Wednesday, February 04, 2009

TAM Docents: Potluck on February 10 Reminder

Hello Docents-

This is a reminder that we have a potluck scheduled for Tuesday, February 10 following the Second Tuesday program (you don’t have to attend the Second Tuesday lecture in order to participate in the potluck). As we have a small group, we are going to squeeze into the Pink Room on Admin. The Pink Room is the board room at the end of the hall as you turn right off of the elevator. I will have paper plates, cutlery, and cups there so that should help in its identification (feel free to ask a staff person if you are unsure). As long as we remain civilized and not too loud, no one should kick us out. I have those who have RSVP’d below but more are welcome. Please bring entrees or sides, if possible.

 

RSVP Feb 10 Potluck   

Margaret Upshaw          

Judi Keyser       

Sharon Berens   

Bev Bright         

Ellen Shigeno    

Terry Dew        

Linda Flatley

 

I look forward to seeing you next Tuesday!

-Jana

 

Jana Wennstrom

Volunteer Programs Coordinator

TACOMA ART MUSEUM

1701 Pacific Avenue

Tacoma, Washington 98402

T: 253.272.4258 x3030

F: 253.627.1898

JWennstrom@TacomaArtMuseum.org

TAM Docents: Biennial Presentation Follow-up

Hello Docents-

Thanks to all of you who joined us for the walk-throughs today. It was great to see so many of you there. I appreciate your patience with so much standing as we went through two galleries instead of just the one. I have copied your Biennial presentation information again below. I have highlighted artists who have not yet been chosen in red. For any of you who have not yet signed up, please choose at least one of the artists in red. I have also copied the list of who has signed up, including their choices, so that you can make your decisions knowing what is already coming. I need 2 more of you to sign up for February 23.

 

Give a brief biography of each (the kind of tidbits that would be interesting and useful in a tour) then briefly compare and contrast the 2, explaining why you chose to pair them, wrapping up with your take on why this artwork would be considered “Northwest Art”. You will have 5 minutes to give your presentation with up to another 2 minutes following your presentation for questions and responses from fellow docents (this will help us practice discussing this body of work within the context of the exhibition). I only want to spend one hour standing in the gallery (no stools please – to help us remain mindful of what we ask of our visitors but also to keep timing on track) so we will only do 8 presentations per training period before we move on to something else. This means that 3 different trainings will be needed. Please email me with you’re a) artist preferences and  b) the date you want to do your presentation. I will be asking for variety here so first come will be first served. I may need to ask you to choose other artists if I don’t get everyone represented and, again,  I can only take 8 presentations per date: Monday, February 23; Monday, March 9; or Monday, March 23.

 

For your Biennial Artist presentations, please choose 2 Biennial artists from the following list:

Rick Araluce, Seattle

Gala Bent, Seattle

Michael Brophy, Portland

Jack Daws, Seattle

Eric Elliott, Seattle

Tannaz Farsi, Eugene

Sarah Hood, Seattle

Denzil Hurley, Seattle

Linda Hutchins, Portland

Robert Jones, Seattle

Michael Kenna, Seattle

Doug Keyes, Seattle

Isaac Layman, Seattle

Zhi Lin, Sammamish

Micki Lippe, Seattle

Margie Livingston, Seattle

Victor Maldonado, Portland

Debora Moore, Seattle

Susan Robb, Seattle

Stephanie Robison, Portland

Ross Sawyers, Seattle

Susan Seubert, Portland

Chang-Ae Song, Eugene

Scott Trimble, Seattle

 

Monday, February 23 Presentation                 

Randi Kander                 Gala Bent and Michael Kenna

Gaard Logan                  Jack Daws and Isaac Layman

Barbara Beaver              Micki Lippe and Linda Hutchins

Barbara Abegg               Stephanie Robison and Chang-Ae Song

Katrina Frank                 Zhi Lin and ???

Judi Keyser                    Michael Brophy and Robert Jones

                       

                       

Monday, March 9 Presentation            

Terry Dew                     Doug Keyes and Susan Seubert

Margaret Upshaw                       Chang Ae Song and Marjie Livingston

Debora Kernan               Sarah Hood and Micki Lippe

Sharon Berens                Michael Kenna and Zhi Lin

Jim Reardon                  Linda Hutchins and Debora Moore

Florence Reardon           Debora Moore and Micki Lippe

                                   

                       

Monday, March 23 Presentation                      

Linda Flatley                  Zhi Lin and Victor Maldonado

 

 

Thank you for all that you do for Tacoma Art Museum!

-Jana

 

Jana Wennstrom

Volunteer Programs Coordinator

TACOMA ART MUSEUM

1701 Pacific Avenue

Tacoma, Washington 98402

T: 253.272.4258 x3030

F: 253.627.1898

JWennstrom@TacomaArtMuseum.org

Tuesday, February 03, 2009

TAM Docents: Docent needed for Saturday, Feb 28

Hello Docents-

I still need one more docent for 2 tours on Saturday, February 28 from 12:30 – 3 pm. This is a group of 75 Japanese University students. We currently have 2 docents scheduled but we would like to break the group down a little smaller, if possible.

