The Virginia Docent Exchange brings together docents from art museum and art centers in Virginia to exchange ideas, methods, and training practices with fellow docents. The objectives of the Virginia Docent Exchange are:
1.) To strengthen interpretational skills, to keep current with new approaches to education in the gallery and classroom, and to strengthen leadership skills.
2.) To encourage involvement in docent activities and opportunities inherent in the docent exchange and to promote professionalism of docents in general.
3.) To enhance communication among Virginia’s art museums and art centers.
History
The first Docent Exchange was held on March 26, 1990 by the Muscarelle Museum of Art. The one-day workshop entitled, Workshop for Docents – How People Learn, was hosted by docent Mary Hoffman. Ninety-six docents and six museums participated in the workshop. These six museums decided to continue the work of The Muscarelle Museum of Art and Docent Mary Hoffman by forming docent-run steering committees from each museum to plan and host future Exchanges. Every two years a member museum is required to plan and host an Exchange to address themes and issues in museum pedagogy. Today, docents and staff educators from the Chrysler Museum of Art, the Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection of the University of Virginia, the Maier Museum of Art at Randolph College, the Muscarelle Museum of Art, The Fralin Museum of Art at the University of Virginia, the Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art, and the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts continue to exchange ideas.
Current Member Museums
Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg
Maier Museum of Art at Randolph College