Take a Class
Study art history at the Barnes, a leader in art education since 1925. Come learn in our galleries, or take classes online using our immersive, state-of-the-art platform that brings you closer to the work than ever before.
Research Notes:
June 2023
New theories and recent discoveries from the Barnes’s curators, scholars, conservators, and archivists.
Research Notes:
August 2023
New theories and recent discoveries from the Barnes’s curators, scholars, conservators, and archivists.
Research Notes:
October 2023
New theories and recent discoveries from the Barnes’s curators, scholars, conservators, and archivists.
Research Notes: March 2024
New theories and recent discoveries from the Barnes’s curators, scholars, conservators, and archivists.
Research Notes:
August 2024
New theories and recent discoveries from the Barnes’s curators, scholars, conservators, and archivists.
Research Notes:
June 2024
New theories and recent discoveries from the Barnes’s curators, scholars, conservators, and archivists.
Gift Artfully: Barnes tickets, tours, classes, and more!
Give the gift of the Barnes to family, friends, and colleagues.
Online Art History Classes: Enroll Today
The Barnes has been an innovator in art education for 100 years. For a limited time, sign up to receive 10% off your first class.
Register for Fall Classes—Now Open!
Highlights Tour
This one-hour tour is perfect for first-time visitors. Explore highlights of the collection and learn the history of the Barnes.
Private Collection Tour
Explore highlights of the collection and learn the history of the Barnes. This tour is a private one-hour experience for you and up to seven guests.
Private Collection Tour: Favorite Artists
Choose your favorite artists in the collection for a private one-hour experience for up to eight guests.
Exhibition Tour: Mickalene Thomas: All About Love
Take an in-depth exhibition tour to learn more about Mickalene Thomas’s work and practice.
Private Tour: Mickalene Thomas: All About Love
This one-hour private tour provides an up-close look at All About Love and a selection of Thomas’s key works from the past two decades.
Members-Only Tour: Mickalene Thomas: All About Love
This exclusive exhibition tour provides a closer look at Thomas’s vivid and multifaceted artworks
November Spotlight Tour: Dreams of Arcadia: Cézanne, Gauguin, Matisse
Explore the works of 19th- and early 20th-century artists who lived in a time of rapid industrialization and yearned for a return to nature.
Order and Invention
How does an idea become a finished work of art? This class explores some of the tools that aid artists in making images. Instructor: Michael Williamson
Size Does Matter: A History of Miniatures in Art
Why are miniatures so fascinating? And what compels artists to work on such a tiny scale? This course shines a spotlight on the art and history of miniatures. Instructor: Julie Steiner
ARTZ @ The Museum
This program provides free access to the Barnes for people living with dementia and their care partners.
Members-Only Online Tour: Mickalene Thomas: All About Love
This exclusive online tour offers members up-close views of the exhibition.
Close-Looking Immersion: Picasso’s Woman Seated on Striped Floor
This new series of single-session immersions provides opportunities to study and discuss individual works. Instructor: Naina Saligram
Lecture: Michelle Foa on Seurat at the Barnes
This talk, part of our Impressionism at the Barnes lecture series, sheds new light on Seurat’s techniques and his place within the impressionist group.
Young Professionals Night: All About Love
After-hours art, style, and music await Philadelphia’s young leaders and Barnes Contemporaries members.
In Focus Gallery Talk: Mickalene Thomas: All About Love
An in-depth discussion about Me as Muse with Emma Nell Jacobs. Free with admission; Roberts Gallery
Members-Only Online Tour: Dreams of Arcadia: Cézanne, Gauguin, Matisse
Members are invited to an exclusive online collection tour focused on works by modern painters inspired by Arcadian ideals.
Member Orientation
New members are invited to learn more about the perks of membership at the Barnes.
Member Appreciation Days
This December, members get even more—join us for exclusive talks and extra discounts.
PECO Free First Sunday Family Day: Reflections
Reflect on 2024 with us and enjoy family-friendly art activities and performances, plus free access to the collection and Mickalene Thomas: All About Love.
December Spotlight Tour: Dreams of Arcadia: Cézanne, Gauguin, Matisse
Explore the works of 19th- and early 20th-century artists who lived in a time of rapid industrialization and yearned for a return to nature.
Member Appreciation Talk: John Barelli on Art Theft
Hear the stories behind real-life art crimes with John Barelli, former chief security officer of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
First Friday: Yolanda Wisher & The Afroeaters
Led by poet and vocalist Yolanda Wisher, the Philly jazz band performs music from their debut album.
Pillars of the Collection
Spend time in the galleries examining some of the most important and best-loved art and artists in the collection. Instructors: Kaelin Jewell, William Perthes
Close-Looking Immersion: Gauguin’s Haere Pape
This new series of single-session immersions provides opportunities to study and discuss individual works. Instructor: Naina Saligram
Members-Only Online Tour: Mickalene Thomas: All About Love
This exclusive online tour offers members up-close views of the exhibition.
Lecture: Martha Lucy on Renoir’s La Source
This talk, part of our Impressionism at the Barnes lecture series, reveals why this work was so provocative for its time and how it influenced the rest of the artist’s career.
Member Appreciation Talk: Mina Porell on Conserving Rousseau
Learn about recent discoveries about works by Henri Rousseau with conservator Mina Porell.
All About Love Film Series: In the Morning
BlackStar Projects presents director Nefertite Nguvu’s debut feature.
In Focus Gallery Talk: Mickalene Thomas: All About Love
An in-depth discussion about Tamika sur une chaise longue with Emma Nell Jacobs. Free with admission; Roberts Gallery
Looking and Listening: Picasso and the Art of Composing
This new series explores the relationship between visual art and music. Today’s session looks at works by Picasso that have been called “visual music.” Instructor: Naina Saligram
Members-Only Online Tour: Dreams of Arcadia: Cézanne, Gauguin, Matisse
Members are invited to an exclusive online collection tour focused on works by modern painters inspired by Arcadian ideals.
Member Appreciation Talk: Deborah Willis on Mickalene Thomas
Join artist and professor Deborah Willis for a close look at how Mickalene Thomas engages with art history in her work.
Horticulture Certificate Program
Our two-year certificate program covers horticultural science, methods, and design.
First Friday: Black Buttafly
Philly-based singer-songwriter Kayla Childs, also known as Black Buttafly, performs music from her debut EP.
All About Love Film Series: Shorts
Short films about kinship, curated by BlackStar Film Festival founder Maori Karmael Holmes for Mickalene Thomas: All About Love.
Art, Well-Being, and Medicine
New program! Our group workshops help medical students and healthcare professionals develop a more empathetic, humanistic approach to patient care.
Saint Joseph’s University Museum Education Graduate Program
A collaboration between the Barnes and SJU, this new online program prepares museum educators to work in public and private institutions, including art, history, and science museums.
The Barnes–de Mazia Certificate Program
This special track offers an immersion in the Barnes Method and an introduction to other interpretive approaches.
Gift a Barnes Class
Give the gift of lifelong learning with art history classes taught by Barnes experts.