The CFFM — Quo vadis?

CFFM should be the national voice to promote museums for the benefit of all Canadians. We have existed in Canada for over thirty years. Our hope is to continue to provide a forum for the exchange of ideas among Canadian and international Friends. We would also like to be able to promote and enhance the volunteer component of our museum community. Our mission is to provide resources for Friends of museums whether they are trustees, docents, ‘operational’ volunteers or simply individuals who are passionate about the preservation of our heritage.

At a recent meeting of the Ontario Museums Association, Peter Homulos, our National Director, lead a session to discuss the traditional relationship between volunteers and staff in the museum setting. He explored some of the tensions that have existed over the years. Many institutions in this country were run by volunteers. Sometimes the evolution to institutions run by paid staff was not easy. Fears have existed on both sides but mostly volunteers are valued by their institutions and the value of volunteer work is recognized and appreciated.

There are estimated to be over 300,000 volunteers in Canada. Volunteers can do what institutions cannot. They have a voice that can be heard and that should be effective to bring about change and support. They are a most valued asset. They are our most passionate advocates and link institutions to the communities they serve.

Our path forward

CFFM now wants to understand the needs of our museums and their volunteers in a much deeper way than we have been able to in the past. We are hoping to survey museums and volunteers and through the information gathered create a strategy to strengthen the volunteer experience and help our volunteers become better advocates for the museum community. Based on your response our goal will be to develop programmes to meet your expressed need.

To accomplish any of this we need your support and renewed membership. We also need you to go to your institutions and friends and help us make the case for wider membership. There is so much that can be accomplished. The need is real. But the need cannot be met without your participation.

We are always open and receptive to your responses. Please feel free to share your ideas and opinions re CFFM either by participating in our survey or simply by letting us know what you are doing in your museums or community.

Our path ahead is not easy, but it is important and together much can be accomplished.

Joan Goldfarb

Co-President, CFFM

What is this World Federation of Friends of Museums?

By Daniel Ben-Natan, President of WFFM

When I was first elected Treasurer of the WFFM (Bruges, 2002), my friends and colleagues asked me: “What is this World Federation of Friends of Museums?” Since then I have learned that it is too much of a well-kept secret to most people.

So, what is the World Federation of Friends of Museums?

The purpose of the WFFM (formed in Brussels June 15, 1975) as defined in its By Laws is: “… to foster international cooperation between Associations of Friends of Museums in order to promote mutual understanding, to exchange information and to pool the experience acquired with the purpose of intensifying the life and developing the function of such associations to benefit the museums and the public.”

Or, as defined on our web site (www.museumsfriends.com) “the aim of the WFFM is to promote and spread the idea of friends of museums worldwide. The enrichment of museums and the safeguard of our cultural heritage are central to all the activities carried out by the Federation.”

Lofty and worthy goals, undoubtedly.

The next step in my education was to understand that there are tens of thousands of museums worldwide of very differing size and content. Coming from a world-class encyclopaedic museum of Art, Ethnography, Archeology, etc. (The Israel Museum, Jerusalem) with a collection of some 500,000 artifacts, I began to realize that there are museums of every possible subject (truly — every possible content) and size ranging from major museums to one room installations in very remote places.

Seven years later, I have grown to better know the museum world in its wonderful richness and diversity, to respect the WFFM and its members and all the hundreds of thousands of men and women of every race, religion, age, etc. who volunteer their talent, time and passion in supporting their museums in every way possible.

So, what is the WFFM after all?

It is first and foremost composed of National Federations of Friends in 18 countries: Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Mexico, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, the UK and the USA.

It has 27 Associate Members (Associations of Friends of specific museums) in 21 countries in Chile, Columbia, The Czech Republic, Hungary, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Lithuania, Luxemburg, New Zealand, Peru, the Philippines, Romania, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, USA and Uruguay, as well as individual members all over the world.

This is truly a World Federation!

The WFFM is governed by a General Assembly and Council which meet once a year and an

Executive Committee composed of the seven officers of the Federation.

The 2009 Council and General Assembly were held April 30 – May 3, 2009 in Glasgow, while the next Council and General Assembly will be held in Lisbon, May 20-23, 2010. For non-Council friends this is a wonderful opportunity to experience Lisbon with an emphasis on Museums with like-minded friends from all over the world (Editorial Note: you will find detailed information on the Lisbon meeting on the CFFM web site at www.cffmfcam.ca).

We also hold a World Congress every three years. The last Congress was held in Jerusalem in September 2009 and the next one will be held in Genoa in the Spring of 2011.

In Glasgow I was elected by secret ballot as President of the WFFM for a three-year term.

A bit on who I am:

I am Canadian born (from Winnipeg) and still regard myself as a Canadian Israeli or Israeli Canadian. I am an active professional serving as Vice President for Development and International Relations of the Israel Museum of Jerusalem.

The WFFM — Quo vadis?

We intend to make the WFFM much more visible and relevant to the cultural and museum world. We hope to better serve our members by improving internal communications, by establishing a “data bank” of knowledge and expertise to be made available to our membership in particular but also to all museum friends and volunteers worldwide.

We hope to increase the membership of the WFFM and to offer our members relevant benefits. We will act to increase co-operation with UNESCO and ICOM, the organization of museum professionals, who are our natural partners in supporting our museums. Thus there is already a very productive partnership with ICOM in the areas of Sustainable Tourism and International Museums Day.

To you, the individual friend, supporting your beloved museum, our message is one of admiration, support and friendship. Perhaps you can derive encouragement in the knowledge that you are not alone, but rather part of an ever growing group of friends (what a wonderful concept!) worldwide, making their mark in supporting and strengthening culture, art and education.

Honoring Dr. Sean Murphy, C.M., M.D.

At the September 25th CFFM Board Meeting, held in the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Dr. Sean Murphy was nominated our first Companion Trustee. Dr. Murphy played a notable role in his many years as Chair of CFFM, during which time we had an increase of both museum and individual members, plus the important publication of “Significant Treasures”. He kept in touch weekly with the National Director in Toronto, first Carol Sprachmann, latterly Suzie Stohn.

Of equal note he was also highly regarded by all in the World Federation of Friends of Museums, serving as Chair of the North American Region. A quote from Jocelyn Shaw’s words of appreciation prior to the nomination: “Sean brought to every meeting a seriousness of purpose, which was tempered by flashes of humour. Sean never hesitated to speak out for something he thought could be done better, or to press for concrete action when he felt matters were lagging.”

In latter years Dr. Murphy stressed his particular interest – drawing in museums. His dream has been accomplished, for his lovely book “Dare to Draw / La passion du dessin” attests to how deep this interest lay. We congratulate him for such an achievement!

Dr. Murphy is a graduate of Harvard and the McGill Medical School. Later he was Professor of Ophthalmology at McGill for more than 30 years, where he is currently Professor Emeritus. He established the Sean Murphy Fellowship IFOS/ICO for Ophthalmology for future research into

interocular tumours at McGill. He has headed numerous professional organizations including the Quebec Association of Ophtalmologists; is A Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts; was President of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts from 1968-1978; and a director of numerous arts organizations including the Canada Council and the National Gallery of Canada. For these achievements, his philanthropy and dedicated service to so many areas of Canadian life, Dr. Murphy was made a member of the Order of Canada and is a Queen’s Jubilee Medal recipient. Little wonder we are proud to be able to appoint him as CFFM’s first Companion Trustee.

Jocelyn Shaw

CFFM Advisory Committee

CONFERENCES OF INTEREST

Membership has its privileges! As a member of CFFM you are invited to attend two upcoming

WFFM Meetings:

• North American Regional Meeting in Washington April 19 and 20.

• Council Meeting in Lisbon, May 20 – 23. You will find details on both meetings on our web site.

Canadian Museums Association

• May 10 – 15, 2010 in St. John’s, Nfld. and Labrador

This year’s theme will be “Evolving Boundaries: Linking People, Place and Meaning.” CFFM is again sponsoring the Carol Sprachman Lecture. This year’s speaker will be Jeffrey Simpson.

