Contact:
Dan Carpenter
(325) 673-4587
Marketing@thegracemuseum.org

The Grace seeks docents for education team

Abilene, TX (August 7, 2006)  Attention everyone! Are you interested in playing an active role on The Grace Museum's education team? Consider joining the Museum's volunteer cadre of docents!

"Docents help administer our various education programs to school groups throughout the year," said Kathryn Best, Curator of Education for The Grace. "You don't need to have a background in art or history to be a docent. You just need to love children and believe in the importance of educating them about the culture that surrounds us."

The Museum needs two types of docents. Tour Docents give tours of art galleries, the History Museum , and Children's Museum. The time commitment includes two hours of training every month to learn about new exhibits, plus time spent giving tours as needed.

Outreach Docents go into the schools and accompany The Grace's artists-in-residence as they teach art lessons to 3rd-5th grade students four times a year. They also teach art lessons themselves six times a year. Training varies from month to month, and the average time spent in the schools is between 6-10 hours a month.

"All new docents attend four orientation sessions where they receive training in art history and art techniques. Tour docents receive training in tour techniques, while outreach docents receive training in hands-on classroom art education. New docents also observe two tours/outreach visits before being asked to give tours/outreach visits on their own," added Best.

"We want the experience of being a docent to be rewarding for you. Docent training is a form of continuing education, and we strive to introduce you to new artists, new skills, and new experiences. Katy Presswood, retired Abilene High School art teacher, provides hands-on art lessons to all of our docents at the end of each training session. We often invite artists and local scholars to speak at docent training. And we periodically take fieldtrips to other museums in the surrounding area. Plus, docent training is a great opportunity to meet other fascinating people in Abilene ."

The next docent orientation is scheduled for Tuesdays, August 22 & 29 and September 12 & 19 from 9 a.m. to noon . If you are interested in becoming a Tour Docent or Outreach Docent at The Grace Museum, please contact Best at 673-4587 or kbest@thegracemuseum.org before August 14.

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