Students will embark on an exciting, educational adventure through the streets, buildings and landmarks of Coral Gables. City tours are available to K-12 students year-round. City tours are led my Museum Educators and may focus on history, architecture, urban planning and the environment. Students will start at the Museum with a brief exhibition tour. Then, the city becomes their classroom! Select one of the following city tour programs:

ARCHITECTURE AND URBAN DESIGN PROGRAM
Subject area: History, Architecture, Urban Design
Grade levels: 6-12th grade
Duration: 3 Hours
The Urban Design and Architecture program will include an exhibition tour of "Creating the Dream: George E. Merrick and his vision for Coral Gables" and an architectural and urban design city tour of the City of Coral Gables. Students will learn about history, architecture and urban design. Additionally, this program includes the Urban Design and Architecture Pre and Post Visit Packet with educational tools and resources for teachers and students.

GREEN CITY TOUR
Subject area: Green Design, Architecture, Urban Planning, Civics
Grade levels:6-12th grade
Duration: 3 Hours
The City of Coral Gables is an urban classroom for teaching large-scale sustainable development. From the natural shade of the Banyan tree canopies to the urban green spaces and Trolley service, Coral Gables is a unique, local example of environmentally conscious urban planning. This program will focus on aspects of city planning, architecture, landscape architecture, and infrastructure that contribute to sustainable living in the Gables. Students will tour the City Beautiful and visit sites that exemplify modern green design practices, including the new Coral Gables Museum, a LEED Gold certified building.


POLICE AND FIRE PROGRAM
Subject area: Civics, History
Grade levels: K-5th grade
Duration: 3 hours
In partnership with the Coral Gables Police and Fire Departments, this program allows students to better understand community structure and the role of civic heroes. Students will receive a tour of the Old Police and Fire Station listed on the National Registry of Historic Places and learn about the role of the policemen and firefighters in early Coral Gables history. Then, the students will catch the trolley to the new Coral Gables Police and Fire Stations for a behind-the-scenes tour and discover how equipment and technology has changed over time. Students will come to understand the critical importance of these departments to public safety.

Exhibition tours are available to K-12 students year-round. Themes may be tailored to teachers’ needs. Each exhibition tour is approximately 1 hour. The following inaugural exhibitions will be on view during the 2012-2013 school year:

 

Creating the Dream: George E. Merrick and His Vision for Coral Gables

Ongoing in the Coral Gables Galleries

An exhibition about Coral Gables’ founder and developer, George Merrick, his family and other visionaries who inspired him and helped him turn his dream of a place where "your castles in Spain are made real" into reality. Great for learning about local history, pioneer life, 1920's Boom Period, architecture, urban planning and development. Guest Curator - Arva Moore Parks, historian, author.

 

Coral Gables Sister Cities: Partners in Peace

Ongoing in the Perrin International Hall

Caroline Parker-Santiago, Curator

An exhibit that explores the history of the international peace program launched by President Eisenhower in 1956 and the connections between Coral Gables and her sister cities: Aix-en-Provence, France; Cartagena, Colombia; Granada, Spain; La Antigua, Guatemala; and Province of Pisa, Italy.  Great for learning about Spanish, French, and Italian languages, and international  studies.

Viva Miami: Discovering History
March 1-31, 2013 in the Anthony R. Abraham Family Gallery

Dade Heritage Trust, Miami-Dade County's largest nonprofit historic preservation organization, presents entries from the Student and Teacher Art and Photograhy Competition. All subject matter relates to buildings or public structures with historic significance of at least 40 years old and located within Miami-Dade County. This special exhibit is present during March for Dade Heritage Days. Awards will be presented at the Coral Gables Museum on Friday, March 1st at a reception from 5:00 to 6:30 PM. For more information about Dade Heritage Trust, this competition and Dade Heritage Days, visit www.dadeheritagetrust.org.

The Unexpected Italy curated by Carmen Guerrero
sponsored by University of Miami
March 1-April 28, 2013 in Gallery 109

Travelling to Italy to discover modern architecture might seem like a paradox, but for the students and faculty of the University of Miami School of Architecture it is a relevant layer of Italian history in which a dialogue with past ancient, medieval, renaissance and baroque cultures is bound to be discovered. The exhibit will focus on the documentation of this lesser known body of work through the display of photography, models, drawings and paintings produced by students of the School.

