National Docents Symposium Council
Dedicated to providing an ongoing forum for docent education and the exchange of ideas since 1981
- About Us
- Mission Statement
- Insight from the Council
- Council Members
- Officers
- Former Council Members
- Symposium Co-Chairs
- Regional Directors
- Ellen Lautz, Mid Atlantic
- David Winton, Canada West
- Shelagh Barrington, Canada East
- Michelle Carpenter, Western
- Sheila Vidmar, Director at Large
- Bryan Brooks, Southeast
- Eric Timmreck, Mountain Plains
- Fran Megarry, Midwest
- Barbara Baker, Western Canadian Region
- Linda Oidtmann, New England
- Karen Fried, Mountain-Plains
- Julie Leonard, Midwest Region
- Jan Thorman, Mid-Atlantic
- Claire Lyon, New England
- Renee Reese, Director at Large
- Hazel Peach, Director at Large
- Adele Visaggio, Southeast Region
- Fran Bleviss, Eastern Canadian Region
- Advisors
- Organization
- History of the Council
- Our Logo
- NDSC Council Information
- Docents in Action Image Gallery
- Council in Action Image Gallery
- Symposia
- Symposia Description
- Hosting a Symposium
- Breakout Sessions
- School Touring
- Turn Up the HEAT, A STEAM Tour Program (2017 Montreal)
- Workshop: Curriculum - Based Gallery Activities (2017 Montreal)
- Art and Selfie: Addressing Identity Through Art - Grades 6-12 (2017 Montreal)
- Awakening Curiosity and Building Museum Literacy (2017 Montreal)
- Artful Literacy: Communicating, Writing, and Reading About Art (2017 Montreal)
- Tried and True Strategies for Promoting Positive Behavior During Tours (2017 Montreal)
- Ancient Engineers to Modern Innovations: A STE(A)M Experience for Middle to High School Students (2017 Montreal)
- Expanding Young Minds Through the Power of Art (2015 Cincinnati)
- Creativity and the Common Core: Ideas and activities for school tours (2015 Cincinnati)
- Collaborative process for creating a writing / sketching school program (2015 Cincinnati)
- Phoenix Art Museum (2013 SF)
- Creating Innovative School Programs (2013 San Francisco)
- San Jose Museum of Art, California (2013 SF)
- McNay Art Museum and Texas State University-San Marcos (2013 SF)
- Touring Techniques
- Whose Tour is This, Anyway? Creating an Audience-Centered Gallery Experience (2017 Montreal)
- Touring Strategies for Challenging Art (2017 Montreal)
- Frameworks and the Decorative Arts: A Strategy for Organizing Docent-led Tours (2017 Montreal)
- Strategies for Facilitating Visual Literacy and Audience Engagement (2017 Montreal)
- Hit Docent Refresh Button for High-Energy Tours (2017 Montreal)
- Holy Emojis – Talk to Me 2017 (Montreal)
- Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York (2013 SF)
- Museum of Anthropology, Vancouver, British Columbia (2013 SF)
- Vizcaya Museum and Gardens, Miami (2013 SF)
- Freer Gallery of Art and the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Washington, DC (2013 SF)
- The Dalí Museum, Saint Petersburg, Florida (2013 SF)
- Specialty Touring
- How to Create, Maintain and Improve Multisensory Tours for the Visually Impaired (2017 Montreal)
- Living History at the Château Ramezay Museum and Historic Site of Montreal (2017 Montreal)
- Maud Lewis:Finding the Magic in Her Story and in Her Art (2017 Montreal)
- Creative Explorers: A Creative Thinking Tour for 3-to-5-Year-Olds (2017 Montreal)
- Honoring the Warriors: Tours for Veterans (2017 Montreal)
- When Gallery = Community (2017 Montreal)
- Providing Access to Visual Art for People Without Sight (2017 Montreal)
- Off the Wall - An Interactive Art/Writing/Drama Program (2015 Cincinnati)
- The Senses are Alive: Touring Adults with Memory Loss (2015 Cincinnati)
- Bringing Furniture to Life (2015 Cincinnati)
- The Art of Seeing Art: Engaging with Visual Literacy in an Art Museum (2015 Cincinnati)
- Tactile Tables: From Services for the Visually Impaired to Access for All (2015 Cincinatti)
- Reaching "Outside the Lines": Community Outreach (2015 Cincinnati)
- Pen to Palette: Community Outreach Program Uniting Literature with Art
- Home School Tours: Formulating a new approach (2015 Cincinnati)
- Engaging through touch: tours for the visually impaired (2015 Cincinnati)
- Talks on the Dot: Bridging the gap for the tour averse (2015 Cincinnati)
- STEAM: Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math (2015 Cincinnati)
- Training and Review
- "What If I Told You?" - Docents Educating Docents (Montreal 2017)
- Tools for Effective Communication in the Docent Community (2017 Montreal)
- Docents Without Walls: Using Online Tools to Share Notes, Resources, and Collection Training Information (2017 Montreal)
- Maintaining Excellence in the Docent Corps (2017 Montreal)
- Docents of DuSable Museum: Training and Thriving (2015 Cincinnati)
- Transformation: Rethinking an Existing Docent Program (2015 Cincinnati)
- Mentorship as a Key to Successful Docent Training (2015 Cincinnati)
- Online Docent Training: Is it for Everyone? (2015 Cincinnati)
