This humbling experience convinced me that our grass-roots group needed a re-invention. With help from countless extraordinary women, over the years our “original art-club eight” grew to fifty well-trained Docents. We had moved out of our living rooms, into the museum’s dusty lecture halls. The Los Angeles County Museum’s Docents had adopted us and the MFA Friends supported us, we contributed and accomplished much, felt welcome and appreciated, but we were still outsiders. This was about to change.

In 2006 László Baán, the new MFA Director officially invited the docents in and Edina Deme, the Docent Programme’s new Director fully incorporated and energized the training programme, growing it to almost a hundred volunteers today.
This New Year Edina is busy organizing the spring’s continuing lecture series that prepares established and new docents.

Edina explains that the series is based on a historical list called The Hierarchy of Genres, a list judging which types of paintings were more important than others that was in use in the heyday of the Art Academies of Europe - from the 16th to the 19th century. Paintings selected for the lectures include, Landscapes, Still lives, Portraiture, Everyday Genre, Historical, and Animal Paintings from the MFA’s extensive collection.

Consider applying to be part of the MFA Docent group. Join them at an OPEN HOUSE. Enjoy a free docent-led tour while they introduce you to this unique programme - find out what a docent is, what benefits they enjoy and why docents universally feel museum work is extremely gratifying.

Open house: 11 February, 11am -1pm

Lecture series, Hierarchy of Genres – “Judging” Art in the MFA, 18 Feb - 15 to April, 2014

Contact: DEME Edina + 36 1 469 7276 by clicking here

Source: szepmuveszeti.hu