The Ogden Museum of Southern Art Teen Docent Program started in 2008 with four teens. Now, this leadership development and arts enrichment program accepts eight to ten Teen Docents to help with our summer camps, give docent-led tours and bring the Museum to those who can’t come to us! Below we have the Teen Docents telling you what they’ve been up to, and how being a teen docent has impacted their life outside of the O.

The Teen Docents go through a week’s intensive training on how to be a docent and how to be a camp counselor. The teens learn Visual Thinking Strategies to get museum-goers to use critical thinking skills when forming their opinions on the art. The teens also learn about leadership, serving as role models to young kids. The third and last part of training is led by Karen Konnerth from Calliope Puppets, and the teens learn how to give puppet shows. They even get to make their own puppets! From there, they dive into the Summer Camp at the O.

The goal of the Teen Docent Program is to engage high school students in New Orleans with the arts, provide resume-building job experience, and develop leadership and public speaking skills. The teens help give docent-led tours to other camp and school groups. They also bring the Museum to people who aren’t able to come to us by performing their puppet shows at local libraries and Children’s Hospital.

Our Teen Docent Program is also nationally recognized! The program was awarded the National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award in 2015. This award is the nation’s highest honor for out-of-school arts and humanities programs that celebrate the creativity of America’s young people, particularly those from underserved communities.

Learn more about the Teen Docent Program here!