- Maintaining Quality Through Peer Evaluations (2015 Cincinnati)
- Technology
- How Docents go Digital: Success Stories (2015 Cincinnati)
- A Do-It-Yourself to Capturing and Recording Legacy Stories (2015 Cincinnati)
- Transforming Visitor Experiences: A Blueprint for iPad Success (2015 Cincinnati)
- Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, Colorado (2013 SF)
- Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Memphis (2013 SF)
- California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco (2013 SF)
- Indianapolis Museum of Art (2013 SF)
- Mingei International Museum, San Diego (2013 SF)
- San Jose Museum of Art, California (2013 SF)
- Philadelphia Museum of Art (2013 SF)
- Other Docent Activities
- Archive
- The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore (2013 SF)
- Bowers Museum, Santa Ana, CA (2011 St. Louis)
- San Diego Museum of Art (2013 SF)
- FAMSF de Young Museum (2013 SF)
- Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (2013 SF)
- Asian Art Museum, San Francisco (2013 SF)
- Heard Museum, Phoenix (2013 SF)
- St. Louis Cultural Institutions (2011 St. Louis)
- Art Gallery of Ontario (2011 St. Louis)
- Denver Art Museum (2013 SF)
- San Francisco City Hall (2013 SF)
- Golden Gate Audubon Society (2013 SF)
- Museum of the African Diaspora (MOAD) (2013 SF)
- Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco de Young Museum (2013 SF)
- Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC (2013 SF)
- Cincinnati Art Museum (2013 SF)
- High Museum of Art, Atlanta (2013 SF)
- Denver Art Museum (2011 St. Louis)
- School Touring
- Showcase of Ideas
- Guest Speakers
- Photo Albums
- Handbook
- Resources
- Interchange Articles
- Inclusion and Diversity: Two Museums in the Heart of Los Angeles
- Museum Tours for Students who have Autism
- Creating Cultural Contexts
- Accessibility and Inclusivity Forum
- Tours for Very Young Audiences
- The Changing Population of My City
- A Docent Corps Story of Diversity, Inclusion & Retention @ the High Museum of Art
- Sharing Authority: Creating Inclusive Dialogue in the Museum
- Traveling Docents
- Recommended Website Links
- Frequently Asked Questions
- More Articles
- Museum Tours for Students who have Autism - Suggestions for Touring
- Museums Tours for Students who have Autism—More Resources
- The Rubin Museum Docents: Training for “The Future”
- Celebrating Women in the Arts
- 'Ways that Work"
- Docenting at a Non-Art Museum
- Freer Gallery of Art: Reopening Celebration
- Chromaphilia: The Story of Color in Art by Stella Paul
- The Art and Science of Alzheimer's
- Math in the Museum
- The Writing's on the Wall
- Touring in the Nude
- Treasure Hunt: A Perfect Complement to a Docent Social
- Docent Review: Coaching for Success
- The Book-Meets-Art Tour: A Creative Visitor Experience
- Celebrating Docents
- Improv(e) Your Tour: A visit with Jen Brown, The Engaging Educator
- Identity Theft - How a Cropsey Became a Gifford
- Nuit Blanche at The Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto
- Expanding Young Minds Through the Power of Art: Memphis Brooks Museum of Art
- Evansville Museum Docents Use Marketing to Boost Recruitment
- Mañanitas, a Fun-filled Museum Morning
- Freer in Focus
- A Tour is Born
- Off The Wall at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center
- The ABCs of Peer Evaluation
- A Do-It-Yourself To Capturing And Recording Legacy Stories
- Celebrating Success in Cincinnati 18th National Docent Symposium
- Bringing Furniture to Life!
- STEAM BREAKOUT SESSION CINCINNATI 2015
- Creativity and the Common Core: Ideas and Activities for School Tours
- Connecting Past to Present in Docent-Led Tours of Gordon Parks’ and Leonard Freed’s Photographs
- Evansville Museum Docent Association At Barnes & Noble’s Book Fair Fundraiser
- Travel with the Denver Docents to Washington, DC
- “Buffalo’s Monuments Men” Exhibit - Albright Knox Art Gallery Buffalo, New York
- The Château Ramezay Museum - Over Three Hundred Years of History
- Symposium - What is It?
- Considering a Do-it-Yourself Symposium for Your Museum?
- Ab Ex NY - The Painting Technique of Jackson Pollock
- Ab Ex - The Painting Techniques of Ad Reinhardt: Abstract Painting
- The Docent Handbook
- Kramer/NDSC Educational Grants & Application
- Newsletter Archives
- Book & Movie Recommendations
- Recommended Museum Education Books
- Who's Afraid of Contemporary Art?
- The Muralist by B. J. Shapiro
- Book Review: Visual Intelligence
- Reductionism in Art and Brain Science
- Restless Ambition: Grace Hartigan, Painter
- Andrew Wyeth
- Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher: The Epic Life and Immortal Photographs of Edward Curtis
- Archive
- Site Map
- Interchange Articles
- Contact Us
- Next Symposium
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NDS 2019 Washington D.C.
October 24 - 27, 2019
NDS 2019 has issued a call for workshop and poster session presenters. Find out more here.
