Accessibility

During Your Visit

Museum Map

Use our color-coded map to help find your way through the main building.

Free Wi-Fi

Enjoy free Wi-Fi in the main building, the Perelman Building, and the Rodin Museum.

Personal Attendants

Personal attendants of visitors with disabilities are admitted free of charge (limited to one attendant per visitor).

Service Dogs

Service dogs are welcome.

Visitors Who Are Blind or Partially Sighted

Large-Print & Braille Museum Materials

For large-print and braille materials, contact us three weeks before your visit at 215-684-7602 or AccessProg@philamuseum.org.

Audio Tour

Our audio tour offers a deeper look at some of the museum’s greatest hits. It is free for visitors who are blind or partially sighted. Request it at any Visitor Services Desk, located near all entrances.

Visitors with Limited Mobility

Accessible Parking

Accessible parking is available in our garage across from the main building. Spaces are limited. Drop-off is available at the curb cut just before the North Entrance on either side of Anne d’Harnoncourt Drive.

Bus Access

Visit SEPTA’s website for information on bus service to the museum.

Barrier-Free Entry

Our North Entrance, Café, and Store are barrier free.

Canes

Free adjustable-height canes with rubber tips are available inside each entrance, first-come, first-served.

Wheelchairs & Mobility Devices

Free wheelchairs are available inside each entrance, first-come, first-served.

Manual and electric wheelchairs are welcome in all areas of the museum. Single-seat and knee scooters (manual and electric) are permitted as are walkers, crutches, canes, braces, and other similar manual devices.

To ensure the safety of visitors and artwork, other types of mobility devices—including tricycles, standing scooters, carts, hoverboards, and gyroscopic devices—are not permitted. If your mobility device is not permitted, we will provide a free manual wheelchair (first-come, first-served) and will store your electric or battery-operated device in a nonpublic area during your visit. We are unable to store devices with liquid fuel of any kind.

Elevators & Seating

All floors are accessible by elevator. There is seating in almost every third gallery.

Restrooms

There are accessible restrooms on each floor. An all-gender restroom is available near Stir restaurant (first floor) and another near the North Entrance (ground floor).

Water Fountains

There are accessible water fountains near the restaurant Stir (first floor) and near American Art gallery 209 (second floor).

Visitors Who Are Deaf or with Hearing Loss

Sign Language Interpreters

Request a free Sign Language interpreter two weeks before your visit at 215-684-7602 or AccessProg@philamuseum.org.

Assistive Listening Devices

Free FM assistive listening devices with neck loops are available. If you go on a gallery tour, ask your guide for one.

Scripts

Printed transcripts of audio tours and other print materials are available.

Closed Captioning

All museum-produced videos presented in the galleries feature closed captioning.

Visitors with Children on the Autism Spectrum

PMA for All  App

The PMA for All app is designed to help families, especially those with children on the autism spectrum, prepare for a day at the museum. Available for free download on the Apple App Store and Google Play.

Sensory-Friendly Kits

Visitors may check out sensory-friendly kits to use during their visit at coat check. Each kit includes noise-reducing headphones, fidgets, and other tools to help children on the autism spectrum enjoy their time at the museum.

Specialized Programs

We strive to make our collection and exhibitions accessible to everyone through engaging guided tours and workshops, offered both at the museum and offsite. To participate in our specialized accessibility tours and programs, please register in advance by emailing AccessProg@philamuseum.org.

Guided Tours

Specially trained museum guides lead a variety of tours to help individuals and groups with disabilities get the most from their visit. Visitors who learn best by handling materials can examine art reproductions before their tour. To arrange your tour, contact us at 215-684-7602 or AccessProg@philamuseum.org.

Visitors with Mobility, Hearing, Visual, or Intellectual Disabilities

We can adapt tours to meet your needs and interests, and provide touchable and visual materials to bring artwork to life.

Visitors Who Are Deaf or with Partial Hearing Loss

Sign Language tours of the collection and exhibitions are available.

Visitors Who Are Blind or Partially Sighted

Touch Tours

Experience selected works in our collection through touch while a museum guide provides a visual description. Two to three visitors per guide is ideal.

Touchable Interpretations of Paintings

Explore 3-D reproductions of masterpieces by Paul Cézanne, Vincent van Gogh, Edward Hicks, and Jan van Eyck with your hands. Each interpretation consists of three parts:

• A visual description that offers an objective overview and then “builds” the painting step by step
• A series of black-and-white, raised-line, textured diagrams that illustrate each step in building the painting
• A sculptural representation of the painting that is colored and textured to resemble the original

Visitors with Children on the Autism Spectrum

Sensory-Friendly Mornings

Offered quarterly, these programs are designed for families with children on the autism spectrum or who have other sensory sensitivities. The lights, volume, and crowds are turned down but not the fun or creativity. Sessions offer specially trained staff, occupational therapists, and art activities geared toward a variety of developmental levels. Space is limited. Email familyprograms@philamuseum.org for upcoming dates and to register.

Workshops for Visitors with Intellectual Disabilities, Dementia & Parkinson’s Disease

Go on a one-hour guided tour of the galleries and then make art during a two-hour studio class. Projects are designed for a wide range of abilities. Experience is not required.

Fee: $10 per person; free for personal attendants (limited to one attendant per visitor)

Programs for Veterans

Veterans Empowered Through Art (“V.E.T. Art”)

This initiative was created in collaboration with veterans from the Veterans Empowerment Center at the Corporal Michael J. Crescenz VA Medical Center, Philadelphia.

Introductory Program

This program includes a customized tour created by veterans and a “peer-to-peer” in-gallery discussion. Veteran peer guides share with visiting groups of veterans why they chose specific works of art, fostering a friendly dialogue. After the tour, visitors get an in-gallery art lesson with a teaching artist.

Six-Week Selfie Project

This workshop for veterans includes a tour of portraits and instruction on how to draw a self-portrait. At the end of the workshop, students receive their own sketchbook and art supplies. The workshop may also include creative writing, journaling, and an exhibition of the resulting artwork.

Five-Part Series

The series includes themed tours of works selected by veterans as well as figure-sketching sessions with a teaching artist. At the end of the series, students receive their own sketchbook and art supplies.

Sponsors

Accessible programs at the museum are supported by The Women’s Committee of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, The Parkinson Council, Inc., The Windmill Foundation, and other generous donors.