Engaging with Art 19 August 2013
Since 1990, the curator of education at Allen Memorial Art Museum (AMAM) has been training Oberlin students to serve as docents, or guides, for area school children and other groups visiting the museum. “Our docents don’t lecture. They lead discussions and try to create an engaging environment on works of art,” says Jason Trimmer, curator of education.
In Trimmer’s winter-term course, Practicum in Museum Education, prospective docents learn a range of theories and practices on museum learning, conduct extensive research on the AMAM collection, and learn to lead gallery tours. Many student docents continue on to begin careers in the museum field, working in such areas as education, curation, and interpretive technologies.
Photography Courtesy of Office of Communications
