Guild Member Profile: Marlene Scholsohn
“You should spend 10 minutes in front of a painting. Read it. Don’t just look at it,” said volunteer Marlene Scholsohn.
Marlene was instructing about 15 guides—the Heard Museum’s Las Guias—who will be conducting tours of the Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera exhibition all summer. They had stopped in front of Rivera’s “Calla Lily vendor.”
Marlene is co-chair with Linda Hefter of New Exhibit Training. After the curator has completed the introductory tours of an exhibit, she and Linda do make-up and supplemental walk-throughs, as well as their own tours.
Being a guide is a serious commitment, says Marlene. “We are required to work two scheduled half days each month or 30 hours a year.” she says. “And we have to be able to conduct tours of everything in the museum. We can’t pick and choose.”
Marlene, a volunteer since 1999, admits to a few personal preferences, though. “I gravitate to any new exhibit that is contemporary. I have a special feeling for contemporary art,” she says. In guiding, “I look at the art from a fine-arts point of view.” The Rick Bartow exhibit, which opened over the weekend, is high on her list.