In preparation for an Arts and Culture Summit organized by Ottawa Centre MP Paul Dewar, your Editor held a “kitchen table” discussion on November 1st at which 18 persons participated. It was decided that our priority #1 is keeping alive the dream of one day having an accessible and relevant Portrait Gallery of Canada.

Read more on the web.

Tony Bowland has been nominated to serve as interim member of the Board to fill a vacancy until the next Annual General Meeting.

 Recognition for Museum Volunteers

All Canadian museums, galleries and heritage sites rely on their volunteers — be it their Board members, donors, or the many individuals who give tours, raise funds, cut the grass and bring added value to the work of the museum. Volunteers everywhere help to provide a bridge to the community.

This year, the Canadian Museums Association (CMA) and the CFFM have put into place a new, joint award that recognizes outstanding volunteers and volunteer groups across the country. This award is available to all members of CMA and CFFM. You will find a description of the award and a printable nomination form on our web site at www.cffm-fcam.ca.

A jury of museum volunteers and professionals will select the award winner from among nominations received. Members of the jury are:

• · Michel V. Cheff began his career at the National Gallery of Canada and worked at the Musée du Québec and at the Winnipeg Art Gallery before coming to the Canadian Museum of Civilization.
• · Susan Rome, has been Program Coordinator for Schools and Youth at the Vancouver Art Gallery for the past 20 years. Susan works with docents and school volunteers and oversees an internship program for teens.
• · Margot Magee Sackett, director of the Ross Memorial Museum in St. Andrews. Margot is a member of the CFFM Advisory Council.
• · Doris M. Smith is the editor of au courant. She was President of the Friends of the National Gallery of Canada and the Founding President of the Canadian Friends of the Hermitage.
• · Yvonne Zacios is the immediate Past President of the Association des bénévoles du Musée des Beaux-Arts de Montréal and now its Treasurer.

The deadline for nominations is November 15th. The recipient of the first Museum Volunteer Award will receive his or her award certificate at the next CMA national conference held in St. John’s in May, 2010.

If you agree that the work done by museum volunteers is important, do promote this special Award by encouraging your museum or gallery to nominate an outstanding volunteer or team of  volunteers.

ICOM CANADA

To: Peter Homulos

Subject: Re: ICOM & CFFM

I am pleased to welcome CFFM as institutional member of ICOM Canada. ICOM Canada is the national committee of ICOM. Although one of the benefits of ICOM is the ICOM card which gives access to museums in 139 countries ICOM does much more. It is the international organisation of museums and museum professionals which is committed to the conservation, continuation and communication to society of the world’s natural and cultural heritage, present and future, tangible and intangible. It carries out part of UNESCO’s programme for museums. To find out more about ICOM, I encourage you to go to the web site at http://icom.museum.

Sylvie Morel, President, ICOM Canada

http://www.cffm-fcam.ca

Throughout the summer, CFFM has been working and updating its website. The redesigned website is now up and running and can be visited at http://www.cffm-fcam.ca/. The site features more content, is regularly updated and gives members the opportunity for direct feedback. Not to mention, it is far more visually stimulating than its precursor! We expect it to be a lively and informative site where museum volunteers and supporters can find the information they need.

The new website is blog-friendly and much more interactive, as CFFM members and supporters are encouraged to leave comments and contribute to online discussions and debates on relevant topics. Also, part of the growing and changing information available on the site will consist of articles dealing with museum-related topics – such as fund- raising, relationships between volunteers and paid staff, management of meetings, board development, volunteer recruitment, training, et cetera – posted by our members and supporters. We invite you to contribute to the body of material available on the web by submitting an article or essay, or referring us to a book that you feel should be included. We are also prepared to include links to interesting sites and resources, as well as post individual articles. If you wish to contribute some material, please contact us at cffm@museums.ca write to the Editor at aucourant@museums.ca.

We would like to thank Nick Frenette from the Canadian Heritage Information Network (CHIN) for his invaluable help and expertise in website building. It was most appreciated!

Ariane Belisle

Development Officer for CFFM

WHAT MAKES ROMtravel SPECIAL?

The Travel Section, as marvellous example of museum outreach organized by volunteers, is composed of three sections: ROMwalk which ―walks the streets of Toronto‖ pointing out architectural detail and relating anecdotes that tell Toronto’s story; ROMbus which conducts a variety of day tours in or out of the city; and ROMtravel which offers international travel to exciting destinations.

For the purposes of this article, I will focus on ROMtravel. In 2009-2010, we offer the following destinations: Barcelona: Style Capital; Intriguing Indochina: Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam; Sicily: Journey Through the Ages; A Berlin Kaleidoscope, With Dresden and Leipzig; Arctic Expedition: Churchill, Manitoba; and Jordan/Israel: An Archaeological Adventure.

These varied and tempting destinations focusing on World Culture and/or Natural History reflect the dual mandate of the ROM.

Repeatedly, our travellers compliment us on the seamless nature of the arrangements, the camaraderie and the opportunity to learn.

What makes a ROM trip so special? The answer is simple and common to all successful endeavours, just plain hard work! A great deal of care is taken in choosing our destinations. We have a feasibility committee that contacts travel agents to keep up to date on the latest trends in the travel industry and then conducts independent research on the destination’s potential to attract ROM travellers. We look to see if there is a ROM connection? Once the destination is approved, equal care is taken in choosing the coordinator of the trip.

In planning the detailed itinerary and liaising with the chosen travel agency, the coordinator strives for a balanced and varied tour. We assure potential travellers that not all their time will be spent going from one museum to another and that they will have the opportunity to visit local markets, historical sites, hike or just explore on their own. Prior to departure, the coordinator sends out a variety of useful information relevant to that destination, including a reading/ movie list. Questions relating to health, climate, clothing requirements, currency, packing suggestions and so on are answered. Are there particular web sites that would be of interest? In addition to an orientation meeting, we try to arrange opportunities for the travellers to learn, meet and mingle before the trip. Following lectures, travellers to India dined in an Indian restaurant and those going to China shared a Chinese meal. The coordinator also writes a handbook for participants to bring on the trip which outlines the daily itinerary and provides additional background information.

During the trip, the coordinator will have arranged extra perks not available to the independent tourist. Greeted by museum curators, they will have the opportunity to ‘go behind the scenes’. Canadian government representatives are invited to meet our travellers and where possible, visits are arranged with local inhabitants. Unlike the typical commercial tour, we have the flexibility to cater to special interests. For example, if several of the travellers are teachers, the itinerary may include a visit to a local rural school. If someone is interested in classical Indian dance, the coordinator arranges a private performance to the delight of everyone.

What makes a ROM trip so special? Not only is it careful research and detailed planning but also constant vigilance to make certain that each of our participants is enjoying the best possible trip.

Ethel Kellen

Co-chair, ROMtravel

You will find ROMtravel on-line at www.rom.on.ca click on Quick Links, select ROMtravel.

Two Notable Events: News from Diane Dyer and Jean Griffiths of the Volunteer Committee of the Gardiner Museum (GVC)

What do you do when you are celebrating 25 years? Have a party! While the Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art in Toronto marked this special anniversary in May, we volunteers had our party late one afternoon in June……

The second great excitement of the year lies with the coming to Toronto of the National Docent Symposium which is being held for the very first time outside the United States. The morning of October 16, our Gardiner volunteers will welcome delegates from across North America

(See www.docents.net and click on “National Docent Symposium Council” for more information on this organization. Jean Griffiths is Director of the Council for Eastern Canada – Manitoba to Newfoundland.)

For the complete article News from the Gardiner, please go to our web site at www.cffm-cfam.ca.

THANK YOU, AGO!

CFFM owes a tremendous vote of thanks to the Art Gallery of Ontario. For over 30 years your organization has sustained us by ensuring that we always had adequate office space free of charge, as well as the use of your computer and telephone systems. Help and advice were readily available, whether from the technical support staff or the Volunteer and Marketing Departments. This made it possible for CFFM to continue its mandate to represent museum volunteers and friend’s groups throughout Canada. We look forward to keeping up contact with you from our new office in Ottawa and again thank you so very much for all you have done for us over these many years.

