Hi Jen,

I used to manage the docent program at the Everson Museum of Art in
Syracuse.  It might be useful to check into your local organizations for
retirees and retired teachers.  They make great docents, as they have
worked with audiences before and they love museum perks.  They also have
free time to schedule for conducting tours.  We had bi-monthly meetings and
training as new exhibits were cycled in.  We also trained our docents using
the Visual Thinking Strategies skills as designed by Philip Yenawine from
NYC MOMA.  These tour skills can be applied to any type of museum
institution.  You can get some free resources if you look at MOMA's website
or google VTS training.  The training program took about 3-6 months as we
got docents familiar with the collections, mission and vision of the
museum.  I hope this helps.  I have been out of the museum loop for awhile,
but will be implementing a high school docent program through the school I
teach at soon. So, I try to keep fresh with this listserv as well.

Best,
Qiana

On Thu, Feb 16, 2012 at 12:46 PM, Jennifer Hart <[log in to unmask]>wrote:

> Any tips or advice on starting up a docent program at a museum? In
> particular, recruitment, training and retainment of volunteers?
>
> Thanks!
>
> Jen
>
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