Becoming a volunteer with Sheldon offers you a wide variety of benefits, such as a greater understanding of art, pride in helping an institution, sharing your skills and talents, as well as many others. Take a moment to consider these different roles you could serve as a volunteer with us.

1. Visitor Services volunteer -- provide critical front-line contact and important assistance to Sheldon and its visitors. Fundamental responsibilities include: promoting positive visitor relations and providing both necessary and helpful information to the visitors of the Sheldon Museum of Art and the Sculpture Garden.
   
   
2. Museum Store volunteer -- persons will not only be responsible for taking payment of goods, assisting with inventory, and maintaining store displays, but are also a vital source of information for the visitor. Cashiers need to be responsible in handling money, have good customer relations and have a basic knowledge of the art in the museum, or where they can find more information.
   
   
3. Docent -- A docent is an educated member of staff who is trained to give tours and provide information about all the featured artworks on exhibit in the museum and Sculpture Garden.
   
   

Docents receive an intense course each Monday and Wednesday morning in September to learn about 20th-century American art. Docents are also requested to attend monthly "briefings" to learn about recent installations.

After training, docents are required to give one morning tour every week or two school tours every other week, beginning in October and going through May. Occasionally, tours are requested at other times and during the summer.

Sheldon docents also help with many other activities and events. For example, they may be stationed in our galleries during special events, such as Jazz in June. We also have a Docent Winter Study Series.