Suzie Stohn, Past CFFM Executive Director

Virtual Museum of Asian Canadian Cultural Heritage: Dream to Reality

Excerpts from an article by Dr. Kay Li

The dream of a space to highlight the unique cultural heritage and contributions of Asian Canadians became a reality in June 2009 with the official launch of the Virtual Museum of Asian Canadian Cultural Heritage (VMACCH) at York University. Senator Vivienne Poy, the Patron of Asian Heritage Month Canadian Foundation for Asian Culture (Central Ontario) Inc. And Honorary Chair of the Board of Advisors, Virtual Museum of Asian Canadian Cultural Heritage (VMACCH), announced the VMACCH literally with a bang, beating on a Japanese Taiko Drum…..

Partnership between Volunteers and Museums

VMACCH is spearheaded by the Toronto voluntary organization Asian Heritage Month — Canadian Foundation for Asian Culture (Central Ontario) Inc., which provides opportunities for

Asian Canadians to share their heritage and to promote a better understanding of Asian heritage by focusing annually on the month of May, designated as Asian Heritage Month.

The virtual museum is a prime example of how volunteers can team up with museums not only to create new online teaching resources for teachers and students in schools, but also make museum exhibits accessible to the general public free of charge in Canada, and introduce Asia-Canadian cultural heritage to people all over the world. …..

The project is made possible by partnerships with museums: the Bata Shoe Museum and theGardiner Museum. …..

… and with the support of the Department of Canadian Heritage through the Canadian Culture Online Strategy. …

VMACCH not only allows for the preservation and online showcasing of one of Canada’s most  culturally diverse communities, but it also provides a meeting place for Asian-Canadians and other Canadians to come together and share in cultural experiences. By creating an easy to navigate, accessible meeting place, it opens the barriers often encountered in cultural exchanges.

… ―The experiences of Asian Canadians nationwide are an important part of Canada’s past, present and future. We want this museum to reflect and celebrate these contributions, said the organizing committee of the project.

Submissions and queries can be e-mailed to vmacchyorku.ca. Visit www.vmacch.ca or  www.asianheritagemonth.org for further details.

Read the complete article on our website at www.cffm-fcam.

Volunteers and Transformation AGO

Transformation presented a unique and unprecedented opportunity for the Art Gallery of Ontario to not only expand our building and collections, but also the ways in which we engage with each other; our staff, our volunteers, and our public.

Transformation AGO provided us with a rare and exceptional opportunity to reframe the work we do, hallmarked by new collections, new interpretive strategies, and a new orientation program for all staff and volunteers. We called it ―unleashing excellence – a branding of sorts, that encapsulates our creative, welcoming and respectful AGO.

Volunteers have always played a vital role at the Gallery, and through transformation we continued the tradition. Our volunteer recruitment office, staffed by a (volunteer!) team of ten, interviewed and placed over 450 volunteers in meaningful roles that both support our mission of bringing art and people together, enlivening many departments of the gallery, including: Education, Visitor Services, Prints and Drawings, the Grange, Membership and Art Rental (to name but a few). But we haven’t rested on our laurels. A successful model, where volunteers work side-by-side with staff, has created new areas for volunteerism. With acurrent volunteer compliment of over 700, our team, happily, continues to grow.

By Diana Goliss and Holly Procktor, Staff and Volunteer Resources

Be the First to see King Tut: The Golden King and the Great Pharaohs

November 24, 2009 to April 18, 2010

Get to the front of the line for tickets! Visit ago.net/tut and pre-register before September 10, 2009, to win two VIP tickets to see King Tut: The Golden King and The Great Pharaohs exhibit! For full rules and regulations, go to ago.net/tut.

Thirty years after the wonders of Tutankhamun had their celebrated Canadian debut at the Art Gallery of Ontario, an even bigger exhibition – King Tut: The Golden King and the Great Pharaohs – will make its sole Canadian appearance at the AGO.

With an almost entirely different selection of treasures and more than twice the number of artifacts as were displayed in the 1979 exhibition, King Tut: The Golden King and the Great Pharaohs features more than 100 remarkable pieces from the tomb of King Tut and ancient sites representing some of the most important rulers throughout 2,000 years of ancient Egyptian history. Derived from royal and private tombs and temples from 2600 B.C to 660 B.C., most of these artifacts had never before been seen in North America prior to this exhibition, which is currently breaking venue attendance records in Indianapolis.

Don’t miss out on this must see event!

CONFERENCES OF INTEREST

Ontario Museums Association

Oct. 21 – 23, 2009 in Hamilton

CFFM is participating by organizing a session, on October 22, from 2:15 to 3:30 pm to be chaired by Joan Goldfarb, CFFM Co-President, on ―Fostering a Close Relationship between your Museum, your Volunteers and the Community. In this session we will discuss the evolving relationships among museums, their volunteers and their communities. Through a facilitated interactive session with the audience we will explore then needs of each part of this multi-faceted partnership.

Canadian Museums Association

May 10 – 15, 2010 in St. John’s, Nfld. and Labrador

This year’s theme will be ―Evolving Boundaries: Linking People, Place and Meaning. CFFM is again sponsoring the Carol Sprachman Lecture.

New! The Museum Volunteer Award

The Canadian Museums Association (CMA) and the Canadian Federation of Friends of Museums (CFFM) have paired up to launch a new award honouring outstanding volunteers. The Museum Volunteer Award recognizes exceptional individuals or groups who have dedicated their time and energy to a Canadian museum or heritage institution for at least four years.

Museum volunteers contribute to their communities by preserving its history and heritage for Canadians today and in the future. A testimony of their relentless enthusiasm and passion, these volunteers are involved in all aspects of museum life: from restoration to conservation, they have allowed museums to enhance their programming, collections and visitor experiences.

It’s not surprising that Canadian museums enjoy the help of many thousands of volunteers across the nation. Volunteers’ involvement in museums positively impacts not only the institution, but also its staff and visitors. In exchange, volunteers partake in the preservation of our heritage; learn new skills and experiences; and have fun and a strong sense of satisfaction when connecting to their local communities. CMA and CFFM have long valued, and been inspired by, the impact volunteers have on museums and their communities. As part of its Awards for Outstanding Achievement, in the volunteerism category, CMA has honoured Doris Smith for her 30 years of outstanding volunteering commitment to Canada’s museums and Joan McKim for her 25 years as a volunteer at the McCord Museum of Canadian History. Today, the Museum Volunteer Award stands in its own category to celebrate these outstanding contributions and commitments.

The nominee for this award is an individual or a group that has demonstrated an outstanding contribution to a public, non-profit museum or related heritage or cultural institution in a volunteer capacity. This contribution can be as a member of a volunteer committee, a board of trustees, as a special event coordinator or in another significant way.

Eligibility criteria, selection criteria and application instruction and process, as well as other details will be available shortly. The recipient of the first Museum Volunteer Award will receive his or her award certificate at the next CMA national conference held in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, on May 10-15, 2010.

Anyone with an individual or institutional membership at the CMA or CFFM can nominate a volunteer (or group of volunteers) for this award. The deadline for nominations is November 15, 2009.

More information and details will be made available by end of May 2009 on www.museums.ca.

Sanita Fejzic

Communications Manager, Canadian

Museums Association

“Not in his goals but in his transitions is man great” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

The past years have been marked by major transitions for the CFFM. The partnership agreement entered into with the Canadian Museums Association and our administrative move from Toronto to Ottawa were major organizational and physical undertakings that have been successfully launched.

Both Joan and I are pleased to contribute to this ongoing transition and repositioning process with our nomination and election, at the March AGM, Co-Chairs of the CFFM (in full) for the 2009-2010 term. To this role, we both bring extensive backgrounds in volunteer and board museum experience in Ontario and Quebec, over 45 years combined! It is our aim to use these shared reference points as a template on which to consolidate and rebuild the regional representative network that will give CFFM a strong nation-wide voice. This will allow it to fully fulfill its important advocacy role as a spokesperson for our stakeholders, the volunteers who contribute so much to the cultural sector all across Canada.

