Art museums can be very intimidating. I’ve spent decades of my life avoiding them, with the best of intentions. I’m indebted to my mother, who marched her children through every museum, cathedral, castle, concert hall, and Roman ruin she could find, so at least I got a hint of cultural education. And it did take, Mom. Really it did! I claimed a (weak) Fine Arts minor in college, and began my own journey of art appreciation throughout my early adult years.

Upon retirement from my professional career, I knew what I wanted to do with my “spare time.” I wanted to become a Docent at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, a renowned collection established in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1933. I was accepted into the intensive training program–what I considered to be a “free” degree in Fine Arts–and embarked on my new volunteer career as a Docent in 2011.

Most of our tours during the school year engage students from second grade through high school. Schools arrange field trips to the museum according to the curriculum. The museum offers certain subsidies, such as bus service, for underserved students from a wide area in and around Kansas City. Many children have never been inside an art museum, or anything like it. Hence the “intimidating” factor. I know! I know!

My job as a Docent is to engage the students in looking and talking. Who cares about dates and names and historical references?? Well, we do, of course. But the main thing is to help the children realize that they have the right to their own thoughts, and that someone is listening as carefully as possible to what they have to say.

Meanwhile, I have subversive thoughts of my own. Once you begin to engage with art, the impact of human history can be stunning.

DOCENT

 

The art museum behind the big bronze door.
The yellow buses lining up outside.
The little children eager to explore.

 

The chirpy docent: Who’s been here before?
Please pay attention. I will be your guide.
At this museum, behind that big bronze door,

 

there’s nudity, depravity, and gore
to take your little psyches for a ride.
You children will be able to explore

 

the beauty born of fear, of faith, of war,
of ancient ritual and genocide
that cannot hide behind a brazen door.

 

Beheadings hardly happen anymore.
Most artists have avoided suicide.
You children are encouraged to explore

 

the human drama we cannot ignore,
the shape of visions and the forms of pride
collected here behind the big bronze door.

 

You’ll find despair, anxiety, and more.
Your eyes will bleed. Your skulls crack open wide.
Have fun. Enjoy yourselves as you explore
the art museum behind the big bronze door.

 

 

Barbara Loots
Road Trip