Danielle Stephens Email & Phone Number

Denver, Colorado

As a Senior Interpretative Specialist at the Denver Art Museum, I specialize in the development of interpretive materials and programs for the museum’s Modern and Contemporary Art / Native Art collections and special exhibitions. This includes labels, audio guides, videos, and participatory experiences that encourage visitors to create, share, and connect with each other and the work on view. I also conduct visitor evaluations, train volunteer docents, lead gallery tours, and work with cross-departmental staff to deliver live programming related to the collection. In addition, I work closely with our marketing and communication teams to promote exhibitions and programs at the museum.This includes leading press tours and participating in interviews, authoring blogs for the museum’s website, and having an active presence on behalf of the museum on all social media outlets.As the Manager of Tour Programs, I oversee a robust on-site tour program that engages adult visitors. This includes the recruitment, management, training, and evaluation of approximately 100 volunteer docents (museum guides). As a vital part of the museum’s Department of Learning & Engagement, our docents strive to make art relevant and enjoyable to people of all ages, abilities, and backgrounds. As manager, my priority is to equip them with the tools, strategies, and content they need to be successful and confident in their role. It is also my charge to make sure that they feel valued and heard.

Aspen, Colorado

As Education Curator for the Aspen Art Museum, my charge was to make contemporary art meaningful to a wide array of audiences through interpretive projects and diverse, community-based programming. These object-based learning opportunities were designed to engage audiences in thought-provoking experiences of art, culture, and society. Programs occurred both in the museum and throughout the community, and provided the opportunity for audiences to see and respond to contemporary art through hands-on workshops, gallery talks and tours, lectures, and innovative activities related to the museum’s exhibitions.

Houston, Texas

In my role as Docent Program Manager at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, I oversaw an active volunteer program that consisted of 230 docents who gave tours to over 60,000 museum visitors annually. I brought vision, leadership, and organization to this complex, cross-departmental program making it one of the most dynamic volunteer programs in the country. The most important aspect of my job was preparing docents to be successful gallery educators through a diverse program of docent education, offering sessions that were rich in content and that promoted best practices in gallery teaching. I accomplished this by organizing lectures and workshops that enabled docents to work closely with our education and curatorial departments, outside experts in the field, and artists in our community.

Ma, Art History

Bfa, Art History And Photography