National Docents Symposium Council
Dedicated to providing an ongoing forum for docent education and the exchange of ideas since 1981
Interchange
Inclusion and Diversity Articles
Be a Contributor - Guidelines for submission of articles
Honoring Docents (Fall 2019)
We are continually amazed at what docents and guides do and how well they do it - volunteering their time, talents and energy to the public. The National Docent Symposium showcases their efforts in the presentations by docents at the symposium (48 presentations from docents and guides at the Washington, D.C. symposium). Each institution has ways of acknowledging and honoring their docents and guides. I share with you a new way we, at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco chose to honor the memory of a docent; the Annual Voices of Contemporary Artists Lecture. Read the article.
Mina Shea, President, National Docent Symposium Council
Submit an article to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Join the National Docents Forum Facebook group, an interactive forum for docents and guides.
Shelia Pressley, Director of Education, Fine Arts Museums of SF; Sandow Birk, Artist and Speaker; Tricia Hagey, Docent Council Chair
It takes the collaboration of many to make a successful symposium, and the Washington, D.C. Symposium, Capitalizing on Experience, was absolutely a rousing success! The National Docent Symposium Council extends sincere gratitude to the host site, the Smithsonian’s Freer|Sackler Galleries of Asian Art, their director and staff, and the volunteers from the Freer|Sackler and from their many partners from other museums in the Smithsonian family and sister museums in the Washington DC area. Most particular thanks go to Symposium co-chairs Pat Morgan, Tom Gage, and Susan White for their tireless efforts in the years, months and weeks leading up to the Symposium and throughout the days we spent in Washington DC. Thank you for an unforgettable and rewarding experience!
More Docent News/Sharing Ideas and Experience
Docents at the Utah Museum of Art share the use of the "pendant format" in Power Couples exhibition. (Fall 2019)
Now available in two versions, digital and print.
For more information and ordering instructions, click this LINK.
Keeping the Exchange Alive
Mina Shea, President, National Docent Symposium Council, Docent, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (Fall 2019)
The Directors of the National Docent Symposium Council (NDSC) not only are active docents in their respective cultural institutions but they are frequent and ongoing participants in the symposia over many years. They offer their insight from their experiences at the symposia and how the NDSC offers cultural institutions throughout the United States and Canada an excellent forum for the exchange of new ideas and best practices.
The National Docent Symposium Council strives to “Keep the exchange alive” and to provide a professional network for docents, guides and educators nationally and internationally all year and every year. Read more from NDSC President Mina Shea.
New Contributions (Fall 2019)
Many docents are adventurous travelers. We continue a series on docent travels to unique places and interesting museums with a journey to Kenya and Tanzania.
Take a video tour of Holland with a docent from Crystal Bridges Museum.
More Travel Stories from Docents: Homes and Historic Sites in the Eastern United States; Amsterdam; Twin Cities; Malta: Scenery, History and Art.
Find PowerPoint Presentations and Handouts at the Symposia menu tab above or click here
Sign Up to Stay Informed
Keep up to date on topics of interest for docents/guides and plans for the next symposium
Like Us!-
NDS 2019 Washington D.C.
October 24 - 27, 2019
Registration is closed.
