For Teachers

For Kids

For Families

Children's Orientation Video

For Families

Gari Melchers Home and Studio is a family-friendly place to visit. All children are provided with a scavenger hunt upon arrival. Family Art Activity and Scavenger Hunt Sheets are also available in the Studio.

View or print out our "Gari Melchers Timeline - A Visual History." (PDF)

Family-Friendly Tours
Daily, June 16 through Labor Day

These special guided tours of Gari Melchers’ art studio and the 1790s Georgian house he and his wife Corinne shared are geared towards school-age children and their families.   They will run approximately 45 minutes long, not including optional sketching in the restored gardens and grounds. 

Family Fun & Learning Tours will take place Monday through Sunday at 10:30 am and 3:00 pm.  Regular admission prices apply. Registration is not necessary.  Each child will receive a souvenir to remember their visit by.

Belmont has a Letterbox!

Visit our "Belmont: An Artist's Retreat" Letterbox listing. Our letterbox was created by Gari Melchers Home and Studio's Education Department.

Letterboxing is a treasure hunt style outdoor activity. Letterboxers hide small, weatherproof boxes in publicly-accessible places (like parks) and post clues to finding the box online on one of several Web sites. However, clues to finding some of the most highly-sought boxes are passed around by word of mouth. There are about 20,000 letterboxes hidden in North America alone. Individual letterboxes usually contain a log book, an often hand-carved rubber stamp and may contain an ink pad. Finders make an imprint of the letterbox's stamp on their personal log book, and leave an imprint of their personal stamp on the letterbox's logbook.

To get started, you’ll need a “trail name,” rubber stamp, pencil or pen, small sketch book, one or more ink pads or brush markers, a simple compass, and clues.

For more Letterbox information, visit www.Letterboxing.org.

Visit our News and Events page to check out opcoming art classes, summer camps, and Family Days. Contact Education Coordinator Michelle Crow-Dolby at 540.654.1851 to be added to our art class e-mailing list.

photo credit: Alexandra Borys




Our grounds provide a perfect backdrop for pictures, butterfly hunting, and viewing the Rappahannock River. The Museum Shop offers a wide array of art supplies, children's books and other necessaties for your budding artist, historian or naturalist.

Free, guided woodland walksare held on the last Sunday of each month. Tours start at the Museum Shop at 2 pm.

Make a day of it! Many families take advantage of our beautiful gardens and grounds by packing a picnic to enjoy on site.