Become A Docent. Learn, and Teach.

By Marilyn Machlowitz

I recently visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art (The Met) in my city (NYC), and joined a free guided tour of highlights of the museum’s vast collection. Our volunteer docent led us to eight works of art (spanning centuries) and interpreted them for us. She had designed the one-hour tour herself (for museum approval) and delivered her insight and information without relying upon a single note. Her commentary made this the most meaningful of my many visits to this museum!

Becoming a docent may be something you’ve planned to do upon retiring.

Docent opportunities are not limited to museums. Libraries, historic homes and gardens also seek volunteers to enhance the visitor experience and to make the collections meaningful and relevant to visitors.

Requirements vary by institution, with some requiring background checks, particularly if the volunteer will interact with children. Some ask docents to maintain a membership and to make a two-year (or more) commitment to volunteering. All offer extensive training, often with expert curators and educators. Most also provide free admission for you and your guests, discounts at the museum shop or cafe, and invitations to participate in special events.

The training programs may ask you to design your own tour or create a presentation you would offer in a particular gallery. Often, you will shadow a veteran docent as well.

At Victoria Mansion, a historic home in Portland, Maine, where I enjoyed a wonderful tour, prospective docents receive a manual and a mentor. Volunteers then shadow existing docents and do a test run of their own tours. Tours are not scripted, so volunteers can focus on the information provided in different ways. Guided tours are limited to eight participants. Victoria Mansion also offers larger groups self-paced tours, where docents are stationed in particular rooms to talk about those rooms.

At many museums, tours are offered to school and camp groups, adult groups, or the public. And the expectation is that you will be able to lead one lasting 30-60 minutes without notes. Best of all, you need not walk backwards as many student campus tour guides do!

Ongoing professional development may be offered, too, for instance, when a new exhibit is to open or a gallery is reinstalled or reinterpreted.

Becoming a docent is possible even if you divide your year between two residences. When I spoke with Stacia Hanscom, Director of Education and Public Programs at Victoria Mansion, she stressed working with volunteers’ schedules. The Mansion’s season is typically May to October, which works well for retired volunteers who spend their winters elsewhere.

There are few prerequisites. Even in art museums, an art history background is seldom required. More important is some experience in public speaking or customer service. Unspoken is the expectation to be on your feet, often clambering up or down stairs. (The docents at The Met use the elevators with their groups.) The ability to speak English is sufficient, but The Met offers tours in ten other languages, too, so you may be able to use another language as a docent.

As always, the best source of information is the internet. A search for docent will unearth many opportunities and reveal the application procedures. Alternatively, searching the websites of preferred institutions and clicking volunteer opportunities will yield other options.

Opportunities are plentiful but we women may be facing some competition. Many museums are turning to technology (apps, audio tours, interactive exhibits) instead of humans. Hanscom has no plans to switch to audio tours at Victoria Mansion because docents are our best ambassadors. Others face pressure to pay those who inform and guide visitors, and opt to hire student interns. (Some organizations augment volunteer docents with paid guides.)

Go out there and explain something fun to some people you have never met!

Marilyn Machlowitz is an expert on executive search and a novice volunteer.

For more information, here are some sample listings:

www.nelson-atkins.org/get-involved-2/docents/ Kansas City, MO

www.crockerart.org/docents Sacramento, CA

www.hillwoodmuseum.org/careers-and-volunteering/garden-docent Washington, DC

www.shellmuseum.org/volunteer-descriptions Sanibel, FL