Our developing CMA alliance will provide ongoing opportunities to build and actively exercise this role. An excellent example of this positive symbiosis is the recent invitation extended by the CMA to CFFM to play a leadership role in the jury selection process of the Museum Volunteer Award and we are already enthusiastically at work on embracing this new role.

 On the international level, we are both convinced of the important value-added benefits of information sharing, dialoguing and connecting in this age of globalization with national volunteer organizations in Europe and farther afield. Our attendance at the recent World Congress of the World Federation of Friends of Museums in Jerusalem, Israel in September 2008 reaffirmed the value of participating and building on our role as a major North American voice in this process.

What will be our chief tool in this quest to meet the quintessential Canadian challenge of spanning our nation from coast to coast? Communication! There is more than a verbal tie between the words common, community and communication. By survey, website, mail and teleconference we will be in touch to involve you as we continue to reposition and build CFFM for the 21st century.

We look forward to connecting with our community over the months ahead!

Joan Goldfarb

Marie Tremblay McNiven

Co-Chairs

The RQABM (1989 – 2008)

The Quebec Association of Friends and Volunteers of Museums (RQABM) terminated its activities in May of 2008. During its relatively short existence, this Association has brought some significant contributions to the life of Quebec Museums; it has moreover also left its heritage on the international scale. Its decision to give up its labours may appear somewhat surprising, especially considering that in some 500 museum institutions in the Province of Quebec, voluntary work is flourishing; thousands of friends and volunteers contribute to these institutions’ functioning, promotion and growth.

Since its founding in 1989, the primary objective of the RQABM was to bring together the associations of friends and volunteers of Museums and to promote their members’ spheres of activities with a view to enhancing these institutions’ image and popular support.

Since its creation, the RQABM has carried out many training and informative activities, such as organizing seminars to define the role and responsibilities of Museum friends and volunteers, on the financing of these associations, etc., it has also published a periodic newsletter (RQABM info), as well as various texts and studies, it has participated in the work of the Administrative Council of the Canadian Federation of Friends of Museums and in the World Federation of Friends of Museums; it has welcomed, in Montreal, in May 2005, the Annual General Assembly of the World Federation of Friends of Museums.

The RQABM has also pursued the objective of representation at Museum and associative bodies such as La Société des musées québécois (Association of Quebec Museums), the Canadian Federation of Friends of Museums, the World Federation of Friends of Museums, the ICOM, as well as on other governmental bodies.

During the l990’s, the administrators of the RQABM began the task of writing the Code of Ethics for Friends and Volunteers of Museums. This work done at the request of the World Federation of Friends and Volunteers of Museums was adopted by the Federation at their 9th Congress, held in Oaxaca (Mexico), in October 1996. Under its official title of ‘Code d’éthique des amis et bénévoles de Musées’, it was published in a trilingual version, in French, English and Spanish; it is also available on the internet site of the Federation: www.amis-musees.fr/ or www.museumsfriends.com.

In the spring of 2007, the RQABM published the Guide de gestion des associations d’amis et de bénévoles de musées, Management guidelines for Friends and Volunteers of Museums.

The support of the Ministry of Culture and Communications of the Province of Quebec enabled the RQABM to offer this document free of charge to all the Associations of Friends and Volunteers as well as to all the Museums in the Province of Quebec. Together with the Code of Ethics, this Management Guidelines represents the fruit of our thoughts, and our deliberations based on experience and knowledge. It constitutes our main legacy to Quebec society and to the community of friends and volunteers of Museums wherever they might be.

Thus, the RQABM’s balance sheet is very positive and the members of its administrative Council believe that its existence is still valid and the objectives that define it are still pertinent and worth pursuing. Associative bodies of this kind bring so much to the quality of life of a society. It will be appreciated that the decision to disband the Regroupement was the culmination of a long and arduous process of soul and brain searching. This decision was submitted by the Administrative Council as an official proposal to the Special General Assembly on 22 May 2008 and it was accepted by its members.

This difficult decision was taken in light of several factors: the dwindling membership, the difficulty in recruiting new administrators, etc. The heavy burden assumed voluntarily by the President has led to the realization, after two years of futile efforts, that it became impossible to find a successor to this post, especially in view of the fact that it became increasingly difficult to recruit new administrators. We believe that these difficulties are due to several factors. It should be noted that in Quebec there is a preponderance of small museums, managed by minuscule administrative teams, perhaps assisted by a few volunteers. The new generation of volunteers seems to have different expectations, its efforts seem more sporadic than in the past and divided up among several fields of activities (museums, libraries, music, sports, …).

We believe that the mission of RQABM is still valid. Perhaps one day it could be reinstated on new bases? This is what we wish.

Danielle Lecours, President 2002-2008

Léo Paré, Treasurer, 2003-2008

Éva Zietkiewicz, Member of the Board of Directors, 1998-2008

Le Regroupement québécois des amis et bénévoles de musées.

21st March 2009.

Please note that a few copies of the 2007 RQABM publication: Guide de gestion des associations d’amis et de bénévoles de musées. 162 pages, in French,. are still available. Contact:

aucourant@museums.ca.

Schools Outreach Program

All of us know the warm feeling that goes with volunteer endeavours that are just right. Probably nowhere is that feeling more evident than it is in the Volunteers’ Circle of the National Gallery of Canada where two programs, “Looking at Pictures” and “Vive les arts !” are reaching out to schools in the area to give the students a rich background in art.

Situated deep in the inner offices of the Gallery and the Volunteers’ Circle hub, their headquarters is lined with more than 1,000 dry mounted or laminated reproductions stored in wooden bins. These reproductions cover art from pre-history through

Classical, Middle Ages, Renaissance, Impressionism, Modern and Surrealism. In fact examples of art from around the world. From there, 70 active volunteers in the two programs (one for English speaking schools, one for French) fan out to carry them in their big portfolios to more than 200 area schools – and 40,000 students annually.

The programs have proven to be a tremendous success right from their beginnings in 1966 – 68 when Jacqueline Southam spearheaded some experimental art programs in

Ottawa area high schools. The aim then, as it is now, was to give students a lively interest in art – to provide them with specific observation skills and to help them articulate their thoughts. The program trained its volunteers to carry out these important aims and eventually found its focus in the elementary schools. “Looking at Pictures” (for the English-speaking schools) received its name early on, “Vive les arts !” (for the French) came into being in 1986.

This is the way the programs work:               

1. Training:

a) Many volunteers are former teachers or art history graduates, but they all are interested in talking to children. They attend monthly enrichment seminars – talks about or by artists and tours of galleries. These meetings allow them to share ideas on how to present the paintings and artists to students.

b) Each volunteer has a handbook as a guide line and is expected to know the Ministry of Education’s art curriculum for elementary schools. A mentor will go along with a new volunteer to make him/her more comfortable in the class-room situation.

c) Every summer the volunteers spend several days choosing a suitable portfolio (6 – 10 pictures) – often based on a theme. They then conduct their own research through the use of the Volunteers’ Circle library, the Gallery’s resources, their own private collections – and of course, the internet. This year, both groups have implemented a new PC data-based software system to catalogue their complete inventories. This base stores images of the reproductions as well as data on the art work, artist, theme and other pertinent information. The presenters can select their material and check out their choices. At the end of the school year the pictures are checked back in – much like a library system. This has proved to be a great boon to efficiency.

2. School Participation:

a) Request forms are e-mailed individually to the schools or by the Boards of Education in Ontario and Quebec who endorse the program.

b) When the requests are returned to the Volunteers’ Circle, the convenors of “Looking at Pictures” and “Vive les arts !” assign schools and volunteers. Every class from Grade 1 to Grade 6 has a presentation.

c) The volunteers make their own arrangements with the school and look after their own transportation.

d) Each school is asked to fill out an evaluation sheet, assessing the program. Evaluations are often discussed at monthly meetings.

e) Each volunteer is expected to visit a minimum of two schools a year, many do four or five.

