The Springfield Museums’ monthly tour and lecture schedule for September features the return of the popular Thursday Museums à la Carte lectures after a summer hiatus. The lectures are held weekly at 12:15 p.m. in the Michele and Donald D’Amour Museum of Fine Arts. Admission is $4 ($2 for members of the Springfield Museums); visitors are invited to bring a bag lunch (cookies and coffee are provided). For more information about Museums à la Carte, call 413-263-6800, ext. 488. This month’s lectures include:

• Sept. 8 – LIFE in the Art World: LIFE Magazine and Modern American Art. Melissa Renn, Ph.D, author, Collections Manager, HBS Art and Artifacts Collection, Harvard Business School, discusses how LIFE shaped the public and the critical reception of modern art in the United States.
• Sept. 15  – The Art of Illustrated Maps. John Roman, Author, Illustrator, Assistant Professor, Massachusetts College of Art and Design, shares his expertise on the world of “imaginative” mapmaking through the history and psychology of this form of art.
• Sept. 22  – Pen to Paper. Mary Savig, Curator of Manuscripts at the Smithsonian’s Archives of American Art will reveal the expressive nature of handwriting found in personal correspondence.
• Sept. 29 – When the Road Came Through: How The Construction of Interstate 91 Changed Western Mass. Barry Deitz, local historian and storyteller tells the advent of the Interstate highway system.

As an added feature, museum docents will be leading guided gallery discussions titled “Continuing Conversations” following lectures on the second and fourth Thursdays of each month (Museums members only). September’s “Conversations” will take place on September 8 with docent Pat McCarthy at the D’Amour Museum (Early 20th Century Gallery) and September 22 with docent Dawn Whitney at the GWV Smith Museum (Classical Cast Gallery) at 1:30 PM (check with Welcome Center for locations).

Monthly Walking Tours are presented on second Saturdays in collaboration with the Armoury-Quadrangle Civic Association (AQCA). On September 10, science educator Matthew Livermore will lead a tour of titled “Downtown Nature.” Walking tours are free for Springfield Museums and AQCA members, $5 nonmembers, and start at the Museums’ Welcome Center.