Walters Art Museum

What do the National Gallery of Art in London, the Victoria and Albert, the Uffizi, the National Gallery of Ireland, the Israel Museum, the Getty, the Russian Icon Museum and the Pierpont Morgan Library have in common? They are among the 36-plus museums the Walters docents visited virtually during the pandemic, guided by museum directors, staff, curators, and volunteers. Learn how we did it, and how you can, too. Participants will leave with a guide on how to create and implement a rewarding and enjoyable virtual travel encounter program for their docent/guide corps.

Presenter:  Pam Mazerski

High Museum of Art

Implement mechanisms that promote camaraderies, peer-to-peer learning, and self-reflection / self-assessment

Presenters: Sabine Luz, Jules Emmons, Ron Richard

Bellevue Arts Museum

Explore this docent-led program that educates teens in art, public speaking, and museum functions. Teens gain experience through connecting with visitors, artists, and curators, and through being involved in focused conversations. Learn to establish your own teen docent program.

Presenters:  Lisa Chen, Christine Newcomb

Phoenix Art Museum

Docents love to engage in meaningful conversations with those they guide. ‘Docent Dialogues’ takes that skill a step further into the realm of Diversity and Inclusion. Experience an approachable, eye-opening model for engaging fellow docents while delving deeper into important and complex topics. This workshop provides a roadmap and tools to bring increased confidence, curiosity, and a feeling of connectedness into public interactions.

Presenters:  Gail Paredes-Ewen, Pati Anderson

Columbus Museum of Art

Learn school touring techniques through a mini-studio experience which uses creative hands-on activities to better understand artists’ views and the creative process. This approach is designed to encourage deeper appreciation of the museum’s collection and to build docent rapport.

Presenters: Harriet Donaldson, Connie Dwyer and Molly Flasche

Toledo Museum of Art 

Considered by some as one of the world’s greatest beverages, explore the confluence of art and beer. This interactive workshop provides a short history of beer in art, along with looking for “beer clues” in art. Examples of beer-themed tours and connecting to your community through “beer art” themes will be explored.

Presenters: Michael D. Coomes, Colleen Barron, Gretchen Rohm

Utah Museum of Fine Arts

VTS can be used in a variety of fields including criminal investigation, medical training, serving
people with autism, those with visual impairments, and in memory care. This is an opportunity to
come away with creative ideas for using VTS in ways not ordinarily imagined.

Presenters:  Jody Andes, Gladys Muren Webb

Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art

Explore the balancing act between volunteer and staff-led projects through the lens of a specific
project, Art Cart. Examining process as well as struggles, triumphs and rewards of the collaboration
allows attendees to gain a better understanding of the successes and failures of this
model.  Investigate the use of museum resources and gallery guide knowledge and experience,
while giving consideration to implementation through evaluation.

Presenters:  Pamela Prebil, Allie Britt Mitchell

San Antonio Museum of Art, Texas

Learn how San Antonio Museum of Art docents paired with another nonprofit to create a program of music, food, and drink to raise funds to support their respective outreach programs. This presentation will be especially relevant to docent organizations that receive limited financial support from their institutions. It will include details about the program's evolution, specific fund-supported activities, community impact, and enhanced docent esprit de corps.

Presenters: Rosario Laird, docent (thirteen years) and concept developer; James Letchworth, docent (six years) and Advisory Trustee, Board of Trustees

Taft Museum of Art, Cincinnati

The Docents at the Taft Museum of Art have been actively involved in fundraising for eighteen consecutive years. Fundraising began as an effort to provide money for docents to attend docent symposiums, and grew to such an extent that significant funds became available to also assist with on-site and off-site educational programs. Recently, these docent-driven events were combined with Board of Trustees and staff events to increase funding. Docents provide significant leadership to the combined events and their purpose for fundraising has been retained. How these events were organized and implemented will be discussed.

Presenters: Kate Greene and Mary Beth Sunderman, docents both active in many fundraising activities including co-chair Taft Docent Fundraiser.