ART, MUSIC & DIY

Art & Music Lessons, DIY Activities & Virtual Museums

ARTIST-INSPIRED SELF-PORTRAIT

Watch this video about artists who explored identity through portraiture. Create a portrait of yourself that shows who you are (or how people see you).

GERHARD RICHTER: PAINTING AFTER ALL

Check out this beautiful website that digs into why the artist Gerhard Richter continues to use the medium of painting for his work. As a follow-up, analyze and interpret one of Richter's painting.

BEYOND SCROLLS & SCREENS

Use this interactive exhibit to explore Japanese scrolls and screens in close detail, learning about the different things they represented.

LISTEN TO SOME SHAKESPEARE

Find a comfy chair, get out your headphones, and listen to a Shakespeare play performed by actors from the Folger Theatre.

CARDBOARD CREATIONS

Watch the video for tips, and then upcycle some cardboard into a new creation using the strengthening strategies you learned.

CREATE A MEME

Craft a meme based on something you learned this week or that sums up how you're feeling.

LETTERS, UNDELIVERED

Get kids to write a letter to someone important to them that they'll never actually send. Afterward, reflect on the experience.

IMAGINEERING IN A BOX

Perfect for Disney lovers, this incredible course covers the renowned Disney Imagineering method for storytelling and gets kids designing their own theme park attractions.

TINY DESK CONCERTS

Watch your favorite musicians give live performances at the desk of All Things Consideredhost Bob Boilen.

SONG MAKER

Make a song or beat using this super-fun visual sequencer. If you've got something good, download it and save it!

YOUR OWN MUSIC STUDIO

Use Audacity to start recording and editing audio. Musician? Record a song. Got something on your mind? Record a podcast.

HOW TRAP MUSIC TOOK OVER

Where exactly did trap music come from and how did it become a part of so many other musical styles? Hosts LA Buckner and Nahre Sol explore the genre's roots and make their own original beat inspired by the trap sound.

MR ETHRIDGE MUSIC

Mr Ethridge is a music teacher who supports his students through video resources. He helps them with their individual instrument-learning projects, from learning how to play ukulele to drums.

ASHMOLEAN

The Yousef Jameel Centre for Islamic and Asian Art provides online access to the Ashmolean Museum's Eastern Art department collections. Eastern Art Online provides online access to more of the collections and contextual information than has ever been possible before.

EUROPEANA

Europeana works with thousands of European archives, libraries and museums to share cultural heritage for enjoyment, education and research. Europeana provides access to millions of books, music, artworks and more – with sophisticated search and filter tools to help you find what you’re looking for.

MET PUBLICATIONS

MetPublications is a portal to The Met's comprehensive publishing program with over 1,500 titles, including books, online publications, and Bulletins and Journals from the last five decades. MetPublications includes a description and table of contents for most titles, as well as information about the authors, reviews, awards, and links to related Met titles.

VIRTUAL MUSEUMS

BRITISH MUSEUM LONDON

There are 3,212 panes of glass in the domed ceiling of the British Museum’s Great Court, and no two are the same – and the 360-degree view in this virtual tour lets viewers examine each and every one. Beyond this magnificent space, viewers can find the Rosetta Stone, Egyptian mummies and other ancient wonders.

LOUVRE MUSEUM

The Louvre is not only one of the world’s largest art museums, but it’s also one of Paris’s most iconic historic monuments. The museum offers free online tours of some of its most important and popular exhibits, such as its Egyptian Antiquities and works from Michelangelo. You can take a 360-degree look at the museum, and click around the rare artifacts to get additional information on their histories.

RIJKSMUSEUM

If Vermeer or Rembrandt ranks among your favorite artists, Amsterdam’s Rijks Museum is a must. Notable examples available through online patforms include Vermeer’s The milkmaid, Rembrandt’s Self Portrait and Verspronck’s Portrait of a Girl Dressed in Blue.

