For years, within the art museum field, the elephant in the room has been the use of volunteer docents. Can we effectively employ volunteer docents in a field based on a deep understanding of art and education theory that requires full attention as it changes so rapidly? Is our dependency on free labor (unpaid internship, volunteer programs) thwarting our diversity, inclusion, and equity efforts? How can we balance the critical role of volunteer docents in public engagement with our desire to ensure all visitors feel welcomed and celebrated?
Please join us for a broad and rich discussion of docent programs with peers who are experimenting with a variety of models in the hopes of meeting different community and institutional needs. Moderated by Cris Scorza, this will be the first joint meeting held by FLAME and SPARK! SPARK will be leading the January meeting and all FLAME members are invited.