In early 2012, I had the privilege of being a guest blogger for Linda Norris on her blog The Uncataloged Museum. At the time, I was a gallery volunteer at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, so I wrote three posts on my experiences. Learning to Talk About Art While I’m excited to get involved at the Gardner, I’m a historian, and there’s a voice in my head asking, “What do I know about art?” We aren’t expected to be encyclopedias -- in fact, the most important part of our role is being a friendly, welcoming presence in the galleries -- but I want to help visitors make meaning of what they see. Thankfully, the Gardner volunteer trainings include a few very useful kernels of museum education theory... My Day as a Docent: What Do You Think? My first shift as a volunteer at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum was on a Saturday afternoon, just over a week after the historic museum re-opened to debut its new wing. The excited returning visitors and curious new visitors gave th
public historian ~ museum curator ~ writer ~ history of healthcare and science in society