EDUCATION PROGRAMS

The Ringling’s docent program remains one of the most active in the country, serving 72,484 visitors this past year. Since many of the Ringling’s visitors rely on docent tours to access the estate, we continually strive to improve the program to offer the best possible visitor experience. To this end, twentyfive new docents were recruited to begin a year-long Museum of Art training. The curriculum and format for this training was completely redesigned to better reflect our goal of increased visitor engagement. Laura Steefel-Moore, Museum Training Specialist, and Maureen Zaremba, Curator of Education, co-presented a workshop on The Ringling’s innovative programs at the Florida Association of Museum conference in Pensacola in September 2016 and Laura Steefel-Moore co-presented in a docent training workshop at the American Alliance of Museums annual conference in St. Louis in May of 2017.

Accessibility for all visitors was a focus for Education in 2016–17. Education commissioned a museum-wide accessibility survey to determine priorities for staff training as well as facility upgrades that would create greater access for visitors. Using the results of the survey, The Ringling has begun identifying priorities. To this end, Education formed an Accessibility Task Force with staff and volunteers to assist with implementation of these recommendations. Staff and volunteer training sessions were initiated to provide the Ringling community with the opportunities to better understand the needs of our visitors with disabilities.

Education facilitated the second year of the FSU Museum Education and Visitor Centered FSU graduate program. While in residence and with the support of Education, their accomplishments included creating a video of Ca’ d’Zan tours to be used for docent and security training and for visitors with accessibility challenges; designing a sensory map and social narratives for visitors on the autism spectrum; conducting and preparing a visitor experience survey in the Center for Asian Art. Maureen Zaremba and Matthew McLendon co-authored an essay, Beyond the Gate: Collaborating with Living Artists to Bring Communities into the Museum and the Museum into Communities for the publication Visitor-Centered Exhibitions and Edu-Curation in Art Museums, Rowman & Littlefield, 2017.

Scholastic Programs continued to grow. In partnership with The Circus Arts Conservatory, Education created a second grade program that combined a classroom visit by CAC education staff with a field trip to The Ringling. Though the summer is normally a quiet time for scholastic programs, Education staff provided guided visits to The Ringling for pre-K students enrolled in school board sponsored Summer Learning Academies. The purpose of SLA is to prevent summer learning loss and help at-risk students transition to a formal school environment.

Youth and Family programs experienced unprecedented growth this past year, doubling participation from last year. Under the direction of Angelica Bradley, the popular early literacy project, ROAR (Ringling Order of Art Readers) moved from a monthly to a weekly program. Open art making during Art After 5 and on Saturdays drew an intergenerational audience and a new program Museum Mondays, delighted families visiting on Legacy Day. Family visits to The Ringling have been enhanced with the publication of new family guides for the Museum of Art, the Circus Museum, and the Center for Asian Art.