Search Results for: group tours
Tours and Outreach
Teachers and their students may explore the Museum’s exhibitions either with a Museum guide or independently.
Appointments are required of all school groups visiting the Museum.

b. 1948, South Africa
Untitled
1989-90
Acrylic on canvas
National Museum of African Art, purchased with funds provided by the Smithsonian Collections Acquisition Program, 96-23-1
Making a Reservation
Please note:
- You must submit your request at least 3 weeks in advance using the online form.
- Pre-registration is required for all African Art on the Go! programs. You are not registered until you receive a confirmation of your request from the museum.
- Submitting a form does not guarantee a reservation. Programs are scheduled on a first-come, first-served basis. (Please note that our programs are especially popular during February, Black History Month.)
- Programs are available 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, year-round.
- Programs are 45 minutes to 1 hour long, and include an interactive discussion featuring images of artworks found in the museum’s collections and a hands-on art activity.
- Any cancellations must be made by email no less than one week prior to your scheduled program.
- All outreach programs are FREE of charge.
To register:
- Your group must have a minimum of 15 people and a maximum of 30 people per program.
- Choose an African Art on the Go! theme and day that works best for your group.
- Fill out the online form at https://africa.si.edu/education/go/ at least 3 weeks in advance.
- If you are unable to submit the form online, print and fax the form to 202.357.4879 ATTN: Shannen Hill.
Tours
Tours are based on objects and themes reflected in the museum’s collections and exhibitions.
School Tours

Jambo!
1 hour
Maximum 40 participants per docent
Discover the National Museum of African Art with us! Bring your students to tour one of our exciting exhibitions and learn about the museum’s unique architecture—the museum is 96% underground! Examine objects and ideas through a variety of age-appropriate activities. Our guides use imaginative strategies to help students learn focused looking and tailor tours to the needs of specific themes, grades, and ages. Touchable objects available upon request.

