Docent Book Club for Members

When world renowned Buddhist writer Stephen Batchelor turned sixty, he took a sabbatical from his teaching and turned his attention to solitude, a practice integral to the meditative traditions he has long studied and taught. He aimed to venture more deeply into solitude, discovering its full extent and depth. The Art of Solitude is a beautiful literary collage that documents his multifaceted explorations. Mixed in with his personal narrative are inspiring stories from solitude’s devoted practitioners, from the Buddha to Montaigne, from Vermeer to Agnes Martin.

We are excited to share the Docent Book Club with Rubin members this March with the book The Art of Solitude. Read the book now and join us on March 30 to share your thoughts! The discussion will be led by Rubin Docent Linda Sweet and moderated by Benno Orlinsky, Coordinator of Visitor Experience & Interpretation.

The book is available in the Museum shop and online. Remember to use your member discount!

About the Docent Book Club

The Rubin Museum docents are a group of intensively trained volunteers who complete a 15-week training period and conceptualize thematic tours for visitors as part of their preparation. The Rubin docents host a book club in their spare time, meeting regularly to explore in depth nonfiction and fiction related to their training and the collection of the Museum.

Linda Sweet was a founding partner and director of the museum practice at Management Consultants for the Arts, where she is now partner emerita. She began her museum career as an educator at the Brooklyn Museum and was dean of the Department of Public Education at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Sweet is a past president of ArtTable, a national membership organization of women in the visual arts, and a former member of the Collections Committee of the Grey Art Gallery of New York University. Since 2015, Sweet has been a docent at the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Rubin Museum of Art.