Please let me know if you are available.

Thank you,

-Jana

 

Jana Wennstrom

Volunteer Programs Coordinator

TACOMA ART MUSEUM

1701 Pacific Avenue

Tacoma, Washington 98402

T: 253.272.4258 x3030

F: 253.627.1898

JWennstrom@TacomaArtMuseum.org

TAM Docents: Docent needed Saturday, April 18 at 10 am

Hello Docents-

I am hoping that one of you will jump at the chance to tour some fellow docents from the Denver Art Museum who would like a Museum Highlight s tour:

Tour Type:

Museum Highlights

Tour Contact:

Linda Albert

Organization:

Denver Art Museum Docents

Date & Time:

Saturday, April 18, 2009 at 10 am

Guest Count:

24

 

If you are available, please let me know.

Thank you,

-Jana

 

Jana Wennstrom

Volunteer Programs Coordinator

TACOMA ART MUSEUM

1701 Pacific Avenue

Tacoma, Washington 98402

T: 253.272.4258 x3030

F: 253.627.1898

JWennstrom@TacomaArtMuseum.org

Monday, February 02, 2009

TAM Docents: Inquiry can work with Adult Tours

Hello Docents-

I wanted to make you aware of a discussion taking place on a museum education blog that I subscribe to. Below are 3 blog submissions about involving adults in group tours by asking questions. I think that including questions in our tours is an important way to engage our visitors and a fun way to learn about them as well. For those of you who have attended VTS training, this could useful as a model of how to use inquiry to engage adults. The important thing is to involve our visitors in the tour by asking questions and engaging in dialogues versus monologues. If you feel like you would like more training or if you would like to discuss this further as a group, let me know and I could look into a workshop during one of our already scheduled training times. Your input is always appreciated.

Thanks to all of you who attended Saturday’s opening. The exhibition is great and I think that the opening was a booming success! If you had the opportunity to talk with any of the artists and you would like to share at Wednesday’s training, let me know and I will try to squeeze that in at the end of the Biennial walk-through before we head into Macaulay. If timing is too tight, we will save your anecdotes for the presentations that start February 23. I still haven’t heard from many of you regarding your artist choices so please submit those to me soon. I will also bring a sign-up sheet on Wednesday.

Thank you,

-Jana

 

Jana Wennstrom
Volunteer Programs Coordinator
TACOMA ART MUSEUM
T: 253.272.4258 x3030

 

 BLOG SUBMISSIONS REGARDING USING INQUIRY FOR ADULT TOURS:


We train our docents to lead inquiry tours for all ages...even public adult tours.  This requires a lot of skill and commitment on the part of the docents, but it can really pay off.
I know we often have to convince our docents that adults can and will be engaged by questions, so I wanted to share this comment from a feedback form from a public tour here at the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University:
"I liked that the docent asked us questions about the art.  Prompted thought and was engaging."
I get one comment like this every other month or so, and it always gives me the warm-fuzzies.
Juline Chevalier
Curator of Education
Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University

 

I make it a point to let my audience know that it’s okay to ask questions at any point and that it’s okay to challenge what I have to say – sometimes it can get a bit rowdy, but I always feel much more engaged with my audience and as their peer. One of my goals is to eliminate the perceived hierarchy of me as the expert and they as the learners –Often my audience has a wealth of information and at times, questions I can’t answer! And, of course, I offer myself up at the end of the program/tour/lecture if anyone wants to continue the dialogue. Sometimes I ask questions, but I try to frame them so my audience does not feel tested or put on the spot…They’re usually posed as “What do you think…” or “How does this look to you…” (A common tactic, I’m sure). I’ve come to find that my most important role as an educator to adults is to stimulate thought and facilitate discussion, not treat them like pupils, and never assume they don’t know what I’m talking about!

Amanda Martin
Curator of Adult Programs

Fort Wayne Museum of Art


Our docents are also trained to do interactive tours.  We often use the same gallery interactives we would use with student tours - adults like to touch, too.  Our training is based on Howard Gardeners Multiple Intelligence/ Project MUSE ideas-- adults are as varied in how they learn as children.  Susan Baley at the Fred Jones Museum at the University of Oklahoma has put together a fantastic training program using these methods.

As the docents put together their highlights tours, they are required to include 3 possible interactive activities for adults.  This could be identification of elements of art, storytelling, compare and contrast, etc.

We have been getting more and more requests, especially from our seniors groups to include projects.  We have found that these have worked well and those who don't wish to participate sit with others and still visit about what is going on.   We have tied this to a program in "Mental Gymnastics" with our local Optimists Club.

Kathrine Schlageck

Beach Museum of Art, Kansas State University