News — Aug 26, 2011

Today, February 8, the Turing Museumplein bus made its first trip, picking up 23 pupils, free of charge, bright and early in the morning from a primary school in Zaandam, and dropping them off at the Museumplein in Amsterdam for a fun and educational tour of the Van Gogh Museum. The Turing Museumpleinbus is sponsored by the Turing Foundation and provides free transport to the Museumplein for pupils in the upper three years of primary schools in the greater Amsterdam area, allowing them to pay a visit to the Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh Museum or the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam

'We hope that the Turing Museumplein bus will be just as successful as the Rotterdam bus and that, in the next three years, 25,000 pupils in the upper three years of more than 2,500 primary schools in the areas surrounding Amsterdam will also visit the three museums on the Museumplein. To achieve that, we are now investing €275,000 in a second Turing bus,’ the Turing Foundation explains.

Studies have shown that transport costs form the greatest barrier for schools with regards to museum visits for pupils. Now, thousands of schoolchildren in the upper three years of primary school living within a 60km radius of the Amsterdam ring road will be given free, comfortable transport to and from the museums on the Museumplein. Together the three museums present an overview of the highlights of Dutch art history from the 17th century to today, including Rembrandt, Van Gogh and Rietveld, and offer a coordinated educational programme.

Museum Program

The programme consists of a 1 ½ hour visit to one of the three museums. In groups of a maximum of 15 children, the pupils are given a tour of the highlights of the museum under the guidance of an experienced educational officer from the museum. Additionally, each of the three museums have prepared lesson materials for a preparatory and concluding lesson at school, including an introductory film to help prepare the pupils for their museum visit. The programme costs €75 per group of a maximum of 15 pupils.These are the only costs involved in the programme – transport and admission to the museum are free of charge.  

The Turing Museumplein bus 

The bus can transport a maximum of 60 people and is provided by Connexxion Tours.  

About the Turing Foundation

The Turing Foundation has funded the Turing Museum bus for Rotterdam schoolchildren since 2008, in which time approximately 25,000 children have been provided free transport to the Museum Boijmans van Beuningen and the Chabot Museum. The Turing Museumpleinbus is the second bus sponsored by the Turing Foundation.

Pieter and Françoise Geelen set up the Turing Foundation in 2006 using the revenues from the floatation of TomTom on the stock exchange.The foundation finances projects in the Netherlands related to poetry and visual arts.Since its formation, the foundation has donated more than €5.5 million to art projects in the Netherlands.For more information: www.turingfoundation.org