GUGGENHEIM MUSEUM, NEW YORK

The museum makes some of its collections and exhibits available online for people who want to get a taste of what the museum has to offer, including works from Franz Marc, Piet Mondrian, Pablo Picasso, and Jeff Koons.

NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART, WASHINGTON, DC

The museum’s homepage brings together all of its copious holdings, along with slideshows of current exhibitions like ‘Degas at the Opera’. The National Gallery has 42,462 items on its Google Arts & Culture site that you can browse directly or check out under headings such as Renaissance, Engravings, etc.

MUSEE D'ORSAY, PARIS

In the former Gare d’Orsay, a Paris railway station and hotel, the musée is home to Cézanne, Monet and other French masters. Under a 138m-long curved glass roof, sits the largest collection of impressionist and post-Impressionist works in the world. The virtual tour also includes an online exhibition charting the history of the building.

PERGAMON MUSEUM, BERLIN

The Pergamon Museum is situated on the Museum Island in Berlin. The building was designed by Alfred Messel and Ludwig Hoffmann and was constructed over a period of twenty years, from 1910 to 1930.

MOMA, THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART

Founded in 1929, the Museum of Modern Art was the first museum dedicated to collecting and presenting art from the modern era. The institution’s holdings showcase some of contemporary art history’s most famous paintings, from the likes of Van Gogh and Picasso.

NATIONAL MUSEUM, NEW DELHI

The National Museum has been India’s premier museum since opening its doors in 1949. Today, it is home to thousands of works of art spanning 5,000 years of history, including painting, sculpture, jewelry, ancient texts, armor and decorative arts. Over 600 of those items are documented for viewing online.

DETROIT INSTITUTE OF ARTS

One of the Midwest’s artistic crown jewels, the Detroit Institute of Arts houses an incredible collection––one of the top six in the United States––under its Beaux-Arts roof. Among its most notable holdings accessible online are Frida Kahlo’s Self-Portrait on the Borderline Between Mexico and the United States, Caravaggio’s Marth and Mary Magdalene, and Ruysch’s Flowers in a Glass Vase.

GOOGLE ARTS & CULTURE

Browse over 2,500 museum collections!

VAN GOGH MUSEUM, AMSTERDAM

Explore the Van Gogh Museum's collection: Vincent van Gogh's famous paintings and drawings and the work by his artist friends and contemporaries. Discover our fine collection of French and Japanese prints.

J. PAUL GETTY MUSEUM

Featuring works from the eighth through to the 21st century, The J. Paul Getty Museum houses its collection in one of Los Angeles’s most striking buildings, with sweeping views of the city. Virtual tour offers you to view nearly 16,000 pieces from the museum’s extensive holdings, including Rembrandt’s Rembrandt Laughing, Renoir’s La Promenade and Van Gough’s Irises.

UFFIZI GALLERY, FLORENCE

Designed by Giorgio Vasari in 1560 for a member of the powerful Medici family, the Uffizi Gallery is a standout even among Florence’s many storied institutions. Built over centuries, its holdings include some of Italy’s most important works from artists like Caravaggio (Medusa) and Raphael (Madonna of the Goldfinch).

MASP, SAO PAULO

The Museu de Arte de São Paulo has one of the broadest historical collections available to view via its virtual gallery platform, spanning from the 14th to 20th centuries. Paintings appear suspended in the air around the open-plan space, on glass panels or “crystal easels” as the museum calls them.

NATIONAL GALLERY, LONDON

A backdrop to London’s four lions in Trafalgar Square, the National is home to 2,300 publicly-owned paintings, watercolours, drawings and other European art from the 13th to the mid-20th century. There are seven exhibition spaces of Renaissance art and the Central Hall to explore in its 360-view virtual touring pages, from portraits to large dramatic altarpieces.

