Become a Docent for the Chinese American Museum!

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Chinese American Museum Docent Volunteer Description

Volunteer Position Description

Title: Docent
Museum Docents at the Chinese American Museum perform one of the most important functions: presenting group tours that deepens visitors’ understanding of Chinese American history and culture. Docents also provide tours and volunteer during special events.

Knowledge/Skills/Abilities: The Docent should have an interest in the history of Los Angeles and/or Chinese American history. A background in art or history is helpful but not required. This position requires public speaking and interacting with various age groups. Previous experience with working with grade school students and public speaking are beneficial but not necessary. Knowledge of a second language, preferably Chinese or Spanish, is helpful.

Duties: Docents lead scheduled tours of the the museum’s permanent collections and any temporary/special exhibitions to the general public or school groups.

Training: Docent training consists of five group sessions to be completed by the end of August. The first session is Docent Orientation on July 23, 2018 to learn more about the docent program and an overview of the historic building and museum. The schedule for the four additional sessions will be determined based on the group’s availability. Docent trainees are required to attend all sessions to become a museum docent. Training sessions include an overview of the museum’s mission and history, the significance of the historic Garnier building, curatorial themes of the permanent and special exhibitions, and techniques for tours. Docent trainees will give a practice tour, which will be evaluated for feedback. Following training, two continuing education sessions are required in the fall and spring.

Time Commitment: After completion of training, docents are required to help with tours twice a month for a minimum of one year. Tours are 1-2 hours and are usually scheduled around 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM Tuesday - Sunday. Tour hours may vary and maybe booked at latest 2:00 PM during the day. On average, docents volunteer 2-4 hours of their time per week. Tour schedules are generally provided to docents one month in advance and the latest one week in advance. Please note that if you work full-time, it is still possible to be a museum docent as some tours are booked on the weekends. However, most group tours are for K-12 school groups on weekday mornings.

Application:

Interested individuals are invited to apply by emailing Coordinator of Programs & Education, Janelle Sangalang, jsangalang@camla.org .