Finding an Organized Artists' Tour

Every artist needs good material, and the world holds no shortage of inspiration. But organized trips are harder to find. The best place to start is with a search for "art tours" on the Web. Many museums and universities also have travel programs. Most tours do not include airfare but do include ground transportation, lodging, most meals and museum fees. Here's a sampling of what's out there.

· Tempe, Ariz.-based Jean Grimm Art and Culture Tours (888-783-1331, http://www.mexicanarttours.com/ ) plans three tours this year, taking in fine arts, handicrafts, archaeology, architecture, dance and music. The tours include talks with experts on pre-Columbian art and archaeology, colonial art and architecture. Two of the tours, to the Oaxaca area, coincide with regional celebrations: July 21-30 (the Guelaguetza dance festival) and Oct. 27- Nov. 5 (Days of the Dead); cost for each tour is $2,195 per person double, $2,595 single.

The Museum of Latin American Art (562-437-1689, http://www.molaa.org/ ) in Long Beach, Calif., plans a behind-the-scenes trip to Mexico City and Cuernavaca April 26-30, centered on a major art show, Mexico Arte Contemporaneo, with visits to studios, galleries and museums. Trip requires membership in the museum ($40 and up) and its travelers program ($20). Fee is $2,025 per person double, $2,390 single. A $300 museum donation is suggested.

Other artists who conduct art tours in Mexico are Nancy Crow (215-238-9576, http://www.nancycrow.com/ ), an Ohio quiltmaker and author; and Mexico City art dealer and consultant Anita Middleton (214-764-8773, http://www.anitamiddleton.com/ ), who will arrange tours around specific interests, including visits to artists' studios and museums.

· National Geographic Expeditions (866-797-4686, http://www.nationalgeographicexpeditions.com/ ) is leading seven-day "on assignment" photography trips to Tuscany, the region of Florence (May 7-13, Sept. 17-23, Sept. 24-30). A National Geographic photographer will conduct each tour, geared to both amateur and serious photographers. Participants set up photo shoots with professional advice, take and edit photos, and have them critiqued. $3,890 per person double, $600 additional for single.

· Personal Provence (011-33-490-740855, http://www.personalprovence.com/ ), based in the medieval French village of Saignon, offers one- and two-week painting workshops on a half-dozen topics. It is run by writer Marcia Mitchell and painter Andrew Petrov, who exchanged D.C. for Saignon in 2000. The fee -- $1,937 for one week double, $3,150 for two weeks -- includes tuition, a bedroom or suite, daily breakfast and lunch, at least one excursion, and an invitational reception and show of student work. Other activities include cooking classes, wine tasting, market visits, concerts, opera and open-air cinema.

· Oregon-based Artis , for Art Research Tours and International Studios (800-232-6893, http://www.study-abroad.info/ ), leads two-, three- and four-week trips, both looking at and creating art, for mixed groups of mostly college students (for academic credit), teachers and interested adults. A two-week trip to Indonesia (July 15-28) runs $3,080 per person double including airfare from New York, $1,980 without; or three weeks (July 15-Aug. 4), for $3,725 or $2,525. Fee includes breakfast daily and a traditional Balinese dinner, studio visits and four hours a day of classes and lectures, with options including batik, painting, and wood or mask carving.

-- Margaret Roth