Take a Class
When you take a class with one of our expert instructors, you’ll not only increase your understanding of art-related concepts, you’ll also sharpen your critical-thinking skills and grow a deeper appreciation for cultures and histories outside of your own. Classes take place on-site and online and utilize innovative technology that allows you to get up close to art in ways you haven’t before.
Research Notes:
March 2022
New theories and recent discoveries from the Barnes Foundation's curators, scholars, conservators, and archivists.
Research Notes:
March 2023
New theories and recent discoveries from the Barnes’s curators, scholars, conservators, and archivists.
Research Notes:
December 2022
New theories and recent discoveries from the Barnes’s curators, scholars, conservators, and archivists.
Art Education Classes
Study art history and art appreciation at the Barnes with a full array of online and on-site classes.
Give the Gift of the Barnes: Tickets, Classes, and More
Give the gift of the Barnes to family, friends, and colleagues.
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 Tours
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.
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.
Barnes in Bloom
Enjoy special events and tours this March that celebrate springtime and the Philadelphia Flower Show.
March Spotlight Tour: The Impressionists: Rebels of the Art World
A closer look at Monet, Degas, Renoir, Pissarro, and other artists who led this modern art movement.
Exhibition Tour: Tell Me What You Remember
Go deeper into the works of Sue Williamson and Lebohang Kganye with a docent-led tour.
Private Exhibition Tour: Tell Me What You Remember
Go deeper into the works of Sue Williamson and Lebohang Kganye with a private docent-led tour.
Members-Only Tour: Tell Me What You Remember
Members are invited to exclusive docent-led tours of the Sue Williamson and Lebohang Kganye exhibition.
Members-Only Online Tour: Tell Me What You Remember
Members are invited to exclusive virtual tours of the Sue Williamson and Lebohang Kganye exhibition.
April Spotlight Tour: Firestorm! Outrage! Dr. Barnes’s Scandalous 1923 Exhibition
Revisit the critically panned show that pitted Dr. Barnes against Philadelphia's elite, and see which works remain in the collection.
PECO Free First Sunday Family Day: Recycled Sounds
Join us for art, activities, and music by percussionist Dendê Macêdo, who makes instruments from found materials.
Members-Only Online Tour: Firestorm! Outrage! Dr. Barnes’s Scandalous 1923 Exhibition
This exclusive virtual tour focuses on works Dr. Barnes unveiled at PAFA 100 years ago.
Painting before the Renaissance
Instructor: Kaelin Jewell
Soutine’s Technique: A Close Look
Instructor: Miriam Gillman
The Art of Mesopotamia: A Crossroads of Cultures and Myth
Instructor: Carl Walsh
First Friday! Keystone Jazz Collective
Philadelphia bassist Nimrod Speaks and Pittsburgh trombonist Reggie Watkins lead an all-star group of Pennsylvania musicians.
Members-Only Online Tour: Tell Me What You Remember
Members are invited to exclusive virtual tours of the Sue Williamson and Lebohang Kganye exhibition.
Pennsylvania Impressionism: Exploring the New Hope Colony
Instructor: Laura Igoe
African Photography: The Art of Writing with Light
Instructor: Giulia Paoletti
Young Professionals Night: Levels
After-hours art, style, and music await Philadelphia’s young leaders and Barnes Contemporaries members.
Slow Art Day 2023
Discover the joy of looking at art. Spend an hour examining works in the galleries, then join a discussion about your experience.
Film Screening: One Take Grace
This film about South African actor and former domestic worker Mothiba Grace Bapela is presented in partnership with BlackStar Projects.
Members-Only Evening Tour: Firestorm! Outrage! Dr. Barnes’s Scandalous 1923 Exhibition
Learn all about the artists behind impressionist movement in this exclusive after-hours tour.
Online Member Orientation
Join Barnes staff online for a chat about membership at the Foundation and program benefits.
Toddlerpalooza
Fun activities and musical performances for toddlers, with dance, reading, art, and more.
Lecture: Jeremy Braddock on the 100th Anniversary of Dr. Barnes’s PAFA Show
Learn how Dr. Barnes’s 1923 PAFA exhibition contributed to the reception of modern art in the US.
Members-Only Online Talk: Madeleine Glennon on Ancient Greek and Roman Art
Learn more about our collection of ancient (and not so ancient) vases, sculptures, and figurines.
May Spotlight Tour: Firestorm! Outrage! Dr. Barnes’s Scandalous 1923 Exhibition
Revisit the critically panned show that pitted Dr. Barnes against Philadelphia's elite, and see which works remain in the collection.
Gustav Klimt: Modernism in the Making
Instructor: Leslie Bowen
First Friday! Sharon Katz & the Peace Train
South African bandleader and activist Sharon Katz brings her band's uplifting music to the Barnes.
PECO Free First Sunday Family Day: Memories of Home
We're celebrating Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month with art, activities, and a performance by Ani/Malayaworks Dance.
Members-Only Online Tour: Tell Me What You Remember
Members are invited to exclusive virtual tours of the Sue Williamson and Lebohang Kganye exhibition.
Member Appreciation Talk: “The Story of Art Without Men”
Art historian Katy Hessel dives into major but often overlooked contributions by women artists.
Members-Only Online Tour: Firestorm! Outrage! Dr. Barnes’s Scandalous 1923 Exhibition
This exclusive virtual tour focuses on works Dr. Barnes unveiled at PAFA 100 years ago.
Members-Only Online Tour: The Barnes Collection
See favorite works like never before, with up-close looks that reveal more about the art and artist.
June Spotlight Tour: Self-Taught Artists in the Collection
Examine works by Pippin, Gauguin, Van Gogh, and other artists with little or no art school training.
Member Orientation
New members are invited to learn more about the perks of membership at the Barnes.
Members-Only Evening Tour: Self-Taught Artists in the Collection
This exclusive after-hours tour focuses on artists who made their mark with little or no art school training.
Members-Only Online Tour: Self-Taught Artists in the Collection
This exclusive virtual tour focuses on artists who made their mark with little or no art school training.
The Barnes–de Mazia Certificate Program
This special track offers an immersion in the Barnes Method and an introduction to other interpretive approaches.
Horticulture Certificate Program
Our three-year certificate program covers horticultural science, methods, and design.
Gift a Barnes Class
Give the gift of lifelong learning with art history classes taught by Barnes experts.