The Frist Art Museum is currently looking to expand their team of docents — the volunteer tour guides who are specially trained to help museum guests learn about art through exhibitions presented at the Frist. Museum staff members describe the ideal docent as a person with a passion for art and learning and who enjoys engaging with diverse groups of visitors. No prior teaching experience or knowledge of art history is required, and all are encouraged to apply.
Frist Art Museum Director of Education and Engagement Anne Henderson says that potential docents do not need to be art history experts to become a docent. In addition to leading tours for adults, docents also lead tours for school groups.
“In the training sessions, we give our docents the information they need to lead exhibition tours,” says Henderson. “We teach foundational art principles that are the basis of the tours we offer our guests when they visit the museum, as well as ways to engage visitors in conversation about the works of art. Helping children enjoy, understand, and talk about art is such a fulfilling experience. We have had the great joy and privilege of watching children grow up at the Frist and go on to become artists and art teachers.”
Becoming a docent at the Frist also comes with many benefits, including training sessions with renowned curators from around the nation and the world, unlimited admission to the museum, invitation to museum events, discounts in the museum gift shop, special outings and volunteer/docent appreciation activities, free parking during trainings and tours in the Frist visitor parking lot. Last, but not least, the benefit of meeting interesting people from all walks of life. More than a few lifelong friendships began with volunteering at the museum.
To learn more about the Frist Art Museum docent program and to apply, visit the Frist Art Museum website: https://fristartmuseum.org/docent-volunteer-program/ and click on the Apply Today box; or email docent@FristArtMuseum.org The deadline for applications is Tuesday, January 16, 2024, and classes begin in February.
On a personal note, please consider this opportunity to help diversify the current homogenous group of docents. The Frist is eager to be represented by males and people of color, of all ages. The image shown is of a typical docent with a group of children viewing the MULTIPLICITY exhibition of art by African American artists. Imagine if an African American were the docent giving the tour.
Before the end of the month, I highly encourage you to see some of the most amazing art ever shown in middle Tennessee. Seriously, MULTIPLICITY is a fascinating, original mind-blowing exhibition, over 80 major collage and collage-informed works that reflect the breadth and complexity of Black identity featuring an intergenerational group of 52 living artists. I have been several times, and will go back again before its last day, Sunday, December 31. This would be a great Kwanzaa experience for anyone!
And, while you’re there, check out the awesome “Afrofuturistic Visions: Dreamscapes of Sicasso” and “Raqib Shaw: Ballads of East and West”, “The Power of Resilience”, “Art in the Atrium by TC”, and “Art and Imagination in Spanish America, 1500–1800”. Museum Hours are Monday: 10 a.m.–5:30 p.m.; Tuesday & Wednesday: closed; Thursday: 10 a.m.–8:00 p.m.; Friday: 10 a.m.–5:30 p.m.; Saturday: 10 a.m.–5:30 p.m.; and Sunday: 1–5:30 p.m.; Closed Dec 24-25 & Jan 1. Visit: https://fristartmuseum.org/for details on admission.
