Before I could assume my role as an interpretive guide, I and the other interns had a 5 week orientation program. We met every Thursday morning with the two program coordinators (as well as the docents for an hour at the end).
The first day was about introductions and getting paperwork out of the way. I got to meet the five other interns and it was interesting to hear their various backgrounds and interests/connection to art. Despite the fact that we all came from different school and slightly varied combination of majors I found that I could connect to my fellow interns because all of us had an art history background and some do their own art like me. I think together we bring a variety of experiences, and I am excited to work with these people and learn from them. This day we had the opportunity to ask some technical questions, discuss our schedules and responsibilities as well as get a tour of the museum. At the end of this day we also got to meet the 4 docents who will be giving tours for the Anne Truitt exhibit. This meeting was also mostly about introduction although we also brushed on the topic of how to listen well (which ironically happened outside next to a loud water fountain).
For our next meeting we had to do some readings concerning biographical information on Anne Truitt and also the topic of modern art and people’s reaction to it. The day started off with a discussion on how to ask questions and what type of questions does one ask of the visitors. We did an exercise of listing the various question words (what, why, how, if, etc.) and then we looked at which ones create open questions and which ones create closed questions. The emphasis of this exercise was on the importance of keeping the questions open in order to keep the conversation flowing and getting it beyond a superficial level. We also focused on the importance of asking questions that will give the visitor to do their own thinking and talking so that the discussion does not turn into a lecture of facts or us telling the visitors what we think. We also did some exercises to practice these strategies: for example our coordinator pretended to be a visitor and we had to lead him in a discussion. Later when the docents arrived together we discussed the readings. Doing the readings and then discussing them with the group added to my understanding of Anne Truitt’s work and also made me feel more comfortable about the prospect of discussing it with visitors. It was also interesting to get the various perspectives due to the varying backgrounds. The 4 docents are all older women some of whom lived through the same things Anne Truitt did, while the interns are all my age, senior in college or recently graduated. And the two program coordinators are about in the middle. All of us had a connection to art but very different ones, some had prior knowledge of Anne Truitt and some were just beginning to get to know her. All in all at the end I felt like I understood her more like an artist and I was more comfortable discussing her minimalist art works.
During our third week we mainly focused on the idea of the importance of looking at the object. This topic even now keeps resurfacing in our discussion…how much information do we give to the visitors and where do we lead the discussion. The main idea is that we want to emphasize the importance of the object and the experience of looking at it, rather than just lecture on the artist’s life with the object in the background.
In our forth week meeting we got to meet an intern who did this program during the summer. She was able to provide us with her experience and give us some advice. Some was seemingly obvious like; wear comfortable shoes and try to come in a good mood and not exhausted. She also talked about her positive and negative experience and her general approach. Overall it was very beneficial to hear about her experiences because it made me consider some things and situation I overlooked. During this weekend we also focused on the idea of body language and listening as well as the concept of creating a “flow” for the visitor learning experience. We highlighted the importance of having open body language and paying attention to the visitor’s body language while being good listeners. For this day we read an article that discussed the components of being a good listener, some were things we already knew, but each of us had at least one that the article mentioned that we knew we needed to pay attention to and work on. One that many of us shared is the tendency to get hung up on a point we want to raise that was inspired by the talker but the talker continued on with the conversation. I realized I will have to monitor how I talk and listen to the listeners, especially in the beginning to make sure I am listening to my best ability and giving the visitor the floor. However, the main topic we focused on this day is the concept of “flow” which we read in an article titled “Intrinsic Motivation in Museums: Why does one want to learn?” The idea is to create a situation in which the visitor will be able to get a fulfilling learning experience, one that is comfortable and provides the right amount of challenge to balance the visitor’s skill.
Prior to our last orientation meeting I had to go in for my first research shift. A lot of the time was dedicated to getting a log-in and doing a security test to get permission to use the computers. I did have time to start doing research on one of the pieces in the Living Color Exhibit (one that is at the end of the Anne Truitt exhibit that displays pieces from the museum collection that are related to the concept of color). But the most exciting part was getting a sneak peak of the exhibit. The two program coordinators and I went down and got to walk through the exhibit (still not fully up). It was amazing to see her works for the first time in real life. Seeing them in pictures does nothing and can’t convey their presence. We got to share the experience of looking at her work and discussing it: the three of us raised questions we had, and commented on our reactions and opinions. Seeing the work helped me get more comfortable with the idea of discussing it. In general, throughout this orientation the more I learned about Anne Truitt, her ideas, her life and her approach to things the more interesting her pieces become and the more comfortable I felt talking about them. When I first looked at the images of her work, after I found out that I will have to work with it, I wasn’t very enthusiastic and I wasn’t certain how I would approach and engage visitors in it when I wasn’t very excited or sure about it myself. And I dreaded the question of “why is this art?” But learning about her and seeing her work I knew that I would be able to engage visitors in meaningful conversations that I hope we will both enjoy.
For our last orientation day we got to go through the exhibit as a group and we spent the whole three hours slowly going from room to room and one again discussing her work and sharing the experience. Most people in the group were not able to see it before hand so it was interesting to hear their initial reactions and impressions. Overall this day ended up being a summation of all the ideas we talked about, and an emphasis on what we should pay attention to since our gallery shifts would start the next day. We shared concerns and ideas; in the end I was excited to start but also of course a little nervous, and I think my fellow interns were in a similar mood. In the five weeks we got to know Anne Truitt and this day we got to personally meet her work: we were ready to start engaging visitors in what will hopefully be a rewarding experience for all.