The Looking Lab
1 hour
Maximum 40 participants per docent
All artists use visual tools to communicate—visit the museum and discover how to decode and understand any work of art! Students will learn the 7 elements of art, the essential units needed to become art experts, through closely examining objects and ideas with a variety of age-appropriate activities. Docents use imaginative strategies to help students learn focused-looking, and will tailor all tours to your needs in terms of themes and grade- and age-level. Touchable objects available upon request.
Adult and Group Tours
Most days at 10:30 a.m., 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. For a complete schedule of available drop-in tours, please visit here.
1 hour
All ages
Thematic tours can also be requested for specific visiting groups. If you plan on organizing a tour for your group, please submit your request at least 3 weeks in advance using the online form here.
Go on an impromptu tour with one our docents! These tours feature some of the museum’s highlights and masterworks, and their thematic focuses yield lively exchanges about African art, history, and culture. Visitors will roam the galleries with a knowledgeable docent that is ready to discuss or answer questions about current exhibitions. As well as being held on most days for drop-in visitors, tours can also be pre-arranged for your school or community group. See link above to request a thematic tour.
Visionary: Viewpoints on Africa’s Arts
Tour the National Museum of African Art’s permanent collection. Featuring over 300 works of art, Visionary is the museum’s first exhibition to offer broad thematic connections between works from across the spectrum of times, places, and media represented in the museum’s holdings. All tours are subject to docent availability, and last-minute cancellations may occur. Tours meet at the Information Desk in the pavilion on the ground floor. Please ask the volunteer at the Information Desk about availability of additional tours.
African Arts Highlights
Go on an impromptu tour with one our docents. African Art’s Highlight tours yield lively exchanges about African art, history, and culture. Visitors will roam the galleries with a knowledgeable docent that is ready to discuss or answer questions about current exhibitions.
I AM Africa
Visitors are invited to take a journey through the galleries while considering what a work of art can tell us about a person or community in Africa. You will be introduced to a range of people—from youth to elders, hunters to farmers, judges to kings.
Artful Care: Africa’s Healing Arts
Featuring pieces throughout the museum’s galleries, visitors will discover how works of diverse materials and expressive styles might contain medicines, draw upon the power of the divine, or address such global health issues as the HIV/AIDS crisis.
Currents: Water in African Art
Water is one of the most potent forces on earth. Its currents flow through myths, metaphors, and rituals. Diverse and wide-ranging in material, time period, style, and intended use, the objects that you will see on this tour span the continent of Africa. Join us as we explore the importance of water for both practical and artistic purposes.
Building Community, The Roles of Men and Women
Docent-led Tour (Building Community: The Roles of Men and Women) Embark on a unique tour spotlighting depictions of men and women and learn how these portrayals reflected the roles of individuals within their communities. Viewing African art through the lens of gender allows us to explore the continent’s varied cultural history, raise questions, and discuss issues that transcend time and place.
Outreach
Museum representatives also travel to classrooms, community groups or senior centers to introduce audiences to African art.
African Art On the Go!
About the Program
Monday–Friday, 8:30 a.m.–4 p.m. by arrangement
45 minutes–1 hour
All ages
Please submit your request at least 3 weeks in advance using the online form at africa.si.edu/education/go.
Museum representatives travel to classrooms, community groups, or senior centers within a 20-mile radius to introduce audiences to a variety of African arts. A hands-on experience, this is an opportunity to learn about the arts through distinct cultural traditions. If requested, docents can also bring replica works of art to your school classroom or community organization. Some program may require an overhead projector and screen. Additional hands-on activities may vary.
Warren Robbins and the Teaching Collection
Founded by Warren M. Robbins, the National Museum of African Art began as a private educational institution in 1964. Its inaugural vision was to promote cross-cultural understanding through its collections and programs.
Since its inception, access to hands-on teaching materials has been an important tool to supplement the mission of this museum. This collection represents the diverse arts of Africa with more than 1,000 objects, acquired through purchase, gifts from private collectors, former Peace Corps members, former and visiting ambassadors, and de-accessions from the permanent collection. Today, the collection features strong holdings in carved masks; hand-woven, stamped, factory-printed, and dyed textiles; musical instruments; woven baskets alongside weaving implements; currency; stools; headrests; jewelry and adornments; and more.
The teaching collection has aspired to be a unique lending library of objects for use by its curatorial, education, and docent teams. The African Art on the Go! program allows us to share this collection with an ever-broader audience and continue Warren Robbins’s enduring educational vision for the museum.
Available Themes
Please select a program from our listing below.
Daily Life and Personal Adornment
Discover how African art is woven into every aspect of social life and its central role in binding together all members of the community.
Kingdoms of Ancient Africa
Hear about the rise and fall of ancient kingdoms in Africa. By exploring the arts of kingdoms like Mali, Benin, Ghana, and others you will develop an appreciation regarding the heritage left behind.
Threads, Textiles, and Technology
Explore how textile artists from throughout the continent create patterns on textiles using various techniques.
Unmasked: What Do Masks Really Reveal?
Learn about the cultural significance of masks and discover the role they play in rituals, ceremonies, rites of passage, and entertainment in societies throughout Africa.
Visitor Services Manager
Summary
The Smithsonian Institution is the world’s largest museum, education, and research complex, with 21 museums and the National Zoo—shaping the future by preserving heritage, discovering new knowledge, and sharing our resources with the world. The National Museum of African Art is the only national museum in the United States dedicated to the collection, exhibition, conservation and study of the arts of Africa.
How to Apply:
Overview
Open & closing dates 08/12/2022 to 08/26/2022
Salary
$89,834 – $116,788 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 12
Location Washington, DC
Washington, DC
FEW vacancies
Remote job
No
Telework eligible
No
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Appointment type
Permanent – Federal
Work schedule
Full-time – Full-Time, Permanent
Service
Competitive
Promotion potential
12
Job family (Series)
1001 General Arts And Information
Supervisory status
No
Drug test
No
Position sensitivity and risk
Noncritical-Sensitive (NCS)/Moderate Risk
Trust determination process
Credentialing
Announcement number
22R-MP-307758-DEU-NMAFA
Control number
671240900
This job is open to
Individuals with disabilities
Federal employees – Competitive service
. Current or former competitive service federal employees.
Military spouses
Peace Corps & AmeriCorps Vista
Special authorities
Individuals eligible under a special authority not listed above, but defined in the federal hiring regulations.
Veterans
The public
(U.S. Citizens, Nationals or those who owe allegiance to the U.S.
)
Clarification from the agency
This Merit Promotion position is open to Current Federal Employees and Former Federal Employees with permanent status or reinstatement eligibility. Individuals who are eligible for a special appointing authority may also apply such as Individuals with Disabilities (Schedule A), former Peace Corps, AmeriCorps, and Vista volunteers; certain Military Spouses, or individuals eligible under various programs for Veterans (VRA, VEOA, 30% disabled).
Duties
The Visitor Services Manager with the National Museum of African Art (NMAFA) will develop and implement audience-centered visitor services and engagement strategies for
NMAFA.
In this position you will:
- Manage 2-3 front-of-house staff and a group of 80 to 100 volunteer docents while supporting them in their efforts to serve the public.
- Serve as the audience advocate for museum projects while ensuring that various projects of the museums public programs, exhibitions, events etc. are developed through audience-centered methodologies.
- Develop and deliver the resources available to meet requests such as volunteer time, gallery space, and materials.
- Serve as the principal staff member responsible for conceptualizing, planning, implementing, and evaluating inter-personal engagement at the museum.
Requirements
Conditions of Employment
Pass Pre-employment Background Investigation
May need to complete a Probationary Period
Maintain a Bank Account for Direct Deposit/Electronic Transfer
Males born after 12/31/59 must be registered with Selective Service.
COVID-19 VACCINATION REQUIREMENTS:
For the latest information on the COVID-19 vaccination requirements and its impact on your application, click on Smithsonian Institution’s Frequently Asked Questions.
Qualifications
Qualification requirements must be met by the closing date of the job opportunity announcement.
You qualify for this position if you have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-11 level in the Federal Service or comparable pay band system. For this position, specialized experience is defined as planning, developing, implementing, and evaluating creative audience-centered visitor services and engagement strategies for the museum through performing arts, workshops, lectures, films, tours, or outreach activities.
How You Will Be Evaluated
You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.
Your application will be evaluated first for the basic qualifications described above. The applications that meet the basic qualifications will be evaluated further against the following criteria:
-
- Ability to plan and implement policies and procedures that support the effective functioning of a group of 100 volunteers; and ability to recruit, train and evaluate a culturally diverse group of people including teaching artists and volunteers.
-
- Knowledge of African art (historical and contemporary) and African epistemologies.
-
- Knowledge of the latest approaches in gallery interpretation, visitor engagement, art therapy, and digital engagement or of qualitative and quantitative research/evaluation methods.
-
- Skill in art museum education and the ability to manage high-profile topics.
Applicants who meet or exceed minimum qualifications will be assigned to one of three category groups based on job-related criteria:
- Best Category – Meets the minimum qualification requirements and excels in most of the job related competencies above.
- Better Category – Meets the minimum qualification requirements and satisfies most of the job related competencies above.
- Good Category – Meets the minimum qualification requirements, but does not satisfy most of the job related competencies above to a substantive degree.
This category rating process does not add veterans’ preference points or apply the “rule of three”, but protects the rights of veterans by placing them ahead of non-preference eligibles within each category. A selecting official may make selections from the highest quality category (Best Category) provided no preference eligible in that category is passed over to select a non-preference eligible in that category unless the requirements of 5 U.S.C. 3317(b) or 3318(b) are satisfied. Preference eligibles who meet minimum qualification requirements and who have a compensable service-connected disability of at least 10 percent must be listed in the highest quality category, except when the position being filled is scientific or professional at the GS-9 grade level or higher. Applicants who have not submitted a resume in the USAjobs system and/or have not answered all of the vacancy questions will not be considered for this position.
Important Note:
Your resume and supporting documentation will be compared to your responses to the occupational questionnaire or other assessment tool for consistency. If a determination is made that you have rated yourself higher than is supported by your resume, you will be assigned a rating commensurate to your described experience. Your resume should provide sufficient information regarding how your education and experience relate to this position, including the major duties and qualifications criteria listed.
Required Documents
Your application package should include the following documents:
-
- Resume – Your resume can be uploaded and attached to your application or created using the USA Jobs on-line resume builder. Ensure your resume contains the job title (including the occupational series and grade if it is Federal), job-related qualifications, starting and ending dates (month and year), hours worked per week, and salary for each employment period. It is your responsibility to ensure all information is submitted. Failure to include this information may result in disqualification for the position. For assistance with creating a resume, please click here.
-
- Proof of Veteran’s Preference – DD214 (Member 4 Copy), if you are a veteran. Additionally, applicants claiming 10-point preference must complete Standard Form (SF) 15, Application for 10-Point Veteran Preference, as well as additional documentation required by the SF-15, such as a VA letter.
Documents for Auto-Request:
- College Transcripts
- DD-214
- Foreign Education Documentation
- Other
- Performance Appraisal
- Resume
- SF-15
- SF-50
- VA Letter
If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements:
Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.
Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.
How to Apply
- You must apply for this position online through the ‘Apply Online’ button at the top of the page and submit required supplemental documents (if they are relevant to you).
- You may submit required documents by uploading them online during the application process; OR You may manually fax required documents. Faxes are received by an automated system, not a physical fax machine. Documents that are faxed as part of the application process must be sent with the system generated cover sheet by the closing date. Documents faxed without the system generated coversheet are not retrievable and cannot be considered as part of the application package.
- The complete application package, including any required documents, is due in the Smithsonian Office of Human Resources on the closing date of the announcement by 11:59 PM Eastern Time.
- If you are unable to apply online, paper applications may be accepted with prior approval of the Contact Person listed below.
Agency contact information
Phone 202-633-0000
TDD 202-633-6409
Fax 202-633-6401
Email mparks@si.edu
Address
SMITHSONIAN
Office of Human Resources
POB 37012, 600 Maryland Avenue, MRC 517
Suite 5060
Washington, District of Columbia 20013-7012
United States
Msanii Kijana Project Student Gallery
2020
Msanii Kijana (“young artist”) is an independent study project for high school students who are interested in art history and the visual arts. Each participant tours the National Museum of African Art’s collection, selects three works of art to research, creates three original artworks inspired by the pieces selected from the museum’s collection, and writes brief narratives about his or her artworks.
Msanii Kijana offers students an opportunity to investigate works of art through specific questions or themes of their choosing, build their portfolios, and gain experience to highlight on college applications and scholarships. The young artists’ original artworks will also be featured on the National Museum of African Art’s website.
Assad Manjakaze Mahdi Jenkins
2020

