Tours, Activities, and Resources

Learn more about the Campus Art tour in the video above.

Museum Tours

Guided Tours - Available Monday through Friday by request. Please allow up to an hour for a tour. To ensure availability, we recommend that tours be booked at least two weeks in advance.
Participants - Groups of 25 or less can be accommodated in our new open floor plan galleries.
Facilities - We do not have lunch facilities, but there are a number of affordable eateries conveniently located on Galena Boulevard and Orchard Road.
Cost - FREE! There is a suggested donation of $5 per person.
Parking - Parking is free but limited due to the high volume of students, faculty, and staff on campus. Visitors to the museum may park in the university's parking garage. We recommend carpooling if possible.

Eye to Eye / September 2 - December 11

This guest-curated exhibition features modern and contemporary artworks from the Illinois State Museum. Three guest curators, Mariela Acuña, Sheridan Tucker Anderson, and Allison Lacher were invited to explore and bring a fresh perspective to the ISM's nearly 100-year-old collection of Illinois and regional artists. Their curatorial projects speak to themes of nostalgia, home, belonging, and sites of history in American art.

This exhibition is made possible through support from the Terra Foundation for American Art.

Campus Art

Walking tour that covers the history and significance of the paintings, sculptures, and installations that sprinkle our campus.

Environmental Art

Tour the Schingoethe Center’s collection of environmental themed artwork. This tour looks at artwork related to environmental activism, beauty, and conservation efforts.

Contemporary Native American Art

This exhibition brings together artwork in conversation about past and present, two ideas that cannot exist without the other, referencing our country’s past in an effort to look toward the future. The artwork included in this exhibit challenges current practices, ideas, and stereotypes using each artist’s unique first-person voice, style, and reflections on their own cultural influences.

To book a tour, please complete this form or contact museum@aurora.edu.

Image detail: Borderless Silence, Grand Canyon. 2021. (c) Wen-Hang Lin

Activities for AU Students

Art Café runs every Tuesday from 5 - 7 PM and Fridays from 12 - 5 PM. Each week museum staff leads a different featured craft. All instruction and supplies are free for AU students. Students are also welcome to use the space during this time as an open studio and have access to the art supplies available.

September 11 - Cute Food Diamond Painting

September 15 & 18 - DIY Stickers

September 22 & 25 - Decorate Your Own Pot for a Starter Plant

September 29 & October 2 - Fall Printmaking

October 6 & 9 - Spartan Spirit Bracelets & Diamond Painting

October 13 & 16 - Mask Making Workshop

October 20 - Ghost Painting

October 27 & 30 - Halloween Crafts

November 3 & 6 - Crochet Granny Squares

November 10 & 13 - Famous Artwork Diamond Painting

November 17 & 20 - Gnome Macramé & Star Ornaments

December 1 & 4 - Holiday Crafts