Learning & Education

On the last Friday of every month, a Visual Description Tour within the museum’s Stories of Cinema exhibition, or additional galleries, will be offered at 2pm to align with our ongoing Stories of Cinema Drop-In Tours, which are offered every Friday from 1pm to 3pm.  

An educator will provide a verbal overview for visitors who are blind or low vision. Visual Description is a way of using words to represent the visual world, of helping people form mental images of what they cannot see. All are welcome to join this gallery conversation. 

American Sign Language (ASL) tours are always offered on the same day as our monthly Calm Morning program and accommodative Family Matinee film screening. Stories of Cinema galleries will be featured on tours at noon. Join a museum educator and ASL interpreter to experience cinema’s wide-ranging contributions to the world.

Join us for sensory-friendly gallery exploration and a family workshop inspired by the accessible screening of Frozen (2013). ASL interpretation will be provided.

Join us in the Shirley Temple Education Studio to create your own ofrenda.

Join us for sensory-friendly gallery exploration and a family workshop inspired by the accessible screening of Frozen (2013). ASL interpretation will be provided.

Join us in the Shirley Temple Education Studio to create your own creature designs and Pepper’s Ghost illusions.

Discover cherished works in museum exhibitions through carefully curated walkthroughs with experienced guides. 

Join museum educators as they showcase pre-cinema objects for visitors of all ages.   

Join Academy member Terilyn A. Shropshire in Jaws: The Exhibition, where she will discuss the art of film editing.

Explore the pre-production of the 1975 film Jaws and how a young Steven Spielberg and a determined production team planned and produced a film whose legacy still stands 50 years later. Learn more about the adaptation of Peter Benchley’s novel, Joe Alves’s location scouting, and the producers behind the film with Assistant Curator Emily Rauber Rodriguez. 

About Curator’s View Tours

On select days, explore the Academy Museum with a curatorial team member and dive into the intentions and processes behind select galleries. Each tour will highlight curators’ perspectives while celebrating featured films and filmmakers.

If you have any questions or need assistance planning your visit, please email museumeducation@oscars.org.

Join us for a stop-motion animation workshop inspired by the film Ponyo in the Shirley Temple Education Studio.

Join museum educators as they highlight Studio Ghibli's PONYO exhibition for visitors of all ages.

Join us for a special edition of our Tactile Filmmaking Workshop in honor of Valentine’s Day.

Join us for a teen workshop on documentary filmmaking in the Shirley Temple Education Studio.

Join us in conversation with Tonantzin Carmelo and Bird Runningwater as they discuss their experiences as a Native artists and cultural advocates for authentic Indigenous representation and going beyond land acknowledgements.

Join us in welcoming celebrated director and choreographer Kenny Ortega, whose work includes Hocus Pocus (1993), High School Musical (2006), and more. 

Join the Academy Museum for a conversation with curator Laura Mart and choreographer Fatima Robinson about how dance influences on-screen costumes.

Go under the surface with sound mixer Peter Devlin for a chat about the audio elements of Jaws. 

In person: director Regina King and writer/producer Kemp Powers

Composer, lyricist, and music producer Marc Shaiman will be signing his book, Never Mind the Happy: Showbiz Stories from a Sore Winner, followed by a lively conversation between him and the iconic Bette Midler.

About our guests

Marc Shaiman is a renowned American composer, lyricist, arranger, and music producer known for his work across film, television, and theater. Shaiman began his career as a musical director and arranger for Bette Midler before expanding into film scoring. He gained prominence with his work on films such as When Harry Met Sally, The Addams Family, Sister Act, City Slickers, A Few Good Men, Sleepless in Seattle, The American President, and South Park; on television with SNL, and on his recordings with Harry Connick Jr. and Mariah Carey. Shaiman earned widespread acclaim for co-writing the Broadway musical Hairspray alongside his longtime co-lyricist, Scott Wittman. The duo has also co-created the musicals Catch Me If You Can, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Some Like It Hot, and Smash. He has been nominated for multiple Academy Awards and has won a Tony, two Emmys, and two Grammys. Marc Shaiman is celebrated for his versatile, emotionally resonant music and his ability to blend classic musical theater sensibilities with modern storytelling. Born and raised in New Jersey, he currently lives in New York with his husband, Lieutenant Commander (ret) Lou Mirabal.

As one of the world’s best-loved and most versatile entertainers, Bette Midler has garnered accolades across all facets of show business. The Divine Miss M’s expansive body of work has been recognized with four Grammy Awards, two Academy Award nominations, three Emmy Awards, two Tony Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, and nine American Comedy Awards. In December 2021, Midler was inducted as part of the 44th Kennedy Center Honors for lifetime artistic achievements. One of the bestselling female singers, her albums have sold over 30 million copies worldwide.