3. Finances:

The two groups receive a small amount of money each year from the Volunteers’ Circle budget. They have been fortunate to receive generous grants from Bell, Imperial Oil, and a gift of money from an art gallery that was closing. A garden party (a good opportunity for everyone to see each other) was another fund raiser. These funds allowed Looking at Pictures and Vive les arts ! to rent buses to bring certain classes from the schools to come to the Gallery to see the real paintings and sculpture and to enjoy the beautiful Gallery building.

4. Relations with the National Gallery:

The Education Department of the Gallery very much appreciates its volunteers. The days that school boards had budgets for buses to transport a legion of students to the

Gallery are shrinking and the responses of the schools – and parents – is a ready indicator of the need for such free programs. There is no way of tabulating how many

children (bringing their parents) come to the Gallery as a result of the school visits but the Volunteers’ Circle know that they do from the enthusiasm they generate in the classroom. If ever the goals of these two programs should be in doubt, the drawings and letters tacked on the office bulletin-board from schools all over the area clearly show how important they are. One twelve-year old wrote:

“I am so pleased you came to our school. I really enjoyed it. I have always loved art but I learned many more things at your presentation like how Monet painted in the fog. It’s hard to say which painting is my favourite because I liked each one for a different reason. I think it will have to be between Mary Pratt, Vincentvan Gogh or Canaletto. I like how in the Mary Pratt it looks very realistic with the different shades, how in Canaletto’s it is cheerful and has lots of detail, and how in Van Gogh’s he put a lot of thick paint so it looks 3D. I just don’t like the flag in his painting. I think it distracts people.”

Now there is an art lover – and critic – in the making.

For more information on these two programs, contact the Volunteers’ Circle of the National Gallery of Canada:

P.O Box 333, Station A,

Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K1N 8V3.

e-mail: volunteers’circle@gallery.ca

by Jean Seasons

Secretary, Volunteers’ Circle of the

National Gallery of Canada

BOOKS OF INTEREST TO OUR READERS

Dr. Sean Murphy, member of the CFFM Advisory Council, has published a book, Dare to Draw. The author recounts with a contagious passion his personal adventures as a self-confessed amateur. A book for anyone who has ever had the urge to draw.

Publisher: McClure Gallery/Visual Arts Centre, 350 Victoria Ave., Westmount,Que., and also available at the National Gallery of Canada and the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.

120 pages, price $24.95.

CONFERENCES OF INTEREST

Ontario Museums Association

Oct. 21 – 23, 2009 in Hamilton

CFFM is participating by organizing a round table on “Fostering a Close Relationship between your Museum, your Volunteers and the Community.”

Canadian Museums Association

May 10 – 15, 2010 in St. John’s, Nfld. and Labrador

This year’s theme will be “Evolving Boundaries: Linking People, Place and Meaning.”

If you have some news that you would like to share with our readers, do get in touch with the editor at aucourant@museums.ca. Perhaps on how you celebrated International Museum Day on May 18th or what special recognition was shown to volunteers during Volunteer Week April 19 – 25? Deadline for submission of copy for the Autumn 2009 issue is August 15.

THE ROLE OF CANADIAN MUSEUMS AT A TIME OF ECONOMIC CRISIS

With experts in Canada and around the world projecting tough economic times for the foreseeable future, it is pertinent to ask questions about the role of our museums and other heritage organizations. How can we — both those responsible for managing the institutions and their many workers and volunteers — ensure that the institutions not only survive a severe economic downturn but emerge as strong, healthy organizations prepared to continue to serve Canadians.

And there is an important supplementary question. To what degree can these institutions support the government’s objectives of maintaining employment and reinvigorating the economy.

One set of answers is to be found in the recent CMA submission to the 2009 budget consultations; it contains a recipe for a renewed federal program to be carried out in partnership with museums across the country aimed at creating jobs, ensuring that collections are preserved and made accessible, and strengthening the Young Canada Works program. The recommendations are tailored to form part of the government’s economic stimulus program in a manner that is strategic and targeted, balancing shorter-term economic recovery goals with those longer-term goals that speak to improved Canadian productivity, innovation and competitiveness.

The submission forcefully reminds federal politicians about the role of museums in our society:
Whether they are national or community-based, serving Canadians in urban or rural areas, Canada’s museums are fundamental to our society. Canada’s 2500 museums attract over 59 million visitors each year; 7.5 million of whom are students. Museums enjoy an incredible reach: they are popular and accessible among Canadians as well as international visitors to Canada. Museums help build stronger communities, locally and nationally. More than repositories to preserve past achievements, Canada’s museums are forums for engagement, interaction and pride.

Key components of the recommended programs are: – A Heritage Sector Employment Program – A Collections Access Program – Enhanced support for the Young Canada Works Program

These recommendations are based on the reality that museums in 2007 generated real value-added output of $46 billion. Taking into account direct, indirect and induced contributions, the sector had an “economic footprint” of $84.6 billion, some 7.4% of Canada’s GDP — while contributing 1.1 million jobs.

It is up to all of us in the sector to ensure that our parliamentarians and the decision makers at other levels of government are fully aware of these realities.

Bill Peters

WHAT IS CANADA’S MUSEUM FOR HUMAN RIGHTS?

It is unlike any museum I have been associated with in my 31 years in museums. It is an ideas museum, a museum of conscience and a museum dedicated to the important social issue of human rights in Canada and globally.

The museum is very purposely called the Canadian Museum for Human Rights as a positioning statement to imply that each and every person who comes through the Museum will be moved to do something positive for the human rights locally or internationally. Exhibits will deal with human rights issues from the past such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that celebrated its 60th anniversary on December 10th, 2008 authored by a Canadian. It will also deal with current present day issues as they emerge, and will speculate on issues that may emerge in the future as advances in medicine and technology create human rights dilemmas.

The exhibitions are being developed by Ralph Appelbaum Associates who have put together a conceptual outline of the exhibitions which was presented by Ralph Appelbaum and his staff at our first meeting on September 3, 2008. The concept is to engage visitors with the topics in extremely creative ways using some ‘high tech’ methodology and some tried and true methods that have been used in museums for generations. Ralph Appelbaum’s firm has proposed an electronic method called a ‘key’ that allows visitors to take home electronically parts of the story in the exhibits that touched the visitor deeply or information they want to think more about.

The building has been carefully thought out. A presentation from the architect, Antoine Predock, demonstrates that he has used a great deal of symbolism in the design: for instance the glass façade represents the wings of a dove with the attendant symbolism. The berms emerging from where the building meets the ground represent roots and which to me at least suggests that human rights are a natural extension of being human.

There is a great deal of work to do between now and the opening of the Museum in 2012. The Board and staff are charged with creating an iconic building that functions well as a museum, hire a CEO, hire 170- 180 staff, continue the fund-raising, reach out to Canadians in all parts of Canada as we build the museum with an effective outreach program, consult with Canadians on the creation of the topics for the exhibits, and build and install the exhibits. It is a daunting task for the board and the staff but one that they are excited about and committed to doing the best job possible.

The board is made up of interesting and talented people from diverse backgrounds. The staff now numbers 11 people, the interim Chief Operating Officer who leads the staff has been seconded from the federal government. The construction of the building is being overseen by the former Director of the Canadian War Museum, Joe Geurts.

Facts

• First new National Museum in 40 years
• First National Museum outside the National Capital Region
• The only museum in the world focussed totally on the broad spectrum of human rights
• Building – 270,000 square feet
• Current staffing level of 11 will increase by 2012 to 170-180
• Chief Executive Officer/Director to be hired early in 2009
• Board currently 8 Trustees but full complement is 11
• Website is www.humanrightsmuseum.ca
• Collecting will be limited – this is an ideas museum not a collecting institution

Bill Barkley

 
NOTE: Prime Minister Stephen Harper assisted at the Museum’s ground-breaking ceremony on December 19, 2008.

