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Natasha Schlesinger launched her innovative art tour company Artmuse when she began taking her oldest daughter to museums. ” I found that the quality of guides varied from museum to museum, even within each,” she says. “And even though every place has classes for children, there was no one who offered tours to different museums in New York.” Artmuse was launched as a series of interactive kids’ art tours to a variety of museums; and soon the parents were asking if Schlesinger could put together programs for them as well. Don’t expect Schlesinger, an art historian and former Christie’s specialist, to dumb things down or stick to children’s museums—the Metropolitan Museum and Guggenheim rate highly on her list of favorite places to visit with kids. Rather, she makes the exhibits come to life through stories, craft projects and fun activities. For instance, she recently took a small group to see Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy at the Met and asked the kids to come in their favorite superhero costume. In addition to the scheduled art programs currently offered by Artmuse (for adults as well as for children ages 4-12), Schlesinger can also arrange private and group tours. She spoke to Indagare about her company and seeing art in New York.

How do you plan the tours with children and what are some highlights?

I can make almost any art exhibit interesting for kids. It’s all in the approach, which is highly interactive, questioning, bringing the kids to the art as close as possible (without touching it, of course). But then, I also plan my tours with kids’ interests in mind: what are they studying in school? What are they interested in at various stages of their development? How would they react to this art? Some of the highlights are tours that engage children in the exploration of the art and its story-telling ability, whether it is discovering dragons and monsters that live at the Met or kids who “live” at the Met, or African masks and animal stories. Art tours have to always entertain not just teach.

What are some of your favorite museums to explore with children?

In New York, I love the Metropolitan Museum of course and its endless possibilities in art and culture and history. I love the Guggenheim museum because the building itself is a work of art and offers itself brilliantly to many different exhibitions and art works. With older children (ten and older) there is nothing like the Frick collection in offering a spectacular early residence-mansion with world-class art. I can’t skip on the Museum of Modern Art, as it really is a fantastic institution with so many modern greats and always some intriguing and even interactive exhibits.

What are some of your favorite lesser-known museums in New York?

I love the Bard Graduate Center because it offers interesting smaller and more specific exhibitions that other museums in New York don’t. The Rubin museum is one of my favorites because it really has created the best teaching environment for either a novice or a scholar to visit, learn and appreciate Budhist art. I also love the Museum of Arts and Design (and it is re-opening this month at Columbus Circle) because of the nature of materials it presents as art of the same caliber as the fine arts most people are used to considering as the highest art form. One more museum that most people have never even heard of is National Museum of the American Indian at Bowling Green (an outshoot of the Smithsonian museum of the same name in Washington D.C.) It is a great place both in terms of the building (an old customs house) and the beautiful, interactive and educational exhibits it offers.

What advice would you give art-loving travelers who are visiting NYC for a weekend?

I would suggest that the visitors pick only three museums to visit at most and pick specific galleries and exhibits ahead of time so that their visits are purposeful and not overly stimulating and tiring. If they want to see both galleries and museums and have only a weekend, then I would suggest picking only two museums at the most and then walking into a few galleries in the Chelsea district.

Why is it invaluable to go with an art guide?

To most people visiting a museum on their own is a bit of a confusing and overwhelming experience: what to see? Which art works are better than others? If I have only one hour, which gallery do I visit? It is often just too much for a casual visitor. When I go to preview an exhibit, I look at many more works than what I choose to show during my tour. I edit down the content of my tour to just the precise amount that I know will engage my clients without boring them and without tiring them out, but at the same time having them leave with something interesting, something exciting and something they have learned.

If you had to pick one wing/section in the Met to visit over and over, which one would it be and why?

I think I would pick the Wrightsman Galleries of French 18th-century art, because it’s my specialty but also because it just makes you feel like you have just traveled in time to another century and are standing in a French palace.

When you began leading tours for children, what surprised you the most?

How much kids got out of really looking and talking about art and how much they took away with them even at the youngest age. Also, what amazing questions kids ask and how much they see into art.

What are some of your other favorites spots to visit with kids in New York?

As I have three kids of my own, I have gone to many interesting places that they love as well. Their favorite restaurants are: Serafina, Le Pain Quotidien, Bar Pitti, Amaranth, Chinatown Brasserie. They also love Central Park as it offers year-round activities, from ice skating in the winter to carousel and boating in the warmer months (even a Venetian boat ride at the Boathouse restaurant!).

What are the next cities where you want to bring Art Muse and why?

I would like to bring ArtMuse to other cities in the U.S. such as Boston, Washington and Chicago, but also to London because the English have great museums and historic homes but are not that enthusiastic about visiting them. Clients with kids have asked me to bring my tours to London so that they can get inspired to take their children to museums.