National Docent Symposium

Breakout Session Topics

This year, you can attend whichever Breakout Sessions you want. No pre-registration is required! Choose from 40 sessions covering a wide variety of topics. Review the choices and make your plan!

Friday, November 15, 2024

Block 1: 9:30 – 10:30 a.m.

Beyond “Compare and Contrast:” Activating the Traditional by Examining the Modern, Walters Art Museum

Presenter: Sheila Vidmar

Room:  Muse 2

Many museums pair contemporary works by living artists with works by long-dead artists to promote a deeper understanding of both. Learn how to examine these pairs using object “biographies” and discussions of value and consumption to reflect on the feelings and personal experiences of artists and viewers throughout time.

Lessons From the Pandemic: The Fine Art of Accessible Online Tours, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Presenters: Rob Dunlavey

Room:  Muse 3

Guides who welcome visitors with complex disabilities are good at improvising. When the MFA-Boston closed because of Covid, we found new and creative ways to reach our visitors using online presentations. This session describes our transition, the technology, and the methods that helped us and our visitors thrive.

Tell Your Stories: Engaging Diverse Communities through Museum Exhibitions, East Carolina University

Presenters: Dr. Jin-Ae Kang, Dr. Borim Song, and Mr. Neil Yoon

Room:  Muse 4

For the “Old Korea” exhibition at the Gray Gallery, East Carolina University, the Korean community volunteer docents fostered the value of diversity and received positive feedback from audiences and themselves. The exhibition and docents addressed Asian and Asian-American cultural differences and commonalities of humankind and rejected prevailing popular stereotypes.

Collaborative & Cultural Connections, Smithsonian National Museum of American History

Presenters:  Pamela Mazerski and Amy Tromba

Room: Muse 5

How did the NMAH docents expand on the Museum’s goal of “empowering people to create a just and compassionate future by exploring, preserving, and sharing the complexity of our past?” Learn how they initiated partnerships with other institutions to strengthen their cultural connections and how other museums can, too.

Hands and Words and Posture, OH MY! Gallery Teaching on The Use of Inclusive Language and Gesture on Tours, San Antonio Museum of Art

Presenter: Lori Espinoza

Room:  Hub 1

This presentation will improve docent awareness of visitors with language or learning differences and introduce tools they can use to enhance audience engagement and participation. An activity will accompany a slide presentation to practice gesturing.

Looking Back to Look Forward: Expanding Diversity and Inclusion in Docent Tours, Whitney Museum of American Art

Presenters: Juliette Jones, Salomé Galib, and Ellen Tepfer

Room:  Hub 2

Join Whitney Museum docents and a staff member in conversation about recent efforts to expand diversity in our docent corps, tour content, and participants. Using personal experiences and institutional perspectives, we will consider key issues in recruitment, training, retention, languages offered for tours, and creating an inclusive environment.

Engaging Guests Through Participation, Atlanta History Center

Presenters: Nikolas Kekel and Quiane Turner

Room: Hub 3

The Smith Farm uses a demonstration-based model where guests can actively participate in historically based activities. Our system invites guests to participate hands-on. Hear from an active docent on how to select activities, create processes, and train for demonstrations. Attendees are invited to join in one of these demonstrations and participate in a Q&A segment.

Follow, Share, Grow: Quick Group Gatherings to Invigorate, Engage, and Provide Strategic Docent Training, Phoenix Art Museum

Presenters: Leslie Lewis and Gail Paredes-Ewen

Room:  Hub 4

Who gives better advice than fellow docents? Sharing ideas doesn’t just boost docent knowledge: it increases engagement, strengthens community, and builds a culture of collaboration. Learn how the Phoenix Art Museum’s Follow, Share, Grow collaborative training model can energize your docent body while meeting your institution’s learning and touring needs.

Friday, November 15, 2024

Block 2: 10:45 – 11:45 a.m.

Spotlighting Celebration in “Celebrate Black Art and History,” High Museum of Art

Presenters: Mallard Benton, Dr. Annie Duvall, and Dr. Ines Schmook

Room:  Muse 2

The High Museum’s update to their Celebrate Black History tour, focusing on “Art,” ensures a broader celebration of Black artists, moving beyond a mere historical account. This presentation delves into the docent-led revision process, the training docents underwent, and specific stops incorporated in the Celebrate Black Art and History tour.

