Arts Project ONLINE to host Google Tour workshop for galleries

screen shot of virtual tour showing a landscape

The Arts Project ONLINE series will host a Google Tour workshop for galleries featuring how to create virtual tours.

Credit: Elise Schaffer

October 20, 2020

By Savannah Malesky

The Arts Project ONLINE series will host a Google Tour workshop for galleries, focused on creating virtual content using free resources, from 11 a.m. to noon on select dates in November and December. The noncredit course has a maximum enrollment of 10 students and cost $75 per student.

This course serves as an introduction to virtual tours that can be created with free online resources including Google Tour Creator, Google Street View, Canva and more. In this course, students will learn how to take a 360º photo with a smartphone; use virtual tours for marketing, documentation and archives, accessibility and educational purposes; build their own virtual tour using Google Tour Creator; and create graphic content with Canva.

Instructor Elise Schaffer is a graduate of Penn State Lehigh Valley’s Arts Administration program. Her award-winning undergraduate research focused on virtual resources for arts and cultural organizations as well as accessibility adaptations for arts spaces. Arts Project ONLINE, the Danville Museum of Fine Arts and History, the Virginia Association of Museums, ARIVR Journey and WDIY Arts Salon have all featured Schaffer’s presentations and workshops on virtual tools for arts organizations.

In the course, students will explore examples of virtual tours and interactive content used in the arts, tourism and educational settings. The course will include five hours of instruction via Zoom and require preparatory work outside of class.

The dates for instruction are Nov. 5, 12, and 19; and Dec. 3 and 10. There will be no class on Nov. 26. Class is held from 11 am to noon on Thursdays via Zoom.

This Arts Project ONLINE course will be hosted through Zoom. Follow the Google Tour for Galleries registration link to pay the tuition fee and register for the course.

Equipment needed for the course includes a computer, a Google account, internet access and a smartphone. It is recommended that prior to the course, students sign up for a free Google account, download the Google Street View app and bookmark the following websites: