Call for Docents

Laguna Art Museum seeks volunteers to join its team of docents, who form an essential part of the museum’s education department. They are highly-trained volunteers who lead interactive tours of museum exhibitions for visitors of all ages. Through facilitating discussion and learning, docents enhance the visitor experience and provide a vital link between the art and the audience. In addition to leading tours, docents meet once a month for ongoing professional development.
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Prospective docents undergo an extensive nine-month training course. The curriculum includes learning about California art from the 19th century to the present, its wider art-historical context, visual thinking strategies, and effective tour techniques. Classes meet once a week from October through June and are taught by museum curators, guest speakers, and seasoned docents. Upon successful completion of training, new docents are required to commit to leading tours at the museum for a minimum of two years. Currently, the museum offers docent-led tours Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays at 11:00 a.m. The next docent training course begins October 1.
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“My favorite thing about being a docent is the learning, both for myself and as I see others learn from the tours we give,” said Caroline Koltai, who has been a Laguna Art Museum docent since 2004. “As docents, we share our insights with each other, so we learn not only from the material we are given to read and our own tours, but also from each other. When we give tours, we learn how others see the art and we gain new perspectives from that experience, too. It doesn’t matter who the participants are—adults, teens or children—all have different views of the art and it widens our learning. I just love it!”
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If you are interested in meeting like-minded individuals, learning about California art, and advocating for the museum, then apply to become a museum docent today! To apply, contact Curator of Education Marinta Skupin at 949.494.8971 x201. Applications are also accepted online.
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