Docent Council 50th Anniversary

Formed in 1968, the Wadsworth Atheneum’s Docent Council shares a passion for art, as well as the desire to engage and inform the public about art, the vast collection of the museum, and extraordinary dedication to excellence in teaching. Their service to the museum allows our visitors to experience infinite possibilities for learning, contemplation, and enjoyment.

The Docent Council is celebrating its 50th Anniversary with a variety of activities throughout 2018:

January 15 | In the Galleries
Docents helped the public engage with 50 artworks in the museum’s collection throughout the Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Day.

March 29 | Sol LeWitt at the Wadsworth Atheneum
James Meyer, curator at the National Gallery of Art, will will survey the work of Hartford-trained conceptual artist Sol LeWitt in celebration of what would have been his 90th year.

This program is the first of three lectures in 2018 generously supported by the Docent Council in celebration of its 50th anniversary year of service at the museum.

June 12 | Sacred Geographies: Frederic Church, the Holy Land, and the Hudson Valley
Jennifer Raab, professor of art history at Yale University, will investigate how Frederic Church’s travels through the Middle East and his paintings of Jerusalem and Petra shaped his Hudson Valley home, Olana.

This program is the second of three lectures in 2018 generously supported by the Docent Council in celebration of its 50th anniversary year of service at the museum.

Fall 2018 | Lecture
The third and final lecture supported by the Docent Council in celebration of its 50th anniversary will be scheduled in conjunction with the special exhibition Monsters & Myths: Surrealism and War in the 1930s and 1940s. Stay tuned for more information!

All Year | In the Galleries
Docents are writing and recording 12 new family-friendly stops for the museum’s TAP mobile tours. These stops will help families explore works of art from Ancient Egyptian sculpture to Calder’s The Praying Mantis.

All Year | In the Community
Docents are visiting over 50 libraries, senior centers, and other community institutions across the state to present interactive talks on works in the museum’s collection.