A) The Museum is closed on Mondays, so no tours (guided or self-guided) can be booked. Self-guided tours can be booked Tuesday–Sunday any time the Museum is open. Guided tours can be booked for the available Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays shown above and can run during our open hours (9:00 am–5:00 pm). Throughout the year there are public weekend events that would be appropriate for groups; some programs are free, and some have a fee. Please check our Events page for weekend events, or contact us if you have questions about bringing your group to an event.
A) To help keep visitors and artifacts safe, groups that include children should include chaperones.
New University policies about the protection of minors mean
that responsible adults are especially important to a successful Museum visit. We
rely on chaperones to help support our educational work and to communicate
with children about expectations of behavior. When you reserve your tour, we
will suggest a minimum number of chaperones for your particular visit. We may ask you to identify a group leader once you are in the Museum. If
Museum staff notice that chaperones are not sufficiently engaged with these tasks
and behavior is deemed inappropriate or harmful, we reserve the right
to alter the time or content of your group’s visit and/or access to the galleries and
other Museum spaces.
A) Guided tours MUST be booked at least 3 weeks in advance, but it is a good rule of thumb to start the booking process at least a month out from the desired visit date. Some tours can be booked many months in advance. Instructor-led tours can be booked with more flexibility because they do not require Museum staff to be available during the visit.
A) There is no admission fee for the Museum. Guided tours are usually free but can sometimes be configured with add-on options for a modest fee. Fees vary by tour and program. Please check individual tour and program listings for more information. We accept payment by cash or
check before, on the day of, or after the visit, and an invoice/receipt can be provided. We are not currently equipped to process card or electronic payments of any kind.
A) No. The Spurlock Museum practices an integrated pest management program to prevent damage to collections. In accordance with this IPM policy, visitors are not allowed to eat or drink within the Museum. There are over a dozen restaurants within a block or two of the Museum, and even more options are accessible within a short drive. Groups may also bring sack lunches to eat outside of the Museum, but there is no storage of lunches available in the building.
A) All tours have a maximum group size, which varies by tour. Please check individual tour and program listings for more information. Large groups (60 people or more) may need to split their visits into a morning and afternoon session or visit on multiple dates. School teams of 100 or more students cannot be accommodated together in one visit. For groups who wish to maximize their visit by rotating with Spurlock and another institution for part of a day, we recommend considering other institutions in the Museums at the Crossroads Consortium.
A) It's possible. Museum staff may photograph or record visitors for:
- archives of programs, events, or individual visits;
- Museum promotion (brochures, flyers, etc.); and
- reports to supporting departments or funding institutions.
Permission for documentation will be presumed unless staff members are directly informed otherwise. The names of those documented will not be used without written permission.
