supporters
School and Teacher Programs are made possible by generous support from the California Arts Council, Pacific Gas and Electric Company, Bavar Family Foundation, The Ullendorff Memorial Foundation, and Toole Family Charitable Foundation.
Available by reservation; in-person and virtual tour offerings available
ADMISSION: Free for K–12 Bay Area school groups through the 2022–2023 academic year
The CJM is excited to offer in-person and virtual school tours that highlight exhibition content and the architecture and history of The CJM’s building and surrounding neighborhood. School tours connect to classroom curriculums and engage students from start to finish with interactive content and hands-on art making.
Bring your students to The CJM to discover the evolution of San Francisco into the city we know today. The city’s history has been shaped by the immense growth spurred by the gold rush, the effects of earthquakes and fires, and by the diverse communities who have called San Francisco home. The CJM’s remarkable building, housed within a former power station, and the historic sites of the surrounding South of Market (SoMa) neighborhood, give students the opportunity to peek into the past and explore sunken ships, burial sites, the birth of electricity, and the stories of Jewish immigrants who found opportunity and kept their culture alive in San Francisco. The field trip begins with outdoor exploration of nearby landmarks on the block where The CJM is located, followed by hands-on activities inside The Museum, and culminates in a design challenge that gives students a chance a chance to imagine their own city. This tour is aligned to the California History-Social Science Framework for grades 3–5.
We invite you to bring students in grades K–5 to The CJM to discover the rich stories of history and culture embedded in the architecture of The CJM’s landmark building. The CJM is housed at the site of a former power station, originally built in 1881, that was rebuilt after the 1906 earthquake and went on to power San Francisco back to life. Architect Daniel Libeskind built upon this foundation using whimsical angles and hidden Jewish symbols to create an intentional space that houses contemporary art, culture, and ideas, creating a multifaceted conversation about tradition and innovation in contemporary society. This STEAM-inspired tour guides students through an interactive exploration of the shapes, building materials, and secret history of the The CJM’s building, and culminates in a hands-on building design challenge that will put students’ construction skills and creativity to the test. This tour is available on Thursdays and Fridays; capacity is limited and advance reservations are required.
Art and creativity serve as powerful tools for survival in times of adversity. This interactive field trip explores the stories of several Jewish artists and photographers during the Holocaust who have been featured in past CJM exhibitions, highlighting how varied artistic practices served as forms of Jewish resistance. A CJM educator guides students in learning about this chapter of history through art and personal narratives, and makes contemporary connections to fighting antisemitism and hate today. There is also an option to include a live presentation of Holocaust survivor or descendant testimony in an additional virtual session, in partnership with the JFCS Holocaust Center. This tour is designed for students in grades 7–12 who have some previous learning about the Holocaust.
Today’s urgent challenges—including climate change, COVID-19, and police brutality—require collective action to move forward. Artist Cara Levine believes that processing our grief around these traumas and finding ways to mourn in connection with one another are integral parts of that process. Through socially engaged, participatory installations and sculptural pieces, Levine aims to create intentional space for internal reflection, spark conversation on personal connections to social issues, and invite viewers to participate in creative forms of activism. During this in-person tour experience designed for grades 9–12, students will experience Levine’s work through an interactive gallery tour of the exhibition Cara Levine: To Survive I Need You to Survive, and then participate in an art making workshop that encourages their own processing and self-expression as tools for engaging with the world around them.
Are you looking for innovative ways to integrate arts and literacy into your K–2 classroom? The Stories and Art of Ezra Jack Keats was designed in collaboration with our teacher advisory group with precisely that goal in mind, and the tour is back this year by popular demand! This virtual field trip brings a CJM Educator to your classroom over Zoom for an interactive tour of the past CJM exhibition The Snowy Day and the Art of Ezra Jack Keats. Students will practice early literacy concepts while learning about Keats’s biography as the son of Jewish immigrants; his experiences with antisemitism on his path to becoming an artist; and his choice to portray characters of color who reflected the Brooklyn neighborhood where he lived. The tour culminates with a guided art project inspired by Keats’s illustrations. The perfect complement to an Ezra Jack Keats author study, this 70-minute experience will engage students from start to finish with virtual gallery activities, hands-on art making, and time for an optional short break in the middle.
We live in a world in need of inspired and inclusive visions for healing. The current exhibition Tikkun: For the Cosmos, the Community, and Ourselves features such perspectives in works by thirty Bay Area artists reflecting on the theme of tikkun, or repair, as a phenomenon of care and interconnectedness grounded in environmental responsibility, community practice, and personal action. During this in-person tour experience designed for grades 6–12, a CJM educator will guide students in activities that ask them to consider their own visions of repair for themselves and their communities, and hands-on art-making inspired by the exhibition.
Prepare your class for field trips at The CJM with this step-by-step guide.
Explore all of our teacher and school offerings including free, live virtual tours for K–12 students; short videos related to our exhibitions and curricula; a San Francisco city-wide bookmaking competition; educator professional learning opportunities; teen internships; teacher resource guides; and more, by clicking below. We will continue to add new offerings throughout the year, so be sure to check back for updates!
For the latest updates on new programs and resources for educators, sign up for our mailing list below. To request more information or ask questions, please email schools@thecjm.org.
School and Teacher Programs are made possible by generous support from the California Arts Council, Pacific Gas and Electric Company, Bavar Family Foundation, The Ullendorff Memorial Foundation, and Toole Family Charitable Foundation.