CAROL SPRACHMAN MEMORIAL LECTURE: “FULLY WIRED… FULLY MOBILE: GENERATION Y”

During a plenary session on Saturday morning March 28th Jennifer Corriero will address delegates to the CMA National Conference on the topic “Fully Wired…Fully Mobile: Generation Y”. Expert on Youth Culture and Demographics, Jennifer Corriero is a dynamic young individual who has developed and implemented many programs and initiatives around the world that engage students in learning experiences which utilize technology in meaningful ways. She has been a consultant for numerous clients including the Ontario Science Centre, VanCity Credit Union, HP and Microsoft.

In 1999, Jennifer co-founded TakingITGlobal, a non-profit organization that utilizes technology to foster cross-cultural understanding, collaboration and awareness of global issues among youth around the world. The website currently receives over 1 million hits each day and has grown to include over 30,000 members from over 200 countries and territories. Jennifer has been recognized by the World Economic Forum as one of the Global Leaders for Tomorrow in 2002 and has been featured in TIME Magazine as one of the leaders for Canada’s Next Generation.

Ms. Corriero will provide insight on how cultural institutions can engage and connect with a younger and more “wired” demographic as visitors, employees and stakeholders.

Ms. Corriero’s lecture is being sponsored by CFFM as a memorial to Carol Sprachman, guiding spirit of our organization for many years.

For those wanting to attend, please check with the CMA Registration Desk at the Fairmont Hotel prior to the 9:00 am lecture.

CFFM ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

March 26, 2009 in Toronto

4:30 pm The Fairmont Royal York

The following slate, with suggested portfolios, is recommended by the Nominating Committee to serve on the Board of Directors of CFFM for the coming year, 2009- 2010:

Cynthia J. Armour (Development) is a certified fundraising executive and has done work for the Museums Association of Saskatchewan, the Ontario Museum Association, the Trans Canada Trail Foundation and the Museum of Childhood among others.

William Barkley is an independent consultant focusing on the planning, management and teaching for museums and related institutions.

Barbara Bloor (Treasurer) is a chartered accountant in Ontario and works as a consultant. Her areas of expertise include program, financial and organizational reviews.

Joan Goldfarb (co-President) received her B.A. for fine arts at the University of Toronto. She serves on the Advisory Board for the Art Gallery of York University.

Marion Haunton – 26 years with Legal Services of the Department of Justice, in the departments of Fisheries and oceans, Canadian Heritage, Communications, and Indian and Northern Affairs.

Peter Homulos (National Director) is retired from the department of Canadian Heritage. Before that he was the Director General of the Canadian Heritage Information Network. He is now an independent consultant with a strong interest in mediation and resolution of Aboriginal issues in Canada.

Marie Tremblay-McNiven (co-President) is a member of the Board Advisory Committee for the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. She is involved with management consulting with the Fondation Héritage Montréal.

Wally Kozar (Secretary) has held management positions with the National Museum of Man, the Museums Assistance Program and the Canadian Conservation Institute.

Doris M. Smith (Public Relations and Communications) is a long-time museum volunteer at the National Gallery of Canada and founded the Canadian Friends of the Hermitage. She is a retired certified fund-raising executive.

Martha Wilder (Development) is currently employed as the Program Expansion Manager for Windfall. Through her interest in Canadian heritage, she has worked for the Newfoundland Heritage Trust, developed heritage products such as the Trailblazer board game and volunteered at the Royal Ontario Museum.

WORLD FEDERATION OF FRIENDS OF MUSEUMS

Au courant has received an account from Carla Bossi- Comelli, President of the WFFM, of the organization’s activities during the past year. Some extracts from her report:

“For the first time in our history a WFFM Congress (Ed. the XIII International Congress in September) was hosted by a museum, the Israel Museum of Jerusalem. The International Council of the Israel Museum organized the event with a special appointed team chaired by its Vice-President for International Relationships Daniel Ben-Natan.

The objective was to bring together friends, volunteers and museum professionals for a stimulating and practical debate on the subject chosen for the Congress: “The Relationships between Museums, Friends and Volunteers”. The programme resulted in a success both in terms of the themes proposed for discussion as well as of the large attendance from 28 different countries.

This past year the WFFM Council Meeting and General Assembly was held in Paris from the 24th to the 27th of April. The next WFFM Council and General Assembly Meeting will be held in Glasgow April 30th to May 3rd. It will be hosted by the British Association of Friends of Museums and organized by the Friends of Glasgow Museums.

NOTICE OF PROPOSED CHANGES TO MEMBERSHIP FEE STRUCTURE

The Board of Directors of CFFM has proposed the following changes to the schedule of membership fees for individual supporters and organizations. In accordance with by-laws, these changes will be presented to membership for approval at the Annual General Meeting on Thursday, March 26, 2009.

CURRENT

Supporters

Organizations

• Under 100 members   –   $25+
• 100 – 1,000 members   –   $50+
• 1,000 – 5,000 members   –   $100+
• Over 5,000 members   –   $1,500+

PROPOSED FEE STRUCTURE

Supporters

• Student   –   $25+
• Friend   –   $40+
• Supporter   –   $100+
• Associate   –   $250+
• Patrons   –   $500+
• Benefactor   –   $1,000+

Organizations

•  Under100 members   –   $50+
• 100 – 500 members   –   $75+
• 500 – 1,000 members   –   $100+
• 1,000 – 5,000 members   –   $150+
• Over 5,000 members   –   $200+

A Membership Benefit available to you this year: send us your brochures and handouts for display at the CMA Conference. For information contact dmsmith@ncf.ca.

CALLING ALL DOCENTS!

The National Docent Symposium to be held in Toronto from October 14 – 17 is slowly but surely coming together. The Registration Brochure will be mailed on April 2nd. Any institution interested in receiving the Registration Brochure should e-mail annwilcox@rogers.com with the institution’s mailing address and the name of the contact person.

On-line registration will begin on April 15th. Symposium information may be found at www.ago.net/nds2009 and anyone interested in receiving updates should sign up at that site.

If you have some news that you would like to share with our readers, do get in touch with the editor at aucourant@museums.ca. Letters may be edited to fit the space available. Deadline for submission of copy for the Summer 2009 issue is April 30th.

A LETTER TO THE HON. JAMES MOORE

Our Vice Presidents, Jean Read and Martha Wilder have written to the Hon. Moore to congratulate him on his appointment as Minister of Canadian Heritage. They state that “Our members look forward to working with you and your Ministry in ensuring that all Canadians are aware of our cultural heritage and its importance to our nation.” They express the hope that the Minister “will want to reach out to those who work in our museums and other heritage institutions.”

They explain that “Canadians have a special relation-ship with our museums. Fifty-nine million visits are made to Canadian museums every year. Museums exist in every Canadian community and contribute significantly to the identity and economic activity of that region. Museums are the guardians and presenters of the Canadian story, showcasing our values of freedom, democracy and human rights. They serve as a window on the world for Canadians while showcasing Canadian talent, achievements and history to millions of foreign visitors each year.

They point out that, “In many respects, museums share common objectives with the Government of Canada and there is a long history of collaboration and support that has enabled our heritage institutions to develop programming and capabilities that are the envy of many other nations. That being said the reality today is that our museums are struggling and need a supportive policy environment that will enable this capacity to be resuscitated.”

CANCELLATIONS

On November 7, 2008 the Department of Canadian Heritage announced that the selection process for a permanent home for the Portrait Gallery of Canada was terminated. Four proposals had been received (two in Edmonton, one in Calgary and one in Ottawa). “Unfortunately, none of these proposals met the Government’s requirements” said Minister Moore. “In this time of global economic instability, it is important that the federal government continue to manage its own affairs prudently and pragmatically. The selection process failed to meet the best interests of both the Portrait Gallery and taxpayers. We have therefore decided not to pursue this project at this time.”

