Interpreting the New

Artists Education Exhibitions

Donna Stone describes the trials of being a docent in an institution dedicated to the new.

Early on I think we didn't zero in on anything particularly. It was more a learning experience of what was out there and what was available. And of course with the MCA, with every exhibition, was an artist that you really—you might not know. And when we were docents you didn't—nothing was in an art history book. None of the artists were in an art history book, because sometimes it was their first major exhibition. So you had to really look at periodicals and art news and all the art magazines, and then you relied on the curators, who would give us lectures and who would share information and do walkthroughs. And you would read the Sunday paper to get reviews, and it was—you really had to look for information. There was nothing there. Nothing there.

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