Visitor Conduct Policy

The Norton Museum of Art strives to create a safe, inclusive, and welcoming experience for everyone to engage with our wide-ranging collections and distinctive programs. However, for the safety and welfare of all, we ask that Museum visitors show common courtesy to fellow visitors, Museum staff and service providers by not engaging in any physical, verbal, or written behavior that is unsafe, illegal, inciting violence, abusive, disorderly, disruptive, hostile, or threatening to, or constitutes hate speech directed at fellow visitors, museum staff, service providers, or others.

The Museum reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to deny admission to or to remove any persons engaging in such behavior, including persons wearing attire or having visible tattoos displaying language or designs that could pose a safety or security risk or create a hostile environment for visitors, staff, or service providers. Please take a moment to review our visitor guidelines and policies below to ensure the best possible experience for yourself and everyone else while visiting the Norton.

Guidelines for visiting the Norton

Before your Visit

Health and Safety Guidelines: Masks are welcomed and encouraged, but optional, for all. Complimentary masks are available at the Visitor Experience Desk. Please note that the Norton’s COVID-19 policies remain subject to change as circumstances evolve. Visit Norton.org/COVID-19 for the most up-to-date information.
$5 Parking is available across the street from the Museum at 1501 South Dixie Highway. Parking is for museum visitors only, and only during museum hours. Parking is free for Norton Members.
Weapons: Firearms and all other weapons are prohibited in all areas of the Museum, except for those carried by law enforcement officers.
To ensure the safety of the staff and guests, the Norton Museum of Art has a security check-in at the front entrance. The Museum requires all guests to walk through our security scanner, and bags are subject to inspection by a Norton security staff member.
Check in at Reception upon arrival: Our Visitor Experience staff is your first stop for admission and ticket sales, information about the Museum, its programs, Membership, and Customer Service.
Service Animals are Welcome.Please note that Emotional Support animals or Comfort animals are not considered Service Animals under the ADA and are not permitted.
Food and Drinks:Visitors are not permitted to eat or drink in the Store or Museum galleries. Food and beverages that are brought in with visitors or purchased in the Museum may be enjoyed in the Great Hall, The Restaurant, Garden Lawn, and Reception Area. Water fountains are available on each floor near the Restrooms. Lockers are available by the Reception Desk for food and beverage storage.
Backpacks: For your comfort and the safety of the art on view, please leave larger items at home. Lockers are available, as space permits, to stow food, drink, backpacks, and oversized items, including bags exceeding 16x16x8 inches, as these items are not allowed inside the Museum. Umbrellas may be stored in our holders by the main entrance or in lockers. Additional items may be checked at our discretion. Please note, backpacks and backpack-style child carriers must be worn on the front of the body, carried by hand like a briefcase, or left at coat check. Strollers are allowed in all gallery spaces. Thank you for keeping the Museum Collection safe.
Dress Code: Shoes, tops, and bottoms must be always worn while inside the Norton Museum of Art. No bathing suit attire is permitted.
Security Officers reserve the right to inspect all bags, boxes, or package upon entry and exit.
Manual wheelchairs and walkers are available free of charge on a first-come, first-served basis upon request. Accessible parking is located adjacent to the Museum entrance at the Northwest roundabout.
American Sign Language (ASL) interpreters are available by request, with three weeks advance notice. Contact [email protected] for more information.

While at the Museum

Please do not touch any of the artworks on display: Touching harms the art, so please stay at least 12 inches away from the surface of any object. Raised platforms, stanchion, or lines around certain objects are there as a guide.
No Smoking: Smoking or vaping is not permitted anywhere within the Norton Museum galleries, campus, or Garden.
Cell Phones: Please be courteous to other visitors and restrict cell phone conversations in the galleries. Limit talking on cell phones to the Great Hall or Reception.
Photography, Videotaping, or Drawing in the Galleries: Visitors are welcome to use handheld cameras to take pictures or video in the galleries, with the following guidance.
- No flash use is permitted on any artwork.
- No lighting equipment, tripods, selfie sticks, large camera bags, or auxiliary flash are permitted.
- Please maintain a safe distance of at least two feet from artworks when taking photos or selfies.
- Please be aware that some special exhibitions, galleries, and individual artworks may have restrictions on photography due to loan and copyright requirements. Please refer to the individual artwork label for restrictions.
Commercial photography and videography must be pre-arranged through [email protected]
By entering the museum premises, you consent to photography, audio recording, video recording and its/their release, publication, exhibition, or reproduction to be used for news, The Norton Channel, promotional purposes, telecasts, advertising, inclusion on web sites, or any other purpose. You release the Norton Museum of Art, its officers, and employees, and each and all persons involved from any liability connected with the taking, recording, digitizing, or publication of interviews, photographs, computer images, video and/or or sound recording.
Sketching and writing in the galleries is encouraged. Please use regular lead or colored pencils only; no pens, paints, or pastels are allowed in the galleries.
Children under the age of 12 must be accompanied by adults. Please don’t let children under the age of 12 push strollers or wheelchairs.
Tours and Groups: If there is a tour or program in the galleries, feel free to enter the gallery but we ask that you move around the group.
Breastfeeding is not permitted in the galleries, but is permitted in the Museum Garden or Great Hall.