Italy in Motion curated by Chloe Chelz
March 8 - June 23, 2013 in the Robert and Marian Fewell Gallery

The Vespa scooter. Few objects represent Italy with such immediacy, communicating both the boom in industrial production that would lift a generation of Italians out of post-war poverty, while also representing a romantic dream of the country to an American audience captured by Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck's characters in the film Roman Holiday (1953). Translated as "wasp" in Italian for its distinctive shape and sound, the Vespa has retained its popularity as both a practical mode of transportation and an object that has inspired and influenced successive generations of both Italian and American consumers and tastemakers.

Throughout the twentieth century, Italian design and the phrase "Made in Italy" developed a particular kind of significance - that of quality, sophistication and above all, elegance - which continues to resonate today. The exhibition Italy in Motion, curated by Chloe Chelz, focuses on design and mobility, employing the overlapping themes of Style, Velocity and Identity. As objects of material culture, cars, motorcycles, scooters and bicycles as well as historical and contemporary photographs illustrate how the country's design legacies have transcended function to become defining symbols of both industry and imagination.

When in Rome curated by Carmen Guerrero
sponsored by University of Miami
April 5 - June 2, 2013 in the Anthony R. Abraham Family Gallery

This exhibit displays the work produced in the architectural drawing and design courses of the Rome curriculum. During a semester-long sojourn in Rome, undergraduate and graduate students study the city's architecture and urban spaces through a rigorous process of recording and analyzing its ancient, medieval, renaissance, baroque, modern and contemporary layers. The drawing of the city's urban fabric through a variety of mediums yields an understanding of space, form, volume, light and color that is invaluable for proposing new architecture in the city.

Special interest tours are designed to focus on a particular subject area and/or grade level and may include additional tour components. Special interest tours are available to K-12 students year-round. Select one of the following special interest tour programs:

 

CREATING THE DREAM PROGRAM

Subject: History
Grade levels: 4th grade
Duration: 2 Hours

The Creating the Dream program will include an exhibition tour of "Creating the Dream: George E. Merrick and his vision for Coral Gables." Students will learn about history with a focus on Florida history. This program includes the Creating the Dream Pre and Post Visit Packet with educational tools and resources for teachers and students.

ARCHITECTURE AND URBAN DESIGN PROGRAM
Subject area: History, Architecture, Urban Design
Grade levels: 6-12th grade
Duration: 3 Hours
The Urban Design and Architecture program will include an exhibition tour of "Creating the Dream: George E. Merrick and his vision for Coral Gables" and an architectural and urban design city tour of the City of Coral Gables. Students will learn about history, architecture and urban design. Additionally, this program includes the Urban Design and Architecture Pre and Post Visit Packet with educational tools and resources for teachers and students.

GREEN CITY PROGRAM
Subject area: Urban and Environmental Design, Architecture, Civics
Grade levels:6-12th grade
Duration: 3 Hours
The City of Coral Gables is an urban classroom for teaching large-scale sustainable development. From the natural shade of the Banyan tree canopies to the urban green spaces and Trolley service, Coral Gables is a unique, local example of environmentally conscious urban planning. This program will focus on aspects of city planning, architecture, landscape architecture, and infrastructure that contribute to sustainable living in the Gables. Students will tour the City Beautiful and visit sites that exemplify modern green design practices, including the new Coral Gables Museum, a LEED Gold certified building.

 

SISTER CITIES PROGRAM

Subject area: Spanish, French, Italian, and Social Sciences
Grade levels: K-12th grade
Duration: 2 Hours

Students will tour the International Sister Cities Exhibition and Study Space, a gallery dedicated to the six Sister Cities of Coral Gables: Aix-en-Provence, France; Cartagena, Colombia; Granada, Spain; La Antigua, Guatemala; Province of Pisa, Italy; and Quito, Ecuador. Flags, books, artworks and other artifacts reveal the history and contemporary culture of our international partners. Students will explore the differences, similarities and influences between Coral Gables and one sister city. Students will write letters to their counterparts in Spanish, French or Italian. This exhibition raises issues of international relations, globalization and multiculturalism.

POLICE AND FIRE PROGRAM
Subject area: Civics, History
Grade levels: K-5th grade
Duration: 3 Hours
In partnership with the Coral Gables Police and Fire Departments, this program allows students to better understand community structure and the role of civic heroes. Students will receive a tour of the Old Police and Fire Station listed on the National Registry of Historic Places and learn about the role of the policemen and firefighters in early Coral Gables history. Then, the students will catch the trolley to the new Coral Gables Police and Fire Stations for a behind-the-scenes tour and discover how equipment and technology has changed over time. Students will come to understand the critical importance of these departments to public safety.