Minister Moore is unapologetic about the nearly $45 million in cuts to heritage, arts and cultural sectors – see article on this subject by Peter Homulos in the Autumn 2008 issue of au courant.

WORLD FEDERATION OF FRIENDS OF MUSEUMS CONGRESS IN JERUSALEM

Hosted by the International Council of the Israel Museum in September 2008.

Marie Tremblay McNiven and Joan Goldfarb represented CFFM at the Congress of the World Federation of Friends of Museums. They were pleased to see that there was a significant group of Canadians in attendance and they held a number of informal meetings to discuss CFFM. Many of the Canadians felt that a coordinated front for the promotion of Canadian museums was very important and that CFFM could play such a role.

The theme of the Congress – “The Relationship between Museums, Friends and Volunteers” provided the opportunity to explore challenges that are faced by museums and their supporters now and in the future.

The main objective of WFFM is to promote the idea of Friends of Museums. “Friends” is understood in many different ways by the various delegations. It includes volunteers and members as well as potential donors. The role of Friends ranges from institutional supporter in both time and donations to bridge-building and cultural education roles within the community. The wide range of interpretations reflects both the state of evolution in various countries between their cultural institutions and their communities, and the relative maturity of the Friends movements within them.

WFFM represents 34 countries and about two million Friends world-wide. WFFM has important links to ICOM (International Council of Museums) and through ICOM to UNESCO. At present, the WFFM is working with ICOM to create a charter of principles on sustainable tourism.

WFFM has created a Code of Ethics for people who provide unpaid work to museums in any capacity. This document is available in several languages and is used extensively around the world.

Of particular relevance to CFFM were sessions on “Fruitful Collaborations between Museums and Friends”, chaired by the British FFM President Norah Dunbar. These sessions featured a most interesting presentation by Valerie Cooper, CEO of the Art Gallery of Calgary and Donale Gandossi, Chair of the AGC Board of Directors.

Canada was also represented in a panel focused on “The Challenge of Recruiting and Maintaining Membership” via an excellent presentation by Mark Trask, Chief, Membership and Annual Giving, National Gallery of Canada Foundation.

Some of the ideas explored during the sessions:

• There should be no lines between professionals, friends and volunteers;
• How to use survey results to ensure that governments understand the full significance of volunteers and to discover what volunteers want to enrich their experiences;
• Ways to reward members and volunteers;
• Ideas for creating new kinds of volunteers to capture young audiences. The creation of hosts rather than docents;
• The implication of free entry to museums to the public and the institution;
• The numbers of members and volunteers are a barometer of the health of the institution;
• Web friends and web members are not the real supporters, so care should be taken not to diminish the experience of live participants.

Of course, there were many more sessions and ideas that were discussed and explored. In addition, delegates had the pleasure of visiting heritage sites that were available to all participants of the Congress. If you are interested in learning more about the Congress, please e-mail us at cffm@museums.ca

Joan Goldfarb and Marie Tremblay McNiven

BOOK REVIEW

A new publication from the American Association of Museum Volunteers is a soft cover 100-page book, Transforming Museum Volunteering.

This is a practical guide, well laid out, with many examples, for museum staff and volunteer managers, which illustrates the need for new approaches to engage volunteers in the 21st century. Volunteerism has changed in recent years to encompass a much broader range of people with very varied interests, cultural background, levels of education and time available – this guide is an excellent tool with which to recruit, train and reward today’s volunteers.

Transforming Museum Volunteering, by Ellen Hirzy, for the AAMV, is published by AuthorHouse. Visit www.aamv.org to purchase. Price: $29.95 US.

Gillian Moine

The theme of the Fall 2008 issue of theQueen’s Quarterly is “Museums and Mystery”. It features an in-depth interview with Victor Rabinovitch, President of the Canadian Museum of Civilization, articles by Robert Fulford (”The Harsh Judgment of the Museum”) and Margaret MacMillan, Robert Bothwell and Randall Hansen on the Canadian War Museum – Bomber Command Controversy.

NEW MEMBERS

• The Association of Friends of the Billings Estate Museum
• The Canadian Museum of Nature

VOLUNTEER RECOGNITION

The Volunteers’ Circle of the National Gallery of Canada was honoured with the “Outstanding Philanthropic Group Award” by the Association of Fundraising Professionals, Ottawa Chapter, during the AFP Philanthropy Awards Dinner on November 12th. The National Gallery nominated the Circle for this honour in recognition of its 50th anniversary.

CALL FOR NOMINATIONS

The mandate of the Canadian Federation of Friends of Museums is to represent volunteers in all provinces and regions across Canada. If you would like to participate as a Board Member or wish to nominate a friend, please contact CFFM at 613-567-0099, ext. 260 or e-mail a brief résumé to cffm@museums.ca by January 15th.

CFFM ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

The CFFM Annual General Meeting will be held on Thursday, March 26, 2009 at 4:30 pm in the Fairmont Royal York Hotel, Toronto during the CMA National Conference.

CANADIAN MUSEUMS ASSOCIATION NATIONAL CONFERENCE – March 25-28, 2009

Some highlights:

• Tuesday, March 24 at 4:30 pm: social kick-off events include a Walking tour of corporate art collections and a Premiering gallery tour at the Royal Ontario Museum.
• Wednesday, March 25 offers full-day and half-day workshops, including board development and fund-raising.
• Thursday, March 26 – Chantal Hébert, Political Commentator and Columnist, will give the keynote address, What Road Will We Take? Our member, Joan Goldfarb, will be moderating a panel on Donors, $$$, Collections, while Ken Armstrong, O.M.C., chairman of one of our institutional members, the Canadian Museum of Nature, will moderate a panel on Effective Leadership: CEOs and Trustees.
• Friday, March 27 – educational sessions continue.
• Saturday, March 28 at the Plenary Session from 9:00 – 10:00 am Jennifer Corriero will give this year’s Carol Sprachman Lecture. Her topic is Fully Wired….Fully Mobile: Generation Y. Admission to this lecture is free to members of CFFM – a new membership benefit.

For easy online registration and full conference details, visit www.museums.ca. Note that members of CFFM are entitled to register at the CMA rate!

TRANSFORMATION AGO

The transformed Art Gallery of Ontario opened to the public on November 14, 2008. In preparation, Gallery Guides and volunteers were offered retraining and placement. The majority elected to continue in the new space. The Gallery expects to enroll between 600 to 650 active volunteers to deal with large numbers of visitors who will be attracted by Frank Gehry’s innovative architectural design.

WEB SITES OF INTEREST

www.preservation.gc.ca is the site for you if you are interested in preserving your family treasures, heirlooms and works of art. The Preserving my Heritage web site of the Canadian Conservation Institute provides:

• advice on how to care for books, silver, paintings, videotapes, and more
• information about careers in conservation
• a great training tool for museum staff and volunteers

If you have some news that you would like to share with our readers, do get in touch with the editor at aucourant@museums.ca. Letters may be edited to fit the space available. Deadline for submission of copy for the Spring 2009 issue is February 2nd.

FOREVER YOUNG: VOLUNTEER EXTRAORDINAIRE – JOAN MCKIM, C.M.

The 2008 CMA Award for Volunteerism was given to a very special volunteer who has spent 25+ years cataloguing for the McCord Museum of Canadian History in Montreal. One of her most important achievements has been cataloguing the illustrations in the Canadian Illustrated News (published from 1869 to 1883).

Mrs. McKim received the Order of Canada in 2000 for giving more than seventy years to serving her community, revitalizing the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Symphony Orchestra and Welfare Federation. At age 95 she was still continuing her work of cataloguing for the McCord.

CORRECTIONS

Bill Barkley was misidentified in the last issue of au courant: Bill is a member of the Board of CFFM.

A NEW BEGINNING

This year’s annual conference of the Canadian Museums Association (CMA) was held in Ottawa in March, and celebrated the organization’s 60th anniversary. The keynote address by broadcaster and journalist Rex Murphy, Whither Culture? Museums are the Portrait of Canada, provided an entertaining outlook at the future of Museums and set the tone for the following two days’ workshops and educational sessions.