NATIONAL MUSEUM OF MODERN AND CONTEMPORARY ART, SOUTH KOREA

There are several sites making up this museum: the main gallery in Gwacheon and branches in Deoksugung, Seoul and Cheongju. The virtual tours explore an inspiring mix of print, design, sculpture, photography, new media and other large-scale installations. From Joseph Beuys to Warhol and Nam June Paik, the collection includes an international lineup of established artists, contemporary Korean artworks and emerging names.

NATIONAL HISTORY MUSEUM, LONDON

From the diplodocus to the dodo, botany to butterflies, giant crystals to specimens in jars … the Natural History Museum’s vast collection has long been a favourite of both Londoners and tourists. Get lost in the corridors and gallery spaces – one treat is Dippy the dino, who despite recently going on tour still makes an appearance in the entrance hall in this interactive online guide.

GUGGENHEIM, BILBAO

Frank Gehry’s sculptured titanium and steel building, on the banks of the Nervión River, is one of the world’s most distinctive art spaces. The interactive tour takes viewers around its collection of postwar American and European painting and sculpture – Rothko, Holzer, Koons, Kapoor – and even down between the weathered curves of Serra’s Matter of Time (turn left at the entrance).

VATICAN MUSEUMS, ROME

Soaring vaulted ceilings, intricate murals and tapestries, the Vatican’s museums are creatively rich sites. Don’t forget to look up when exploring the seven spaces in the museum’s virtual tour, to gawp at a series of 360-degree images, including the Sistine Chapel. Wander around the rest of Vatican City with a You Visit tour that takes in Saint Peter’s Basilica and Square, complete with a tour guide narrating each interactive space.

THE DALÍ THEATRE-MUSEUM

Located in the town of Figueres in Catalonia, Spain, the Dalí Theatre-Museum is completely dedicated to the artwork of Salvador Dalí. It features many rooms and exhibits surrounding every era of Dalí’s life and career, and the artist himself is buried here. The museum offers virtual tours of the grounds and a few exhibits.

NASA

NASA offers free virtual tours of the Langley Research Center in Virginia, as well as of Ohio’s Glenn Research Center. The Space Center Houston also has an app that provides virtual tours, augmented reality experiences, and videos and audio stories about space exploration.

THE NATIONAL WOMEN'S HISTORY MUSEUM

The mission statement of the National Women’s History Museum in Alexandria, Virginia, is to educate, inspire, empower, and shape the future “by integrating women’s distinctive history and culture in the United States.” Part of that mission is delivered through well-curated online exhibits and oral histories.

THYSSEN-BORNEMISZA MUSEUM, MADRID

Head to the Thyssen-Bornemisza’s website and you can stroll around all of its public galleries. Don’t miss recent hit exhibition ‘Rembrandt and Amsterdam portraiture, 1590-1670’ – an impressive collection of 80 paintings never before seen in Spain. The other institutions that make up Madrid’s ‘Golden Triangle’, the Prado and Reina Sofía, are also offering virtual tours.

PICASSO MUSEUM, BARCELONA

As well as a vast online catalogue of Pablo’s best bits, this temple to all things Picasso offers a 360-degree tour of some of the best-preserved Medieval architecture in Barcelona. When you’re done snooping around the building, check out their Twitter hashtag #MuseuPicassoVirtual to break up your newsfeed with daily doses of art.

NATIONAL GALLERY OF VICTORIA, MELBOURNE

Like most museums around the world, the National Gallery of Victoria has temporarily closed its doors. But those who missed out on its big-hitting ‘Keith Haring | Jean-Michel Basquiat: Crossing Lines’ show (plus other curious art fans around the world) are in luck: the exhibition is now available as a free virtual tour led by the curator.

MUSEUM OF BROKEN RELATIONSHIPS, ZAGREB AND LOS ANGELES

This could be a touchy subject for quarantining couples, but the Museum of Broken Relationships takes a nostalgic look at old flames – and it’s really quite beautiful. Each item on display represents the donor’s ex, and the stories behind them range from uplifting to heartbreaking. Who knew an old toaster could be so poignant?

Page updated

Report abuse