Jundt Art Museum Seeks Docents

The Jundt Art Museum at Gonzaga University is seeking volunteers with experience in the visual arts who are able to attend monthly meetings and complete instructional requirements qualifying them to lead informative tours of Jundt art exhibitions and assist with or promote Museum programs and events. Docents must be able to volunteer for a minimum of 10 hours a month as gallery attendants, tour guides, and/or front desk greeters.

What is a docent?

A docent is a teacher, serving the Museum and community in the field of art education. The word “docent” is derived from the Latin word “docere,” meaning ‘to teach.’ Docents are knowledgeable, enthusiastic people who act as liaisons between the Museum and the general public. They are professional Museum staff members.

What do docents do?

Docents contribute to the Jundt Art Museum in several ways:

• Touring: Docents serve as tour guides for children and adults visiting the Museum.
• Research: Docents prepare background information on the works of art in the Museum’s collection, special exhibitions, and new acquisitions.
• Outreach: Docents give special presentations for community events. Docents not only provide services to our guests through educational and Museum tours, they also act as liaisons to the greater Spokane community.

Extensive training for new docents will begin in February of 2020 and require two four-hour days. Training at these initial sessions is required. Specific training dates will be announced when we have a sufficient number of interested persons. Additional training sessions for new exhibitions are provided during docent meetings, where artists or museum staff talk about the exhibition during a walk-through.

About the Jundt Art Museum

The Jundt Art Museum opened in October of 1995, and its success is due in part to the dedication of the docents. Docents not only provide services to our guests through educational and museum tours, they also act as ambassadors for the Jundt and Gonzaga University. We encourage docents to be involved as fully as their schedules permit.

The beautifully situated Jundt Art Museum houses the University’s growing permanent collection of over 5,000 objects and presents special temporary art exhibitions. During the year, the Museum exhibits works by local, regional, national, and international figures in many different mediums. The Jundt houses a major research facility – the Print Study Room– which contains a range of materials on individual artists and art history. Additionally, it provides access to the electronic catalog of the Museum’s holdings.

Upcoming exhibits for 2020 include “A Grand Tour: Images of Italy from the Permanent Collection of the Jundt Art Museum,” “From the Collection on the 100th Anniversary of the 19th Amendment: Prints by Women,” “Seven Years of Acquisitions, 2013-2020,” and “Matrix Press: 20 Years of Collaboration.”

To sign-up or for more information please contact: Karen Kaiser, curator of education, at the Jundt Art Museum at kaiser@gonzaga.edu.