Art in a Suitcase, The Yellowstone Art Museum

Presenters: Jane Indreland and Marilu Metherell

Room:  Muse 3

The Yellowstone Art Museum’s decades-old Art Suitcase program now brings an introduction to art appreciation free of charge to students at Montana’s public schools. Learn how we foster early childhood art appreciation using Visual Thinking Strategies and images of artwork carefully curated to inspire a lifelong love of art.

New Docent Training for a New Age, Los Angeles County Museum of Art

Presenters: Mary Hornsby Lewis and Pat Lebel

Room: Muse 4

Want to learn more about how a large, nationally recognized museum is changing its Docent Training Program from one year in duration to eight weeks? Join us as we share the successes and lessons learned from the new Docent Training Pilot Program at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA).

Inspiring Stewardship Through Audience-Centered Experiences, Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum (National Archives)

Presenter: Joshua Montanari

Room:  Muse 5

To build new skills and create collaborative relationships, educators are turning to audience-centered experiences. This embraces the belief that audiences’ perspectives add richness to the learning experience and reinforces the practice of eliciting participation through facilitation. Participants will be equipped with tools to create their own audience-centered experiences.

From Empathy to Appreciation: Strengthening Your Interpretation Toolkit with Empathy-Best Practices, Zoological Society of Milwaukee

Presenters: Shanna Hillard and Jody Allen

Room:  Hub 1

This session will cover the different ways docents can use empathy best practices to interpret everything from live animals to historical houses to taxidermy to oil paintings. Docents will have an opportunity to practice these techniques in groups with a variety of objects and receive feedback in real-time.

 The Power of Play, Toledo Museum of Art

Presenters: Dianna Reamsnyder, Pat Hamilton, and Mindy Dunn

Room: Hub 2

How can you inspire visitors of all ages to actively engage with masterpieces and interact with each other all at the same time? Discover the power of play. Participants will be introduced to activities that foster close looking in playful ways through stories, rhythm, music, movement, and technology.

Museum Without Walls: Outreach and Beyond!, Harn Museum of Art at the University of Florida

Presenters: Ruthanne Curry and Leslie Klein

Room: Hub 3

The Harn Museum of Art Docent Program engages community groups beyond the traditional museum walls through varied programs geared toward specific populations. Two program examples are Art for Life, which brings art modules to senior communities, and After School Outreach, which engages students at their regular after-school community sites.

“Let’s Talk About Art”: Peer-Led Process to Activate your Museum’s Collection in New Ways, Milwaukee Art Museum

Presenters: Peter Larson, Peg Humphrey, and Christine Fleming

Room:  Hub 4

In “Let’s Talk About Art,” MAM docents develop and share engagement strategies to activate the collection in ways relevant to visitors of all backgrounds and across time and place. Attendees will experience these techniques through writing, scavenging, and exploring what has been historically missing.

Saturday, November 16, 2024

Block 3: 9:00 –10:00 a.m.

The Mint Does It By the Book, Mint Museum

Presenters: Alice Ross and Michele Allen

Room: Muse 2

The Art of Reading: learn about the ins and outs of creating tours that connect books with art objects. Topics include tour development, audience expansion, and partnership with various community organizations, including public libraries and senior groups. Refine your skills as you explore new approaches to touring — and reading!

Sensing Nature, Wellbeing and Art, Clark Art Institute

Presenters: Kristin Bengtson and Annika Noren

Room: Muse 3

Learn how and why docents and educators developed the new seasonal tour Sensing Nature at the Clark: From the Outside In, which has helped visitors connect deeply with the landscape on the Clark’s campus and artworks in the galleries through the practice of forest bathing and embodied ways of knowing.

Breaking New Ground Exploring Digital Technology with Himalayan Art, Boston College McMullen Museum of Art

Presenters: Sharon Bazarian, Karen Recco, and Irene Chang

Room: Muse 4

This presentation focuses on how docents can utilize multimedia resources to enhance visitors’ engagement. Using new scholarly research on art from the Himalayan region—academic interdisciplinary support and staff support from the Rubin, docents provide a unique, comprehensive tour—and how visitors can continue their exploration on their own.

