Docents provide an invaluable service in advancing the Museum’s role as a vibrant community center where residents and tourists explore the nature of creativity, learn from the past, and are inspired to consider the world in which they live.
Looking for a fun and fulfilling way to make a difference in your community? Leading group tours as a docent is a rewarding and wonderful way to share your love of art with students, children, and adults. Docents give tours to Museum visitors, primarily for school-aged and student groups but also for groups of all ages, from across the country and around the world.
The Education staff provides ongoing docent trainings, which include exclusive previews of new exhibitions and behind-the-scenes discussions with Museum curators, artists, scholars, and other special guests. Docents also have the opportunity to visit local artists’ studios and cultural attractions.
Docents provide an invaluable service in advancing the Museum’s role as a vibrant community center where residents and tourists explore the nature of creativity, learn from the past, and are inspired to consider the world in which they live. Many of our docents have expressed that volunteering at the Museum is one of their most gratifying experiences.
What Current Docents Are Saying…
—Nancy Long, docent since 2005
“I’ve always enjoyed visiting art museums but never had the opportunity to study art in school. Learning from curators and artists as part of the docent program has enhanced my ability to really ‘see’ a work of art and relate it to my own experiences. And engaging in a conversation about a favorite piece with a 4th-grade visitor can really open you up to new ways of seeing the world.”
—Doris Potash, docent since 2012
“My passion for art has only increased by being a docent, which allows me to inspire and be inspired by people.”
—Jordan Miller, docent since 2014
“I enjoy discussing art with children, particularly elementary-age children. Most children with whom I share viewing art don’t think they know enough to discuss what they see and how it makes them feel. The special moment that often occurs is when the shy child makes a wonderful comment about how a piece of art makes them feel and what it is that they like best about that piece.”
—Sarah Reincke, docent since 2011
“As a docent I have discovered art through the eyes of children. It was Einstein who said that his creativity was tied to the notion that he had the curiosity of a five-year-old, for whom the world is full of wonder and endless possibilities. It is a privilege to take kids through our Museum; they love art naturally and spontaneously.”
—Susanne Kimball, docent since 2014
