Volunteer DocentAt — City of Escondido Community Services Department
Queen Califia’s Magical Circle is a mosaic sculptural garden located in Kit Carson Park, Escondido. It is open limited hours, pending availably from volunteers. Our operating hours are from 9AM-12PM on Tuesdays and Thursdays as well as the 2nd and 4th Saturdays of the month from 9 AM-2PM. We are currently looking for adult docents to help keep it open. No specific knowledge of art is required. This is a great opportunity to learn more about how to docent and connect with unique people from all around the world who visit this garden. This docenting position is low commitment, as many of our current volunteers only docent a handful of hours a month. As our volunteer body composes mostly of an older audience, we would be more than thrilled to have young, enthusiastic college students join us! Here is the link to apply: https://volunteer.escondido.org/pages/departments.
How to engage an audience effectively. Docents are knowledgeable guides who help visitors through an art space and deliver useful, art related commentary. Learning to docent is an important skill within the museum world but also a great way to build upon social skills, as you will constantly be meeting people from all around the world. A number of our volunteers have been in this program for over twenty years and learn something new each shift!
Students will learn how to docent and discuss art related themes/ideas to a wide range of audiences. There will be an orientation provided for them when they first begin, and they will have the opportunity to shadow a docent who has been in the program for a long time. We schedule docents to volunteer using a buddy system, so they will not be on their own.
Once you fill out the application form, you will need to come into City Hall to get a live scan done. Our volunteer coordinator will schedule a date for you and once you are cleared, we can have you begin your orientation.
| Hours | Duration |
|---|---|
| 2 | hours per academic year |