Tour & Activity for 3rd-12th grade
- 30 minutes for tour followed by the 30 minute activity
- Maximum capacity is 35 students. Groups with 70 students can be divided into two consecutive tours, totaling 60 minutes.

The Sheldon Galleries will have on view the
exhibition We Each Hold Stories from November 7,
2025 – May 2, 2026. We Each Hold Stories features
16 established and emerging Indigenous American
artists co-curated by Tom Jones of the Ho-Chunk
Nation and Paula Lincoln, The Sheldon Gallery
Director. The work in the exhibition explores themes of
personal experience, family, history, and current
social issues. The artists reimagine their Native
identity through storytelling, addressing land,
community, and human behavior with a focus on
healing and connection between past and present.

The tour will be followed by a "Talking Stick" activity.

Talking sticks are a traditional tool to help with
communication and respectful discussion that is used
by many Indigenous cultures. Students will learn
about talking sticks and have the opportunity to
create their own that reflects their personality.

A Sheldon Teaching Artist visits your school to present The Science of Sound, an engaging arts-integrated program developed in partnership with the Saint Louis Science Center. Topics include sound through vibration, how sound travels as a compression wave, and how each sound has a unique frequency and amplitude. Students are engaged throughout the presentation with live demonstrations and activities.

Sheldon teaching artist comes to your school to teach about world music classification and instrument design, showing examples of student made instruments and teaching how they create sound through vibration and what category of classification they fit. Additionally, the teaching artist will introduce the SOLID Challenge Statement to students. Students are given opportunities to participate throughout the presentation.

Experience the story of America’s unique creation, jazz, from Duke Ellington to Herbie Hancock! A quintet of local jazz musicians showcase the evolution of jazz with a musical, visual, and interactive presentation featuring some of St. Louis’s own musical greats.

Enjoy this unique retelling of Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker as Clara and her sisters dance through a dream filled with familiar sights, sweets and sounds of the 1904 World’s Fair. Presented in partnership with Ballet 314.

Experience the connected worlds of dance, music and literacy through Tchaikovsky’s Sleeping Beauty ballet. Students will learn the building blocks of every great story and will want to dance along by the end of the show! Presented in partnership with Ballet 314.

Introduce your students to the sounds and movements of West Africa, with music and dance that celebrate history, nature and community. Presented in partnership with Afriky Lolo.

Follow the amazing adventures of Lewis and Clark, with a musical journey featuring historic and original folk music from St. Louis, up the Missouri River, across the Rockies all the way to the Pacific Ocean!

It takes a good story, lyrics, music, dance and design to put a musical together. Enjoy a fast-paced look at the process, with music from West Side Story, Hamilton and more!