Docents

For a large number of our visitors, Docents are the public face and voice of the museum. Docents provide tours for approximately 7,000-10,000 children and adults each year, greet many more, and participate in a wide variety of public events held at the museum. Our ability to connect to the community depends on our Docent volunteers.

Serving as a volunteer Docent opens a world of learning possibilities, forges close friendships, creates paths to the community, and enables you to be a part of one of the city’s great cultural institutions. It is a volunteer opportunity that makes a difference.

Training for Prospective Docents

Our training sessions focus on either the art or history aspects of our permanent collection. The art training typically begins in January every other year and lasts for four months. Training for the history collection begins in September of the same year and extends to Thanksgiving, picks up again in January and continues to April.

Classes consist of lectures, group discussion, tour techniques, hands-on activities and written evaluations. Lectures are given by CEO Tod Ruhstaller, Curator of Education Lisa Cooperman and additional tour training is provided by veteran Docents.

Prospective Docents are asked to commit to attending all classes during the training period, but arrangements may be made to make up missed classes. You will also be asked to join the museum (if not already a member), purchase a museum catalog ($20) and pay a $35 materials fee.

History Training begins September 2011 -- Sign up today

Docent History Training begins September 15, 2011 and we're now taking sign-ups. If you have always wanted to work with the public and learn to interpret the fascinating collections of The Haggin Museum, sign up using the downloadable pdf form. Prospective Docents meet for class on Thursday mornings from 9 a.m. to noon through April 26, 2012. For more information, contact Curator of Education Lisa Cooperman at (209) 940-6315 or education@hagginmuseum.org.