Become a Docent

Are you a community member or UArizona student who loves art and sharing your passion with others?

Gallery Guides—also known as Docents—plan and lead welcoming and interactive guided tours in the UAMA galleries for K12, college, and adult groups. New trainees attend ongoing trainings, shadow and receive mentorship from experienced guides and museum staff, and complete at least one practice tour prior to leading groups on their own. We take on a limited number of new trainees during each recruitment period, so that we can meaningfully support all guides and not exceed current demand for guided tours.

Types of Docent

Volunteer Gallery Guide/Docent: for community members with varying availability and experience levels. Required to become a UAMA Member and attend ongoing trainings.

UArizona Student Gallery Guide/Docent: for current undergrad and graduate UArizona students with varying availability and experience levels; all majors welcome. Required to attend ongoing trainings. Depending on level of participation in training and tours, students may be eligible to receive a financial award through their Bursar account.

Time commitment and schedule

A new trainee orientation is held each fall. Ongoing trainings are held 1-3 times per month, from 10am-12pm on Mondays. A full training schedule will be provided. If many new trainees are unavailable on Monday mornings, we may identify an alternate training time.

Gallery Guides can expect to shadow or lead anywhere from 5-15+ tours per semester. Guides may always select which tours they shadow/lead according to their schedules.

Tours happen Tuesday through Friday, 9am-4:30pm, so Guides must have availability at least one day during this time. Most tours are 60 minutes long and happen between 9am and 3pm; K12 tours are usually before 12pm.

Interested students may also be able to enroll in internship credits through their academic department, requiring 45 hours per semester per credit. Internships are limited based on UAMA staff capacity and current projects.

Financial award for student guides

Current UArizona students will be eligible for an award/stipend, depending on the amount of trainings and tours they participate in, based on a rate of $15/hour. Awards will be processed through the student’s Bursar’s Account at the end of the semester. Awards are subject to the student’s overall award/financial aid maximum limits.