09/17/2026
Become a Docent at the Blanden Art Museum
The Blanden Art Museum and Art Educator Angela Ayala are looking for interested and enthusiastic community members to become museum docents for the 2026–2027 season!
A docent is a knowledgeable and welcoming guide who helps museum visitors connect with the artwork and learn more about the museum’s collections and exhibitions. You don’t have to be an art historian to become a docent. What we are looking for are people who are curious, comfortable talking with others, and excited about sharing the arts with our community.
Where We Need You Most: School Tours
The Blanden participates in a wonderful outreach program called Art in the Schools. Through this program, the Blanden’s Art Educator travels to area schools within approximately a 60-mile radius and introduces students to an artist represented in the Blanden’s permanent collection.
Students learn about the artist, explore their ideas and techniques, and then create an art project inspired by what they have learned.
Later, those students visit the Blanden Art Museum for a field trip and museum tour.
This is where our docents come in!
Our docents help bring the artwork to life for these young visitors. For many students, this may be their first experience inside an art museum. A friendly, knowledgeable docent can make that experience exciting, welcoming, and memorable.
Why the Blanden?
The Blanden is a pretty amazing piece of Iowa history.
Built in 1934, the Blanden Art Museum was Iowa’s first municipal art museum.
Right here in Fort Dodge.
Our museum houses a permanent collection displayed in the West Gallery, with exhibitions that remain on view for approximately two years. We also have two additional galleries featuring Midwestern and regional artists, with exhibitions changing approximately every three months.
There is always something new to discover.
And our tours aren't limited to school groups. The Blanden also welcomes bus travel groups, Iowa Central Community College students, Day Habs, and other local organizations who come to the museum looking for opportunities to learn, explore, and connect with art.
Why Become a Docent?
The Blanden is a small museum with a big mission. Our staff consists of just two full-time employees and one part-time employee, and we currently have five wonderful docents who generously give their time. However, many of our current docents have other commitments, which can make it difficult to fill tours when we need several docents at once.
We are looking to grow our docent team so that we can continue providing meaningful experiences for students and visitors from Fort Dodge and the surrounding communities.
Being a docent can be a fun, rewarding, and emotionally fulfilling volunteer experience.
You may be helping a child see a work of art and realize that museums are places where they belong. You may help a student understand that there isn't always one "right" way to look at or respond to art. You may help open the door to cultural understanding, self-expression, empathy, emotional resilience, creativity, and an appreciation for preserving our shared cultural history.
And honestly, you may just discover something new yourself along the way.
We want to showcase for students in Fort Dodge and the communities around us what a gem we have right here in our own backyard.
If you are interested in becoming a docent at the Blanden Art Museum, please contact:
Angela Ayala
Art Educator
Blanden Art Museum
[email protected]
