classes for adults, and ArtKids, for children aged 3 and up.

At ArtMuse, we believe that art appreciation adds to life appreciation, whatever your age – art lets you understand culture, history, and ultimately, people. But the key to enjoying art is interacting with it. We approach our tours and classes not as school, but as a thematic journey. We’ll weave a connective thread through a museum or gallery, whether it’s the personalities of the artists, or the cultural significance of objects shown in the images. Rather than trying to cover a whole museum, we focus on a few key pieces, so our guests can really see and understand them.

Kids often find museums just plain boring, but the ArtKids programs let them learn about art and history on their own terms, and have fun doing it. Our tours use games, songs and props to help them relate to and engage with the art. We might base a tour around monsters and dragons, princesses, or mythical characters from the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series. Though the artworks themselves are usually hands-off, we’ll provide items kids can touch and examine, such as a musical instrument or costume that ties in with the theme. And each tour ends with an art project that gives kids a chance to explore their own creativity.

In New York City, guests can choose a tour centered on one of over 25 museums, galleries and artist’s studios. Recently, ArtMuse expanded into London, Paris, Rome, and Florence, offering tours and classes led by experts we discovered through our art-world connections. Our knowledgeable guides will take you on custom-designed, thematic explorations of some of the world’s most renowned museums: the Louvre, the Vatican, London’s National Gallery, and Florence’s Uffizi, to name just a few. Tours of Moscow will be added soon.