TOURS
Guided tours for 16 – 18 guests are available with the exception of Discover Ancient Egypt tours. Discover Ancient Egypt guided tours are limited to 10 visitors at a time due to the gallery space layout.
General Information
- Group size – The Museum is able to accommodate groups of up to 60 at one time.
- Hours for scheduled guided tours and self-guided group visits- Tuesdays-Fridays, 9:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. Saturday and Sundays, 11:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
- The Museum is wheelchair accessible.
- Tour Request Timeline – Please allow at least 3 weeks advance notice for requesting a guided tour or to schedule a self-guided group visit time outside of our usual open hours.
Guided Tours
- Guided tours are available for youth, school, homeschool, and adult groups.
- Guided tours are approximately 45 – 60 minutes long, and led by trained docents (tour guides.)
- Your tour can be customized to a particular topic or gallery (See Guided Tour Options below).
- School or youth groups may complement their tour with a related hands-on studio art project for an additional fee.
- Guided tour groups are limited to 24 per docent (tour guide.)
- Guided tours for youth or school groups require one chaperone/teacher for every ten students.
- There is no admission fee for the required number of chaperones.
- Limited space for lunch is available to groups and must be requested at time of booking. School groups ranging from 25-60 can be accommodated.
Fees: $50 for one tour group of 24 or less. Inquire about other pricing for additional tours, art projects, etc.
Full payment is expected before the tour begins.
NOTE: Self-guided groups from Fitchburg Public Schools and Fitchburg State University are FREE.
Guided Tour Options
Customized Tour
Do you have something in mind? Director of Docents Ann Descoteaux can help you plan the perfect experience for your group.
Art Here and Now Tour
Several times a year our upstairs galleries feature one-person, group, or thematic exhibitions by regional contemporary artists that reflect the vibrancy of art-making today. Our guided tours provide insights into the artists’ ideas and creative processes that novice and more experienced viewers will find fascinating.
Moving Objects: African and Oceanic Art from the FAM Collection
This guided tour of three galleries highlights the significance and dramatic visual presence of works from Africa and the South Pacific Islands, and how they came to FAM’s collection. Each object, whether a mask, masquerade, jewelry, metal work or photograph, contains its own story of acquisition and migration, showing how these two collections evolved.
Discover Ancient Egypt
Enter our Egyptian “tomb” and learn about this fascinating culture through art, artifacts, and interactive activities. Take an automated “flashlight” tour of the Book of the Dead, see real mummies, peer into a miniature diorama about mummification, interview for an ancient Egyptian job, and much more. Ages 3 to adult enjoy this gallery equally.
Eleanor Norcross, artist and founder of the Fitchburg Art Museum
A Fitchburg native, Eleanor Norcross lived independently as a successful artist in Paris for forty years at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. See her beautiful Impressionistic paintings and the European decorative objects she collected, and admire this pioneering woman for whom “character is everything.” Generous loans from the Fitchburg Historical Society provide a look at Eleanor’s life and times
Girl Scout Day Program A Fitchburg native, Eleanor Norcross lived independently as a successful artist in Paris for forty years at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. See her beautiful Impressionistic paintings and the European decorative objects she collected, and admire this pioneering woman for whom “character is everything.” Generous loans from the Fitchburg Historical Society provide a look at Eleanor’s life and times.
Highlights Tour
Can’t decide what to see? Learn about the Museum’s history and see a little bit of everything.
Exploring Art Tour
This tour introduces children to the elements of art, the art museum, and art media. Through thoughtful questions and sketching, children learn about color, line, shape, composition and more. Older children also discuss artistic styles and artists’ choices. A customized 20-minute art project follows the tour. Tour and activity takes 45 minutes to 1 hour and 15 minutes, depending on age level. Fulfills MA State Curriculum Frameworks for Visual Arts Pre K through 4.
Bilingual Tour in Spanish
Several of our docents are bilingual. Please allow at least three weeks advance notice if requesting a bilingual version of any of our tours.