Recruit, Retain, and Recognize: the 3 R’s for Volunteerism, City of Lakewood’s Heritage, Culture and Arts Division

Presenter: Nell Nelson, City of Lakewood

Room: Muse 5

Using a 5 part examination of recognizing, recruiting, and retaining volunteers, a study of U.S. volunteerism trends, SWOT analysis, and scrutiny of goal development and marketing, Lakewood’s Heritage, Culture and Arts Division used results, DEIA training, and volunteer feedback to strategically redesign our volunteer program, which this presentation shares.

Activating Art through the Senses at MFA Boston, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston 

Presenters: Elizabeth Sanders, Sarah Buscone and Phyllis Slocum

Room:  Hub 1

MFABoston Access Guides will share their strategies for making art accessible in the Museum by supporting the mission: “Here All Belong.” Let’s share strategies for unlocking your Museum’s smooth glass cases with a multi-modal experience by using a tactile library: Let’s touch, smell, hear, and see objects.

 Using Art to Expand Diversity of American History Stories: Docents Collaborating with Teachers, Toledo Museum of Art

Presenters: Terry Teufel and  Grace Toth

Room:  Hub 2

Toledo Museum of Art hosted an institute for K-12 teachers in 2023. The purpose was to develop strategies to facilitate their students’ investigations into Native American and African American perspectives and their contributions to American History through visual culture. We will share strategies and lessons learned.

Reintroducing—The Introduction!, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art

Presenters: Tracey Bormann Cattarin and Nicole Chorak-Nelson

Room:  Hub 3

Join us to learn strategies for crafting engaging and effective tour introductions: initial greetings, new perspectives on introductions’ time and place, the importance of explaining museum guidelines to all ages, steps to introduce galleries, addressing inclusiveness, and more. You’ll gain practical tips to capture audiences from the outset.

You Be the Art Critic, Evansville Museum of Arts, History & Science

Presenters: Madeline Harris, Nan Benedict, and Susan Appel

Room:  Hub 4

This tour, designed for students in sixth through eighth grades, engages students’ critical thinking and observation skills to develop their understanding and appreciation of works of art. Giving close attention to their chosen work, students prepare a critique of the art and present it to their peers.

Saturday, November 16, 2024

Block 4: 10:15 – 11:15 a.m.

Gilcrease in Your Neighborhood, Gilcrease Museum

Presenter: Kathe Crapster and Becky Hatchett

Room:  Muse 2

The community outreach program, Gilcrease In Your Neighborhood, brought artworks into parks, shopping centers, libraries, and community gathering places. With built-in audiences, docents gave Spot Talks and Mindfulness Experiences inside and outside. Citizens engaged and felt happier. How did we do it? What have we learned?

Storytime in the Galleries, Bowers Museum, Santa Ana, Calif

Presenters: Karen Rote and Vivian Kusiak

Room:  Muse 3

Our Storytime in the Gallery provides an important connection for younger children and their parents to become familiar with the Museum. It provides an opportunity for families to interact with authors of the same ethnic background. It also provides the children with their own books in a non-threatening environment.

Docents as Curators, Cape Cod Museum of Art

Presenter: Elinor Freedman

Room:  Muse 4

In the quest to share the breadth of the Cape Cod Museum of Art’s permanent collection, CCMOA docents have the unique opportunity to curate exhibitions. From selecting works to be exhibited to researching the artists and preparing wall texts, docents actively participate in bringing museum exhibitions to life.

Sharathon! A Dynamic Docent Touring Tool, Phoenix Art Museum

Presenters: Claudia Swartz and Alice Kraft

Room:  Muse 5

What Docent wouldn’t relish having a succinct “information-loaded” reference tool on a museum artwork at their fingertips? Create a peer-reviewed, “grab & go-style” document incorporating artwork analysis, engagement questions and activities, DEIA, and STEAM significance. Discover concrete steps to building your successful Docent Sharathon program.

“What’s the Story,” Des Moines Art Center

Presenter: Sally Case

Room:  Hub 1

Using question prompts and repetition to encourage the audience to create personal stories reflected in shared images, this innovative method brings art to independent living and senior care residents. This approach has yielded remarkable results in participants,  many of whom have some cognitive decline, engagement, and enjoyment.

The AGO’s Blended Approach to Visitor Engagement in the Galleries, The Art Gallery of Ontario

Presenters: Shelagh Barrington and Paola Poletto 

Room:  Hub 2

The Gallery Guide Program fosters a peer-to-peer learning model focused on sharing personal perspectives on art. The presenters will offer an overview of the AGO’s approach to visitor engagement. There will be a discussion about the Gallery Guides program’s development and the methodological approach for the Let’s Chat Program.

