The Docent Council is a volunteer group whose purpose is to provide educational tours to K-12 students for the Long Beach Museum of Art. In this capacity, docents receive training to work with K-12 schools about exhibitions and related art making processes. All Docents are also required to be members of the Museum. The Docent Council has regular meetings on the second and fourth Thursday of each month, 9:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m. Through Docent Council meetings, docents receive updates and continuing education about the Museum, the Docent Council, museum education, and current exhibitions.
The Museum Education staff provides training for Docents in the following areas:
Docent Training is a series of 12 seminars held each year, January through June. Docent Trainees meet the first, third and fifth Thursday of each month during the 12 sessions, 9:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m. Trainees are also required to attend regular Docent Council meetings, which occur twice a month.
Active level docents give at least 9 hours per month to the Museum. That works out to 2 tours, 2 Docent Council meetings, and one hour of research time per month. After your training in completed, graduates give at least two years of active level service to the Docent Council.
You will be helping the Museum welcome visitors and school group, by connecting them with the arts! Without the Docent Council, programs like KidsVisions, which serves every Long Beach fifth grader would not be possible! You will have the opportunity to learn about the visual arts from specialists and artists. You will join a wide circle of people who share similar interests and have the satisfaction of bringing the cultural heritage of art to the community.
If you are interested in becoming a Docent, please submit a Docent Application. Please note your application will be kept on file until arrangements for a new training class begins. You will be contacted no later than December to confirm your continued interest in joining the next training session in January.
