Grace Duckworth ’23 brings passion for history, education to role at George Mason’s Gunston Hall

Grace Duckworth ’23

Grace Duckworth ’23 arrived at Randolph prepared to study studio art, a natural next step for someone who’d loved it since childhood.

“With most children, career goals change pretty frequently while growing up,” she said. “Artist was always consistently my answer.

“The support I received in grade school made me feel that art was a realistic option for me to pursue,” she added, “and my advisors and other faculty at Randolph really solidified that support network.”

Along the way, Duckworth also developed a passion for art history and wound up double majoring in both fields and minoring in museum and heritage studies.

“A requirement of the BFA in studio art is to take several art history courses, and I found I really enjoyed learning about it,” she said. “Discussing art in class and researching it for papers filled me with a lot of unexpected joy. Learning about artists throughout history also supplemented my own artwork.”

It also led her to her current career in museum education.

Duckworth is a full-time educator at George Mason’s Gunston Hall, the historic Georgian-style home of one of the country’s founding fathers.

“When I figured out how much I liked talking about art history, I realized that I wanted to be surrounded by art throughout my career,” she said. “During my junior year, I worked on campus as an art history tutor, which led me to realize that I also really enjoyed teaching others about what I’m passionate about. I knew that traditional classroom teaching wasn’t for me, so I was drawn to the experiential, informal learning that museums offer.”

Duckworth interned with the Maier Museum of Art at Randolph College right after graduation, then took a part-time educator position at Gunston Hall before she was promoted in February.

In her role as a museum educator, she works with visitors, facilitates public tours of the mansion, develops educational activities and games for public programs, and helps train volunteer docents.

The organization is dedicated to telling stories of all people who lived and worked at Gunston Hall, including enslaved men, women, and children, indentured workers, and the members of the Mason family.

She credits her museum and heritage studies classes with preparing her to engage in informed and respectful discussions with visitors.

“We spent time discussing how slavery is addressed at historic sites and museums across the country,” she said. “When I came here, I underwent additional training to approach these subjects with the public. Sometimes, I speak with visitors who have opinions that don’t reflect accepted historic understandings about the horrors of slavery. In these instances, I am able to lean on both my education and my training to educate people on the stories of people who were held in bondage at Gunston Hall.”

Those were just a few of the skills Duckworth acquired during her time on campus.

“There is so much to say about what’s special about Randolph and the Maier,” she said. “In my classes, we spent time at the Maier learning about object cataloging and visited other sites around Virginia and D.C. to speak with museum professionals. I also volunteered at the Maier, where I learned visitor engagement and how to handle and hang artwork.

“I was so grateful to be able to take advantage of having an art museum just a short walk away,” she added. “The Maier was so important to my career choices because I was able to get that hands-on experience, and support from the wonderful staff members, that fostered my passion.”