Art Classes

For Teachers

For Kids

For Families

Children's Orientation Video

Introductory DVD

For Families

Gari Melchers Home and Studio is a family-friendly place to visit.

The free "Itty Bitty Belmont" outdoor scavenger hunt is available year round in the Museum Shop or you can hike our wooded nature paths.

Check out our "Gari Melchers Timeline - A Visual History" (PDF) or take a virtual tour of Belmont.

Family Tours
Offered Memorial through Labor Day
Tour times: 10:30 am and 3 pm daily

These 30-minute house tours feature interactive, hands-on opportunities for families with school-age children and provide an intimate glimpse into Gari and Corinne Melchers' personal life at Belmont - read more.

Sketching and picnicking on the grounds are encouraged. Read the newspaper article.

Special 2009 Family Tour rate

Two children free with each paying adult - registration not necessary.

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.

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 walks are held on the last Sunday of each month, except December. Tours start outside 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.