¡Hola! Bonjour! Ciao!: Utilize Bilingual Docent Peers to Expand Tour Offerings, Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art

Presenters: Christi Moraga and Augusta Gonźalez

Room:  Hub 3

In the Wadsworth Docent Council’s continuing effort to have diverse audiences enjoy an improved visitor experience, the bilingual docents strategized, created, and implemented models that promote an immersive and enjoyable experience in a non-English language: in-person and virtual thematic tours and high school student tour aligned with a language curriculum.

Creating a Cultural Glossary, Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco

Presenters: Lisa Sabatini and Tricia Hagey

Room:  Hub 4

The Docent Council Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, having curated our own Cultural Glossary, is eager to share our process for doing so with other docents. During our breakout session, we will make this process available to docents who want to design their cultural glossary.

Saturday, November 16, 2024

Block 5: 11:30 – 12:30 p.m.

The Art of Stations: A New Tour Alternative, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art

Presenters: Tracey Bormann Cattarin and David Cattarin

Room: Muse 2

This presentation outlines how to conduct Stations, tips, and tricks to engage with passersby and deal with some inevitable rejection successfully. We’ll include approaches to Stations from two different volunteer roles at Nelson-Atkins, gender differences we’ve discovered while leading the stations, and tools to succeed with Stations at your institution.

Sharing Insights: Docent-Led Art tours for Visitors with Low Vision, Blindness, or Color Blindness, Smithsonian American Art Museum

Presenters: Eileen Doughty and Ruth Greenstein

Room:  Muse 3

Given that a notable percentage of the population has vision loss and/or colorblindness, docents are likely to have someone in any tour group who experiences objects literally in a different sense. We will share strategies and considerations the Smithsonian American Art Museum has developed for tours aimed at this demographic.

A Hybrid Training Model for Developing a Diverse Docent Population, Heard Museum

Presenters: Mary Endorf

Room:  Muse 4

The Heard Museum is dedicated to developing a diverse docent population. This hybrid training model includes students’ choice of in-person or online classes. Resources used include the NDS Handbook, Museum performance goals, and a summative assessment rubric. Docent mentors conduct touring skills training and practice tours.

The Medicine of Art, San Diego Museum of Art

Presenters: Seena Ailor, Lucas Perez, and Diana Pins

Room:  Muse 5

Wellness Workshops balance a docent tour with the unique skills of therapeutic arts and wellness practitioners in a museum setting. Hear how journaling, movement, meditation, and sound are all incorporated into docent and practitioner-led gallery experiences to support wellness and facilitate experiences through art.

Assess for Success! Tools for Peer-to-Peer Mentoring and Assessment, Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art

Presenters: Deborah Carey and Beth Malley

Room:  Hub 1

Learn about the Wadsworth Atheneum Docent Council’s multifaceted peer mentoring and evaluation processes that can be easily implemented or adapted for any docent program. Build docent confidence, sustain competence, and increase “job satisfaction” for your docents with an array of assessment tools. Sample forms will be provided.

Everyone Belongs, Toledo Museum of Art

Presenters: Sharon Hanna and Marene Sevilla

Room: Hub 2

Opening with videoed remarks by Katie Shelley, TMA’s Conda Family Manager of Access Initiatives, and her service dog, Petunia, presenters will use visuals, sensory and other materials, as well as studio activities to demonstrate ways that docents perfect touring skills and support accessibility and inclusivity for visitors of any age with cognitive, visual, and physical disabilities.

Free Form Touring, Walters Art Museum

Presenter: Kiki Benson

Room:  Hub 3

Free Form will show you how to create a tour that is inclusive, flexible, and engaging. By incorporating all the arts, including movement, music, and poetry, participants join in a process of creating a community. By emphasizing the idea that we are all learners, we reaffirm the arts as integral to life.

 Creating Fun with Art and Stories, Evansville Museum of Arts, History & Science

Presenters: Kathleen O’Connor, Julie Merritt, and Debi Powell

Room:  Hub 4

This tour and activity, designed for kindergarten through third-grade museum visitors, combines learning about elements of art, collectively creating interesting and fun artwork, and presenting the creation to their peers. Docents find the activity is easily managed and creates a fun and engaging experience for young children.

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