Artist, author and educator Robyn Jamison recently rolled out her visionary ‘Magic of Modern Art Luminary Training’ to a group of seasoned docents at the Western Spirit Museum in Scottsdale, AZ. During the two-day session, docents learned a new approach to appreciating modern and contemporary art, which is a significant departure from traditional docent roles and their training. The docents were trained to provide “The Magic of Modern Art Tour” for museum guests and, given the nature of the new tour, were renamed “Art Luminaries.”
What Docents Typically Do
An art museum docent typically is responsible for enhancing the visitor's museum experience by giving tours. Traditionally, they do this by teaching about background information on the artist, the style, the period, and the formal qualities of the artworks. They are trained to effectively address a variety of age groups and demographics of visitors. Such tours could be summed up as being informative.
When Docents Become Art Luminaries
In the Art Luminary Training, art docents make the shift by first learning this new approach to art appreciation themselves. Important to this process, both for themselves and for museum guests, is the dispelling of beliefs about modern art that inhibit its appreciation. “Beliefs wield an incredible amount of power in our lives - and their effect on one’s ability to appreciate modern and contemporary art is an excellent case in point,” Robyn said. “So, when a visitor to a museum points at a work of art and declares, ‘my five-year-old can do that’ they are expressing a belief like, “Art should look complicated and realistic.” While there are no ‘correct’ beliefs about art, Robyn suggests there are some that will undoubtedly get in the way.
Counterproductive Beliefs About Art
In fact, there are some beliefs that are total deal-breakers. For example, some people believe that modern art is not for them or that they are not smart enough or sophisticated enough to enjoy it. These are examples of what Robyn describes as ‘counterproductive beliefs’ about art. Fortunately, none of these are true. A critical piece of The Magic of Modern Art Tour is to liberate guests from their counterproductive beliefs.
Once the counterproductive beliefs are out of the way, people are free to discover the joys of spending an extended time with individual works of art and fully experiencing the art on its own terms. “I have a mission,” Robyn stated. “Which is for everyone everywhere to experience the magic and wonder of modern and contemporary art.”
About Robyn Jamison and The Magic of Modern Art
Robyn Jamison is a visual artist and published author. She has a Master of Fine Art degree in Painting and Drawing from the University of Kansas. Her work is in collections worldwide. She and her husband live in Austin, Texas. To learn more about Robyn Jamison, visit her web site: https://robynjamison.
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