Observe, Interpret, and Create
Free for Students and Educators
In-Person Student Art Workshops are now available!
Student Art Workshops offer the chance for students to pair the processes of observing and interpreting art from the Museum galleries with the exploratory process of creating art in response through workshops led by our Community Engagement Museum Educators.
Students visit the Museum to:
- Observe and interpret art in the Museum galleries
- Explore ideas and experiment with studio art processes and materials
- Make connections between the artworks on display in the Museum and the art they individually create
- Engage in creative expression and personal visual storytelling through art
2026-2027 Student Art Workshops
Studio Lab
Sensory Artist Books
Designed for Grades 3–12
In this hands-on workshop, students will participate in a sensory, docent-led tour and create a mixed-media artist book inspired by works on view in the Museum’s galleries and the Young Art: Senses exhibition. During the tour, students will use pencils and sketchbooks to observe and respond to artworks. Guided prompts will encourage them to consider how artists express sensory experience in different ways, and how their own experiences with touch, sound, smell, sight, and taste shape memory, emotion, connection, and meaning. In the studio, students build on their gallery observations by creating their own books using mixed-media techniques such as drawing, collage, mark-making, and written reflection.
One adult chaperone per 10 students required. Bus reimbursement scholarships are available. Please inquire through the below online form.
- Duration: 3 hours (10:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m.)
- Group Size: Minimum 10 students with 1 adult chaperone (in addition to the teacher); maximum 36 students with up to 4 adult chaperones (in addition to the teacher).
- Chaperones: 1 adult chaperone per 10 students required; teachers are not counted as chaperones. Additional adult chaperones may be accommodated upon request.
- All supplies provided.
Workshops must be requested at least 3 weeks in advance. If you need to cancel, please notify us at least one month in advance so we can offer the spot to another group.
Bus scholarships available.
Inquire through the link below.
Presented with support from the Julie Sourisa Memorial Art Fund.
Exposure
Reflection and Refraction
Designed for Grades 3–12
In this two-part workshop for Title I schools, students will explore identity and connection through photography and personalized scrapbooks.
Part 1: At the Museum
Students tour of the MOPA@SDMA galleries, focusing on personal storytelling and multimedia art. With digital cameras, students will then explore Balboa Park taking self portraits, capturing textures, and experimenting with perspective.
Part 2: In your Classroom
In the classroom, students will print and curate their photographs into personalized scrapbooks, exploring visual storytelling while creating a keepsake of their work.
One adult chaperone per 10 students requested. Bus reimbursement scholarships are available. Please inquire through the below online form.
- Part 1: At MOPA@SDMA 10:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m.
- Part 2: 90-minute in class workshop onsite at your school’s classroom
- Group Size: Minimum 10 students with 1 adult chaperone (in addition to the teacher); maximum 36 students with up to 4 adult chaperones (in addition to the teacher).
- Chaperones: 1 adult chaperone per 10 students required; teachers are not counted as chaperones. Additional adult chaperones may be accommodated upon request.
- All supplies provided.
Workshops must be requested at least 3 weeks in advance. If you need to cancel, please notify us at least one month in advance so we can offer the spot to another group.
Bus scholarships available.
Inquire through the link below.
Thank you for your interest in student art workshops.
Please note, workshops must be requested online at least three weeks in advance. There is a maximum of two entries per school.
Bus Transportation Support
For Title I Schools
Financial assistance for bus transportation for school visits to the Museum for Student Art Workshops is available to Title I schools under the following requirements:
- Assistance is in the form of reimbursement to the school for bus transportation costs.
- Reimbursement must be requested and approved by the Museum prior to the date the workshop takes place.
- Assistance is available only to Title I schools located within San Diego County.
- Tour or workshop arrangements must be made at least three weeks in advance.
- A letter from the school’s Principal stating Title I status must accompany the application.
- Certificate of Insurance with the San Diego Museum of Art listed as an additional insured.
- Please email to outreach@sdmart.org or mail to P.O. Box 122107, San Diego, CA 92112-2107