First Saturday Tours
The First Saturday Tour program was launched in February 2007 as an opportunity to present thematic tours to the general public at a regular intervals.
These tours have explored such serious matters as “Depictions of Native Americans in Art,” comparing and contrasting the evolution of American thought and attitudes towards the continent’s original inhabitants and the plight of female artists in “Great Artists Who Just Happen to be Women”.
We’ve also taken a light-hearted view of our collection with the “Guys and Dolls” tour, which explored the complex (and sometimes comical) battle between the sexes, as well as touring our Antique Dolls and Firearm collection.
We’ve even tackled the technical aspects of our works with the “Painting Techniques” tour, answering the age-old (and often asked) question: How do they do that? We have even offered performance based tours centered around our spookiest art with the Halloween Tour and shared stories of the season with the Christmas tour.
Thought-provoking, chuckle-inducing, and all around good fun, the First Saturday Tours are completely free to the general public every first Saturday of the month at 2 p.m. No reservation is needed, but groups of 10 or more are asked to call in advance.
First Saturday Tour: Six Degrees of Art History We haven’t found a connection to Kevin Bacon yet, but many of our artists had interesting relationships with each other and other important historical figures, all of which we¹ll explore on this trip through the mysteries of human connections.
First Saturday Tour: Garden Tour: Coyote Sky Join us on an outdoor walking tour exploring Native American myths surrounding not only our flora and fauna, but also the animals depicted in our collection of outdoor sculpture.
First Saturday Tour: Louisiana JourneysOn this Tour, we explore the colorful history of our state through works of art either by Louisianans or depicting Louisiana accompanied by readings from Louisiana writers and historical figures.
First Saturday Tour: Architecture in ArtFrom soaring church naves to dogtrots in soggy swamps, gothic flying buttresses to Palladian palaces, we'll explore the art in architecture (or vice versa!) in our permanent collection.
First Saturday Tour: The Transcendental Tour: When America Discovered Itself On this tour, we¹ll explore the art and literature of the transcendentalist movement which marked the first truly American movement and the moment we stepped away from European models of thought, literature, and art.
First Saturday Tour: The Dog Days of Summer Reading and art will illuminate the doldrums that accompany the end of the summer and the tingle that comes with the anticipation of the onset of autumn.
First Saturday Tour: Being Framed: The Art of Frame-Making Tour The frame that surrounds a painting not only adds to the experience of the work, but is often a work of art in its own right. On this tour, we¹ll explore the art of frame-making and look at some of the Gallery¹s most spectacular examples.
First Saturday Tour: Bumps in the Night - Halloween Tour IIOn this most frightening of tours, we¹ll examine the things that can leap out of paintings and grab you trolls under bridges, witches in mountain caves, spirits in streams, banshees on the moor...and that¹s in only one of our many galleries!
First Saturday Tour: American Professionals Since America was itself a work of creative imagination, it's not surprising that the country has given birth to a number of innovative figures in various professions, which we'll explore through their depictions or inventions within our collection.
First Saturday Tour: Gifts of the HeartEnjoy stories and artworks on this guided tour that explore the beauty and spirituality of this most special of holiday seasons.