“Thank you for your time, patience, flexibility and thoughtfulness. I know we are one school out of the many you work with, but it never felt or feels like that. There are many compelling reasons why we should do docenting at museums that are more local to us. The reason why we don’t is because of the program and facilitation that you provide. As all Yankee fans are saying, ‘I can’t wait ‘till next year.’ ”
-Jon Hirsch, Director, LIFE School at Horace Greeley High School, Chappaqua, New York
For Grades 5 - 12
The Student Docent Program is a school program for grades five through twelve, designed to equip students with the skills needed to discover and connect with contemporary art. In essence, the Museum teaches small groups of students from each participating school to lead discussions about contemporary art with their classmates. Led though the exhibition by their peers, students on the tour are more likely to make connections between the work on view and their own experiences.
Student Docent Kit
View a slide show illustrating the Student Docent Kit!
Student Docents attend five after-school training sessions with a Museum educator for each exhibition. These training sessions use an inquiry-based approach to teach students the skills needed to decode and analyze a work of art. When training is complete, the Docents use the same approach to engage their classmates in a conversation about the art during a class field trip to the Museum.
The Student Docent Program equips Student Docents and their peers with the skills and confidence necessary to describe, analyze, and interpret visual art. It encourages students to think in new directions about contemporary art and its relationship to their own lives, increases their ability to discover and derive meaning from works of art, and helps them to build their own interpretation of the world around them.
For a detailed publication about the structure, logistics, and benefits of the Student Docent Program, please contact the education department, at 203.438.4519.
Fees: $4 per student attending class visit. Scholarships are available. Contact the education department at 203.438.4519 for more information and an application. Prices for hands-on activity vary with activity.
The Student Docent Program is made possible, in part, by Boehringer Ingelheim Cares Foundation, Inc., The Maurer Family Foundation, Inc., Paul Newman, and William Randolph Hearst Foundation.