I started venturing into all things art when I taught myself how to sculpt action figures with craft pipe cleaners. Who knew adult conversations and being “forced” to play upstairs in my aunt’s room would lead to a boredom that sparked creative genius. As my sculpting skills grew, I was able to sell some of my mini-action figures to neighborhood kids and, in 2016, was invited to a youth entrepreneur showcase where I made over $500 selling out of my figures and dragons. Soon after, a mother who had been unable to purchase one of my figures commissioned me to make a Stephen Curry action figure as a birthday present for her son.
My talent and skill set continued to grow as I challenged myself with new mediums. I was 13 or 14 when I started drawing more. My inspiration went crazy when my father showed me a picture of a pirate character he had drawn. I liked it so much I spent a week trying to copy it, even tracing it a few times until I got the exact line work right. I moved from pipe cleaner sculpting to drawing cartoon, Marvel, Anime, and my own imagined characters. The more I worked on and practiced my craft, the better I became. Over the years, I have entered my artwork in various contests, including the annual 4-H Montgomery County Agricultural Fair where I won first place and champion ribbons.
My discipline to draw several hours every day has helped me to become a stronger visual artist and I am determined to keep improving. This tenacity to become better helped spark the idea of launching my business, AJ Art, LLC. I also started to expand my ideas and share my talent via social media where I have amassed a 500+ subscriber base and a 3,000+ follower base on my You Tube and Instagram platforms respectively. As a youth apprentice artist since 2019 with Montgomery County’s Arts on the Block (AOB), a “creative workforce development program that transforms talented teens into apprentice artists,” I have been consulting with an array of clients to design projects, manage budgets, create and install profession mosaic and three-dimensional artworks, and evaluate the process.
When asked about my artistic ability, my response is, “Art is my peace.”
Asha Sanaa Jenkins
2020