On screen, some of her iconic films include The Rose, Beaches, two Hocus Pocus films, The First Wives Club, and The Stepford Wives, amongst others. On Broadway, she starred in one of the most celebrated musicals in theater history as “Dolly Gallagher Levin” in Hello Dolly! for which she won a Tony.

Midler founded the New York Restoration Project in 1995, an open space conservancy and New York City’s largest private land trust. NYRP is dedicated to protecting and preserving community gardens and other green spaces throughout all five boroughs. NYRP owns and manages 52 community gardens, maintains over 80 acres of parkland, and in collaboration with the New York City Parks Department, has planted over 1 million trees in New York City.

Spend your evenings with us at the Academy Museum. Visit after 4:30pm and get a discount on museum admission for the last 90 minutes.

Author Tim Greiving will sign his book, John Williams: A Composer’s Life

Meet film critic and author Kenneth Turan and get a signed copy of his book, Louis B. Mayer and Irving Thalberg: The Whole Equation

Join the Academy Museum for a conversation with curator Laura Mart and choreographer Fatima Robinson about how dance influences on-screen costumes.

Go under the surface with sound mixer Peter Devlin for a chat about the audio elements of Jaws. 

In person: director Regina King and writer/producer Kemp Powers

On the last Friday of every month, a Visual Description Tour within the museum’s Stories of Cinema exhibition, or additional galleries, will be offered at 2pm to align with our ongoing Stories of Cinema Drop-In Tours, which are offered every Friday from 1pm to 3pm.  

An educator will provide a verbal overview for visitors who are blind or low vision. Visual Description is a way of using words to represent the visual world, of helping people form mental images of what they cannot see. All are welcome to join this gallery conversation. 

American Sign Language (ASL) tours are always offered on the same day as our monthly Calm Morning program and accommodative Family Matinee film screening. Stories of Cinema galleries will be featured on tours at noon. Join a museum educator and ASL interpreter to experience cinema’s wide-ranging contributions to the world.

Join educators as they highlight the Director’s Inspiration: Bong Joon Ho exhibition.

Join educators as they highlight the Barbie to Anna Karenina exhibition.  

Join curatorial staff and explore the Significant Movies and Moviemakers: Casablanca gallery.

Join us for sensory-friendly gallery exploration and a family workshop inspired by the accessible screening of Frozen (2013). ASL interpretation will be provided.

Join Academy member Kenny Gravillis in Jaws: The Exhibition, where he will discuss the art of movie poster design.

Join curatorial staff and explore the Significant Movies and Moviemakers: Boyz N the Hood gallery. 

Discover cherished works in museum exhibitions through carefully curated walkthroughs with experienced guides. 

Join museum educators as they showcase pre-cinema objects for visitors of all ages.   

Join Academy member Terilyn A. Shropshire in Jaws: The Exhibition, where she will discuss the art of film editing.

Explore the pre-production of the 1975 film Jaws and how a young Steven Spielberg and a determined production team planned and produced a film whose legacy still stands 50 years later. Learn more about the adaptation of Peter Benchley’s novel, Joe Alves’s location scouting, and the producers behind the film with Assistant Curator Emily Rauber Rodriguez. 

About Curator’s View Tours

On select days, explore the Academy Museum with a curatorial team member and dive into the intentions and processes behind select galleries. Each tour will highlight curators’ perspectives while celebrating featured films and filmmakers.

If you have any questions or need assistance planning your visit, please email museumeducation@oscars.org.

Join museum educators as they highlight Studio Ghibli's PONYO exhibition for visitors of all ages.

Join educators as they highlight the Academy Awards History gallery.   

Join us in the Shirley Temple Education Studio to create your own ofrenda.

Enjoy a free screening of short personal films and a discussion with the 2025 cohort of the Promise Workshops.

Join us for a teen workshop on documentary filmmaking in the Shirley Temple Education Studio.

Join us in the Shirley Temple Education Studio to create your own creature designs and Pepper’s Ghost illusions.

Learn about the brief history and significance of 16mm film through a hands-on experience and a lecture, including fun facts and film examples. In groups, learn to splice and edit a found-footage film using 16mm celluloid film clips and traditional tools and materials. This workshop is for ages 15 and up.

Join us for a stop-motion animation workshop inspired by the film Ponyo in the Shirley Temple Education Studio.

Join us for a special edition of our Tactile Filmmaking Workshop in honor of Valentine’s Day.