National Volunteer Week – DIA Volunteer of the Year Awardees
Updated Jul 20, 2022
Happy National Volunteer Week! Thank you, Volunteers, for your continued service and dedication to the Detroit Institute of Arts.
This year, the DIA digitally celebrates the many volunteers who provide a welcoming face, helpful hand, and warm greeting that make the museum a great place to be. No task is too large or too small when it comes to assisting visitors in the learning and enjoyment of the collection. Volunteers are vital to the education and service of our visitors!
Every year, several volunteers are chosen by their peers for exemplary service and dedication to the DIA. Volunteer of the Year awardees represent six service committees. There are also two special service award designations. Our 2019 awardees were asked to share a rewarding part of their unique volunteer experience is, and those are shared below.
Robert and Margaret Jewell, Gallery Service
Among the things they find most fulfilling are the love of their Wednesday morning shift mates, meeting new friends, satisfaction in the access to art and proximity to friendly Security Officers. Going further, they appreciate the DFT, where they also usher.
Frank Chen, Luther Chaney Sunshine Award
“The most rewarding part about being a DIA volunteer is when a visitor told you after a tour that they never knew the museum has so many great artworks! That’s when you know that you have shown them what they normally would not have looked at...that makes your volunteering worthwhile!”
Harriet Hunt, Interpretive Programs Volunteer
“I love to see the looks on people’s faces when they come into Rivera Court. Such wonder and delight.” Another delightful moment for Harriet was when “a little girl asked me if all the art in the museum belonged to me!”
Rosemary Gugino, Distinguished Service Award
Rosemary says the most rewarding part of her volunteer experience is, “the people in and around the DIA - volunteers, staff, visitors and others.” She recalls a funny moment, overhearing a visitor walking on the first floor thinking they had toured the entire museum, “Don't they have any art in this museum?”
Nancy Jones, Gallery Information
Nancy enjoys “helping a visitor find either what they were looking for or giving them suggestions of what to seek out when they don't have unlimited time. But equally rewarding is my own joy just at being in that wonderful space, with the great art, and great friends!” She says visitors ask if the artworks are genuine or copies, and express amazement and are amazed that objects can be seen so up close (but not too close!).
Detroit Institute of Arts Volunteers with Director Salvador Salort-Pons in Rivera Court
Happy National Volunteer Week! Thank you, Volunteers, for your continued service and dedication to the Detroit Institute of Arts.
This year, the DIA digitally celebrates the many volunteers who provide a welcoming face, helpful hand, and warm greeting that make the museum a great place to be. No task is too large or too small when it comes to assisting visitors in the learning and enjoyment of the collection. Volunteers are vital to the education and service of our visitors!
Every year, several volunteers are chosen by their peers for exemplary service and dedication to the DIA. Volunteer of the Year awardees represent six service committees. There are also two special service award designations. Our 2019 awardees were asked to share a rewarding part of their unique volunteer experience is, and those are shared below.
Robert and Margaret Jewell, Gallery Service
Among the things they find most fulfilling are the love of their Wednesday morning shift mates, meeting new friends, satisfaction in the access to art and proximity to friendly Security Officers. Going further, they appreciate the DFT, where they also usher.
Frank Chen, Luther Chaney Sunshine Award
“The most rewarding part about being a DIA volunteer is when a visitor told you after a tour that they never knew the museum has so many great artworks! That’s when you know that you have shown them what they normally would not have looked at...that makes your volunteering worthwhile!”
Harriet Hunt, Interpretive Programs Volunteer
“I love to see the looks on people’s faces when they come into Rivera Court. Such wonder and delight.” Another delightful moment for Harriet was when “a little girl asked me if all the art in the museum belonged to me!”
Rosemary Gugino, Distinguished Service Award
Rosemary says the most rewarding part of her volunteer experience is, “the people in and around the DIA - volunteers, staff, visitors and others.” She recalls a funny moment, overhearing a visitor walking on the first floor thinking they had toured the entire museum, “Don't they have any art in this museum?”
Nancy Jones, Gallery Information
Nancy enjoys “helping a visitor find either what they were looking for or giving them suggestions of what to seek out when they don't have unlimited time. But equally rewarding is my own joy just at being in that wonderful space, with the great art, and great friends!” She says visitors ask if the artworks are genuine or copies, and express amazement and are amazed that objects can be seen so up close (but not too close!).
