Open Forum

Hello Museum Colleagues, I am gathering research on docent programs for a contract with an encyclopedic art museum. Specifically, I am looking for case studies and visitor research/data around transitioning from a traditional docent program model to more of a gallery guide approach focusing on visitor engagement (basically doing away with intensive trainings and docent guided Art 101 tours/lectures in the galleries to impromptu conversations centered on best practices for audience engagement.) The museum is hoping to build a case for gallery guides vs. docents in order to create a more inclusive and welcoming in-gallery experience that is audience-centric and to diversify their gallery educator pool. If any of you have gone through this type of transition at your institutions or are about to embark on reimagining your tour program, I would love to hear how you approached the transition, what pain points you encountered, and any visitor research you conducted to support your decision to move away from the traditional docent program model. I have a few articles to draw upon, but if anyone wants to point me in the direction of recent articles or research studies on this topic, I would greatly appreciate it. 

Thanks!
Jenna Madison
Interpretive Specialist/Museum Education Consultant

------------------------------
Jenna Madison
Asst. Director, Interpretation, Research & Digital Learning
Museum of Modern Art
New York NY
------------------------------

Dear Jenna,
 We have gone through this transition. I created the docent program when the museum first opened in 2008. I recruited university students and community members. We had a very successful program but it required 100 % of my time to manage schedules and trainings. The group was divers in backgrounds and age. Many adjustments/ accomodations  were  made  to bridge learning gaps. 
The plus side is that we had  22 individuals who were passionate about teaching and about art. The cons were that not everyone wanted to follow best practices and adapt  to new strategies as they emerged or as we felt were necessary depending on the audiences. 
Students had schedule s that constant changes and because they were volunteers their jobs outside of the museum and school were the drivers of their participation.

Gallery guides are connected to course work, college credits and we now have a few internships for gallery guides that are paid. This is a better model but managing students and teaching them many of the soft skills required in todays work place remain a challenge. Gallery guides are better aligned with the university's mission and vision.

------------------------------
Miriam Machado
Director of Education
Frost Art Museum
Florida International University
3053481808




Miami FL
------------------------------

Hi Miriam,

Thank you for sharing the Frost's tour program model and the transitioning experience, it's great to hear that you were better able to align the program with the museum's mission and vision. I love the idea of engaging students and community members and it sounds like this has helped you bring more diverse voices and perspectives to the program.

I do know the challenges that go along with taking a more visitor-centered approach, I encountered some docent attrition years back when trying to move away from scripted art history based tours to a conversational approach. So folks just refused to go along. I really appreciate you sharing the tax it took on you as an educator as well, I think that is important to note as these decisions often get made at the top without taking staff time and bandwidth into account. 

This is all super helpful, thanks so much for your response!
Jenna

------------------------------
Jenna Madison
Asst. Director, Interpretation, Research & Digital Learning
Museum of Modern Art
New York NY
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 03-29-2022 08:01 AM
From: Miriam Machado
Subject: Docents vs. Gallery Guides Research

Dear Jenna,
 We have gone through this transition. I created the docent program when the museum first opened in 2008. I recruited university students and community members. We had a very successful program but it required 100 % of my time to manage schedules and trainings. The group was divers in backgrounds and age. Many adjustments/ accomodations  were  made  to bridge learning gaps. 
The plus side is that we had  22 individuals who were passionate about teaching and about art. The cons were that not everyone wanted to follow best practices and adapt  to new strategies as they emerged or as we felt were necessary depending on the audiences. 
Students had schedule s that constant changes and because they were volunteers their jobs outside of the museum and school were the drivers of their participation.

Gallery guides are connected to course work, college credits and we now have a few internships for gallery guides that are paid. This is a better model but managing students and teaching them many of the soft skills required in todays work place remain a challenge. Gallery guides are better aligned with the university's mission and vision.

------------------------------
Miriam Machado
Director of Education
Frost Art Museum
Florida International University
3053481808




Miami FL
------------------------------

Hello Jenna,

It's lovely to see your name pop up on my screen.  I hope all is well. 

If it is not already on your radar, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum went through a transition about 15 years (give or take) ago when they introduced gallery guides into the museum.  My understanding is it was less about switching from docents to gallery guides, then splitting their security detail between main security guards and introducing gallery guides which were seen as part security/part education.  Their education role was to be there to answer questions but to also see if people are engrossed with specific works of art and engaging them into conversation about it.  I am no expect but I recall a number of museum blog posts and research done at the time about the introduction.

-Jared

------------------------------
Jared Crellin
Account Director
ListenUp Audio
Atlanta GA
------------------------------

Hi Jared! 

Hope all is well with you and yours :) I had completely forgotten about the Guggenheim, but I recall hearing some one speak about at AAM or one of the many other conferences. Thank you so much for reminding me of this. I will reach out to colleagues there and see what they can share with me. I believe they still rely on their security officers to answer questions and chat with visitors in the galleries. It's actually a really nice model in that it values the expertise of the front line staff and allows them to engage in positive interactions with patrons.

Thank you!!!
Jenna

------------------------------
Jenna Madison
Asst. Director, Interpretation, Research & Digital Learning
Museum of Modern Art
New York NY
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 03-29-2022 11:58 AM
From: Jared Crellin
Subject: Docents vs. Gallery Guides Research

Hello Jenna,

It's lovely to see your name pop up on my screen.  I hope all is well. 

If it is not already on your radar, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum went through a transition about 15 years (give or take) ago when they introduced gallery guides into the museum.  My understanding is it was less about switching from docents to gallery guides, then splitting their security detail between main security guards and introducing gallery guides which were seen as part security/part education.  Their education role was to be there to answer questions but to also see if people are engrossed with specific works of art and engaging them into conversation about it.  I am no expect but I recall a number of museum blog posts and research done at the time about the introduction.

-Jared

------------------------------
Jared Crellin
Account Director
ListenUp Audio
Atlanta GA
------------------------------