The Butler offers a wide array of visual arts programs for people of all ages. Tours of the museum's permanent collection and temporary shows offer visitors assistance interpreting exhibitions. A variety of free programs serve the communities schools, service groups, libraries and nursing homes. Butler docent volunteers bring slide and computer presentations to area groups, and introduce them to this valuable cultural resource.

Butler lectures include the annual Butler/YSU Symposia on American Art series which brings art world celebrities to the Institute. Past speakers for this series include; Gregory Amenoff, Michael Brenson, J. Carter Brown, Clarence Carter, Judy Chicago, Nicolai Cikovsky, Milton Esterow, Peter Halley, Richard Hunt, Robert Hughes, Paul Jenkins, Donald Kuspit, Edward Lucie-Smith, Judy Pfaff, Peter Plagens, Robert Rauschenberg, Peter Reginato, Barbara Rose, Raphael Rubenstein, Holly Solomon, Gary Stephan and William Wegman.

The Butler's free Film on Art series features art history documentaries, and are shown regularly in the museum's state-of-the-art Beecher Center Zona Auditorium. Likewise, the Butler's Art of Film series presents the best of Hollywood classics drawn from the American Film Institute's list of the top one hundred American films, as well as the Erbe collection of silent films, classic television and cartoons.

Art classes for children and adults are offered quarterly, and are conducted by highly skilled and qualified instructors. The Al Parella Scholarship fund makes Butler classes available to talented, financially

Butler North (formerly the First Christian Church), located next to the Butler Institute on Wick Avenue in Youngstown, houses the Dennison Center, home to the Butler's education department.

The Butler offers free family programs each month to introduce families to the Institute's collection and temporary shows. Butler instructors lead children and their parents in an art activity based upon works on view within the museum's galleries.

Each year, the Butler hosts its annual Summer Arts Day Camp for children. Begun in 1989, this much-heralded program focuses on young people from special constituencies, and is conducted within the galleries of the Institute. Children from the region between the ages of eight and twelve are eligible for the camp.

The Sweeney Gallery, an interactive space for families, offers temporary exhibitions designed for children. In this gallery, hands-on stations allow youngsters to create art.