Supporting CMA

Thank you for your interest in volunteering at the Columbus Museum of Art, where 1,400 volunteers help the Museum to fulfill our mission of creating Great Experiences with Great Art for Everyone. Our volunteer program is varied and flexible. You have the option of being part of one of our many auxiliary groups or volunteering on your own.

Auxiliary Volunteer Opportunities

Museum Auxiliaries support the Museum through their fundraising, service, and outreach activities. They also provide social and educational opportunities for their members, Museum visitors, and the children of central Ohio.

Museum Auxiliaries have specific application procedures, membership requirements and financial obligations. Each has its own mission, and all are self governing. All Auxiliary members must maintain a Museum membership.

If you are interest in joining an auxiliary, the Museum’s Volunteer Administrator will ask the group’s membership chair to contact you to provide additional information and an invitation to a meeting or event to familiarize you with the group and determine if this is the right fit for you.

To receive additional information contact Norma Sexton.

Art netWork

Art netWork is a group of Columbus young professional men and women who support the Museum through social outreach and fundraising activities. They have meetings and social events, which include Museum exhibition openings and special programs for networking and exploring the local arts scene. Each autumn, they present their signature event ArtFUSION, which is part of the Museum’s annual Art Celebration Ball. See the Art netWork page or to join, please contact Norma Sexton at 614.629.0328.

Beaux Arts

This primarily women’s group sponsors the Art in Bloom exhibition that features arrangements by more than 60 floral designers who interpret the Museum’s masterpieces in live flowers. Three days of a gala, luncheons, and programs surround the event. Members operate a special gift shop that features unique garden and specialty items. Members also volunteer at the Columbus Winterfair fine arts and craft show during the holiday season. Members can attend monthly meetings that often have art-related programs, as well as social and cultural activities planned by the group.

The Contemporaries

The Columbus Museum of Art Contemporaries group affords members exclusive access to the world of contemporary art. Learn more.

Docents

Year round Docents provide Museum tours to visitors and school children. They are the primary educational outreach to students, visitors, and the Columbus community. Docent volunteers undergo an extensive, 9-month training period that focuses on critical thinking skills, museum education principles and practice and the Museum’s permanent collection and special exhibitions. Docents agree to serve for at least two years as gallery educators following their training. They also enjoy social events as well as local, national, and international art trips. CMA does not host docent trainings every year. If you would like to be notified when a new docent class is being formed please email Amanda Kepner at amanda.kepner@cmaohio.org.

Apply for the 2012-2013 CMA Docent Training Program. Applications accepted through June 30, 2012. 2012 CMA Docent Application.

Learn more here.

Docent Alums

This group is open to Docents that have fulfilled a four year commitment and want to retire from active duty as a gallery educator. They have social and art-related events for their members and through their dues, support the active docents by sponsoring lecturers for trainings. They also are invited to attend Docent trainings.

Sessions Society

This group of volunteers provides an opportunity for members to expand their knowledge of art, design and fine living and encourages connoisseurship. Sessions Society presents four social and art related events annually. These events include tours of museums, artists’ studios and personal collections. In addition, they host informal Friday evening soirees in the homes of local collectors and area galleries. Each year they plan and produce the “Art of the Grape” wine auction that features fine wine, fine art and fine food in the Museum’s beautiful Derby Court. The proceeds from this event benefit the Museum.

Women’s Board

In the spring, Women’s Board presents Decorator’s Show House, the biannual transformation of a home into a Decorator’s Show House by A.S.I.D. interior designers and talented landscape architects. Members enjoy special holiday parties, coffees, teas, and art-related events.