My biggest inspiration to create is my older brother, Assad. He is an amazing artist, and I have always tried to draw just like him. He was my first art teacher. I often begged him to teach me how to draw the action figures he loved, like Spiderman or Anime. Growing up watching Assad become better and better inspired me to draw every day. This helped me to build my skills and, at the age of nine, I won a blue ribbon at the 4-H Montgomery County Agricultural Fair for a color drawing of a group of women. It was on display for thousands of people to see the entire nine days of the fair and this made me feel amazing.
2021 Msanii Kijana Project – Meet Asha

Msanii Kijana offers students an opportunity to investigate works of art through specific questions or themes of their choosing, build their portfolios, and gain experience to highlight on college applications and scholarships. The young artists’ original artworks will also be featured on the National Museum of African Art’s website.
Asha Sanaa Jenkins
2020

My biggest inspiration to create is my older brother, Assad. He is an amazing artist, and I have always tried to draw just like him. He was my first art teacher. I often begged him to teach me how to draw the action figures he loved, like Spiderman or Anime. Growing up watching Assad become better and better inspired me to draw every day. This helped me to build my skills and, at the age of nine, I won a blue ribbon at the 4-H Montgomery County Agricultural Fair for a color drawing of a group of women. It was on display for thousands of people to see the entire nine days of the fair and this made me feel amazing.