Scheduling a Tour
Please have the following ready when you are scheduling a group visit:
- Name of your organization
- Main contact person for tour
- Contact person’s phone number, email address, mailing address
- First choice of date and time of visit
- Approximate number in group
- Tour type: Guided or Self-guided
- Tour Option for a guided tour
- Special requests or special needs
- Lunch Space – Limited space for lunch is available to groups and must be requested at time of booking. School groups ranging from 25 – 60 can be accommodated.
For information about fees and to schedule a guided or self-guided visit, please contact the Director of Education, Susan Diachisin .
Guided Tour Confirmation
Guided tour groups receive a Group Tour Confirmation Form in the mail or by email after booking is complete.
Tours are not confirmed without receipt of the Group Tour Confirmation Form. Groups are encouraged to bring this form
with them on the day of the tour.
Tour Cancellation and Late Arrival
Should you need to cancel a tour, please give a minimum of 48 hours notification prior to the scheduled tour date.
Should you anticipate a late arrival, please notify the Museum as soon as possible.
Call FAM’s main number 978.345.4207, or call the Director of Docents at extension 302.
When Arranging Transportation for Your Group
Plan to arrive at the Museum 10-15 minutes prior to your tour start time. Refer to your Confirmation Form for your tour start time. Parking: Cars and buses may park in the Elm Street parking lot near the main entrance. Additional parking for cars is available in the Merriam Parkway Courtyard or across the street.
Recommended Preparation for Guided or Self-Guided Youth or School Groups
Two-Three Days Before Your Guided or Self-Guided Tour
For those visiting the Discover Ancient Egypt or GLOBAL AFRICA exhibitions, you may wish to review these exhibitions’ Teacher Resource packets available on our website under Teacher Resources.
Do a “Get Ready” lesson: Review curriculum connections, discuss what students already know about the exhibition topic, discuss personal of family connections to the topic, discuss what they will see or what they hope to see, etc.
Review the agenda for the day with your youth or school group, so they know when they will take a break, eat lunch or a snack, etc.
PLEASE REVIEW MUSEUM ETIQUETTE:
- No running in the museum. Either you or the artwork could be hurt or damaged.
- No touching the artwork. The oil and salt in your finger prints damages art, even metal.
- Listen respectfully to others’ opinions about the art.
- Please stay together in your school groups.
- Be aware that there are other visitors in the museum who also want an enjoyable experience. Therefore, keep your voices at a normal level, and when you have finished viewing an artwork, be mindful that you are not blocking it for others.
Plan a post-visit lesson or reflection session for students to share their experiences.
Confirm the number of chaperones (one adult chaperone for every 10 students).
On the Day of Your Tour
- Bring your check, cash, or credit card to pay for the tour.
- Bring your Confirmation Form.
- Youth or school groups: Review -again- Museum Etiquette.
- For groups larger than 24, please divide your group into sub-groups before you arrive at the Museum.
A note to Teachers and Chaperones: Please do not leave the task of enforcing museum etiquette to the museum guards or museum guides (docents.) Museum guards and guides have other jobs to do, and disciplining students distracts them from their important roles.
Self-Guided Group Visits
We recommend self-guided groups larger than 6 people contact the Director of Docents with advance notice of their visits (see phone and email information below). This ensures a better experience for your group and other visitors, in case there are other large groups at the Museum that day.
Self-guided groups wishing to visit the Museum outside of our usual open hours must contact the Director of Education by sending an email to
Self-guided visits of youth or school groups require one chaperone/teacher for every ten students.
Group leaders should review the Recommended Preparation for Guided or Self-guided Youth or School Groups information above.
Fees: The price of admission ($9.00 for adults, $5.00 for seniors and students ages 13-21, free for ages 12 and under)
NOTE: Self-guided groups from Fitchburg Public Schools and Fitchburg State University are FREE.
