Twelve volunteers will lead guided tours this fall of the Museum of Russian Icons, home of the largest collection of Russian icons in North America and the largest private collection outside of Russia.
Docents will be on hand during the museum’s normal hours of operation (11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Tuesdays through Saturdays), beginning Sept. 2. Docents will also participate in an outreach program within the community and with Clinton Middle School, as well as offering presentations about the museum’s collection to groups who may not be able to visit in person.
“Although the Russian Icon Museum is well-planned, with thematic icon groupings and an excellent audio guide, many visitors seek more information,” said Art Norman, a retired educator who is one of the docents. “[My] role as a docent is to try to answer questions about the artistic, religious, and folk history of these treasures. A knowledgeable and enthusiastic docent makes the visitor’s experience more enjoyable and definitely more meaningful.”
Tara Young, education and program specialist at the Museum of Russian Icons, said docents might “encourage the visitors to look more closely and more critically at the icons, perhaps noticing something about a painting that they might otherwise have missed.”
The guides meet every other week for two hours of training and complete a significant amount of outside reading and research to prepare for their roles at the museum. Training this past spring and summer has included tours of historical downtown Clinton; research projects about individual icons; a trip to the icon collection at St. Anne’s Shrine in Sturbridge; and auditing docent tours at other museums to give them a well-rounded preparation for this fall’s docent lead tours.
For more information about the docent program, Young at 978-598-5003 or tyoung@museumofrussianicons.org. The Museum of Russian Icons is at 203 Union St., Clinton. Admission is $5 for adults, voluntary donation for seniors (59 and over), free for students and children under 16. The museum is open 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays. For more information, call 978-598-5000, e-mail info@rusiconusa.org or visit museumofrussianicons.org.
