Asheville art museum seeks docents, hosts two upcoming info sessions

From the Asheville Art Museum:

Asheville Art Museum is Recruiting Docents
The Museum is hosting two upcoming information sessions

ASHEVILLE—The Asheville Art Museum is looking for art lovers who want to make a difference in their community. The museum is seeking docents to give tours to museum visitors, primarily for school-aged and student groups but also for groups of all ages, from across the country and around the world. The museum is hosting two upcoming information sessions: Oct. 9, 10-11:30 a.m. and Oct. 18, 6-7:30 p.m. at 175 Biltmore Avenue, the museum’s temporary location.

The museum’s education staff provides ongoing docent trainings, which include exclusive previews of new exhibitions and behind-the-scenes discussions with museum curators, artists, scholars and other special guests. Docents also have the opportunity to visit local artists’ studios and cultural attractions.

Docents provide an invaluable service in advancing the museum’s role as a vibrant community center where residents and tourists explore the nature of creativity, learn from the past, and are inspired to consider the world in which they live. Many current docents have expressed that volunteering at the museum is one of their most gratifying experiences.

“I’ve always enjoyed visiting art museums but never had the opportunity to study art in school,” says docent Dorish Potash. “Learning from curators and artists as part of the docent program has enhanced my ability to really ‘see’ a work of art and relate it to my own experiences. And engaging in a conversation about a favorite piece with a 4th-grade visitor can really open you up to new ways of seeing the world.”

The next new docent training class will begin in spring 2018. Those interested in learning more are encouraged to attend one of the museum’s upcoming information sessions at the Museum On the Slope at 175 Biltmore Avenue. Interested participants should RSVP at kmcmillan@ashevilleart.org or by calling 828.253.3227, ext. 122.

• Monday, October 9, 10 – 11:30 a.m.
• Wednesday, October 18, 6 – 7:30 p.m.

This unique volunteering experience gives docents the opportunity to see art through the eyes of someone else.

Docent Sarah Reincke says, “Most children with whom I share viewing art don’t think they know enough to discuss what they see and how it makes them feel. The special moment that often occurs is when the shy child makes a wonderful comment about how a piece of art makes them feel and what it is that they like best about that piece.”