Seven members of our Board – Jo Breyfogle, Arti Chandaria, Danielle Lecours, Margot Magee Sackett, Bill Peters, Jean Read and Martha Wilder, together with Advisory Council members Louise Rickenbacker and Jocie Shaw, and CFFM Assistant Rima Zubas, attended the conference. This representation, together with the CFFM-sponsored Carol Sprachman Memorial Lecture, our Panel on Volunteerism, and the inclusion of our logo in the acknowledgement of sponsors, generated much interest in our organization.

The Carol Sprachman Lecture titled Healthy, Wealthy and Wise, presented by Ron Chew, Director of the Wing Luke Asian Museum, Seattle, WA, was well received, as was the Panel organized and moderated by CFFM Vice-President Martha Wilder. Panelists Margot Magee Sackett, Director of the Ross Memorial Museum, Joan Lozinski, volunteer and philanthropist honoured for her work at the Art Gallery of Ontario and the National Ballet School, Ann McCain, Executive Director of the Harrison McCain Private Foundation, and Daniel Ben-Natan, Vice- President, Development and International Relations for the Israel Museum and Treasurer of the World Federation of Friends of Museums, discussed What Motivates Volunteers and Donors to Give to Museums.

Also in this issue is a review of the powerful and moving presentation by the Red Lake Regional Heritage Centre, which outlined the development of the exhibit: Residential Schools: the Red Lake Story. This exhibit set the context for a parallel travelling exhibition entitled Where are the Children? Healing the Legacy of Residential Schools, organized by the Aboriginal Healing Foundation, the Legacy of Hope Foundation and the National Archives of Canada.

Notably, this year CMA made a commitment to environmental sustainability by organizing a Carbon Neutral Conference. According to Calvin J. White, CMA President, approximately 42.5 tonnes of carbon will be released through travel, accommodation and energy consumption related to the conference. To offset these climate change-causing emissions, 934 trees will be planted across Canada in 2007, in accordance with afforestation criteria.

The 2008 CMA conference will be held April 8-12, in Victoria, B.C. We look forward to seeing you there.

THANK YOU TO JO BREYFOGLE

CFFM gratefully acknowledges the contribution of Jo Breyfogle as National Director, from 2004 to 2007. She came to the organization with a wealth of knowledge from her involvement as a volunteer and Trustee at the Royal Ontario Museum. During her time as National Director, she saw many changes, including staff, retiring board members, the transformation, (with noisy construction!) at the Art Gallery of Ontario and changes in the larger Canadian museum community. Jo met all of these challenges with characteristic determination and enthusiasm. Extremely committed to CFFM, Jo is reluctantly stepping down as National Director for health reasons. However, we are pleased that she will continue to be involved as a member of the Board, where her experience will be invaluable.

RESIDENTIAL SCHOOLS: THE RED LAKE STORY

During the 2007 Canadian Museums Association Conference in Ottawa, representatives from the Red Lake Regional Heritage Centre made a moving and powerful presentation on the impact of residential schools. Opened in 2005, the Centre has played a leading role in preserving and promoting First Nations’ culture and heritage in Red Lake and across northwestern Ontario. In 2006, it hosted a travelling exhibit organized by the Legacy of Hope Foundation, the Aboriginal Healing Foundation and the National Archives of Canada, titled Where are the Children? Healing the Legacy of Residential Schools.

It should be noted that in 2002, a curator of the earlier Red Lake Museum, while mounting an exhibit of class photos for a high school reunion, found that in spite of the approximately 20% Aboriginal population of Red Lake, no Aboriginal children appeared in the photos prior to 1965. There were also no records of their education in the local archives. They had, of course, been educated in residential schools, a fact of which many of the local non-Aboriginal residents were unaware. It was therefore realized that for local people to understand the social and economic impact of residential schools on the community, a parallel exhibition needed to be mounted to place the local experience in context with the national exhibition. The result was Residential Schools: The Red Lake Story.

In developing The Red Lake Story, the Aboriginal community was consulted and a working relationship developed. Most important for them was that the Heritage Centre recognized the story needed to be told and had made every effort to balance the exhibit and present experiences in a sensitive manner. Also, the Centre did not shy away from possible controversies which might be generated.

The exhibits were accompanied by lectures and presentations. More than 1,200 people, including homeless people, board members from the Aboriginal Healing Foundation, principals from 25 schools in Northwestern Ontario, students from across the region, many out-of-town and local visitors, as well as government representatives toured the exhibitions. Discussion groups, healing circles, education programs, information sessions and decolonizing workshops were held. The local Children’s Aid Society ran training sessions for foster parents and Aboriginal youth workshops were facilitated by mental health workers and survivors of residential schools.

These exhibitions provided an opportunity for a small museum to present local history, educate, involve the community and bring an understanding of how past actions can affect the future. Our thanks to Michele Alderton, Director/Curator, and staff of the Red Lake Regional Heritage Centre, for providing the material and allowing us to publish this article. For more information, you can contact the Centre at: rlhc@goredlake.com, or visit www.redlakemuseum.com.

DID YOU KNOW?

• The Honourable Josée Verner was appointed Minister of Canadian Heritage, Status of Women and Official Languages by Prime Minister Stephen Harper in August. She replaces Minister Bev Oda. Ms. Verner was previously Minister of International Co-Operation and Minister for La Francophonie and Official Languages in the Federal government.
• The Alberta Museums Association’s annual conference will be held in Red Deer this September 20-22. Contact: www.museumsalberta.ab.ca for more information.
• The Ontario Museums Association (OMA) is holding its annual conference October 24-26, in Toronto. For information, go to: conference@museumsontario.com.
• Sadly, the death of Signe McMichael, founder of the McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Kleinburg, Ontario, and a dedicated arts supporter, was announced in July.
• The Blackfoot Crossing Historical Park, located 100 kms. east of Calgary, opened in July and is Canada’s largest museum owned and operated by First Nations.
• Meg Beckel, formerly Chief Operating Officer of the Royal Ontario Museum, has been appointed Vice-President of the University of Waterloo. Glen Dobbin has joined the ROM as Deputy Director, Operations. He was previously General Manager of Ontario Place, Toronto.
• David Palmer, former President and Executive Director, Royal Ontario Museum, has been appointed Vice-President and Chief Advancement Officer of the University of Toronto.
• The Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery, has appointed Tasha Ethelston as Director of Public Programs and Education. She was previously the Gallery’s Public Programs Co-Ordinator.

VOLUNTEERING AT JOSEPH BRANT MUSEUM

Joseph Brant Museum is one of two heritage sites that come under the umbrella of Museums of Burlington, Ontario. It has been Burlington’s community museum since 1942, with a volunteer program since 1975. A small group of volunteers assisted in every possible way to support the Museum, whether it was painting walls, fund raising, organizing special events, or helping with public and education programs. Over the years, the volunteer program has become increasingly specialized to meet the ever-growing professional needs of the Museum.

Under the supervision of the Curator of Collections, volunteers have the opportunity to learn about collections management, and develop new skills, such as cataloguing, exhibit preparation and installation, research, data entry, and maintaining the research/reference library. The work is on-going and takes a small army of committed volunteers, some of whom have been with the Museum for over 30 years and offer continuity and experience. More recent volunteers are no less enthusiastic in their support. For example, Steve Scheffer, a 2-year “veteran” is characteristic of the volunteer spirit.

When Steve first decided to join the Museum’s volunteer program, he wasn’t quite sure how he wanted to help, but was interested in research and antiques. Immediately, he proved to be a good fit for assisting with the cataloguing of newly acquired artifacts. This required skills such as organization, patience, attention to detail and good research abilities. Steve’s enthusiasm to support collections activities soon spilled over into doing research on specific topics, and assisting with the preparation, installation and dismantling of exhibits. No matter what need arose, the Museum could always count on Steve saying “Sure, I’d be happy to help!”. In a work environment that is always stretched to the limits for time and staffing, Joseph Brant Museum is truly indebted to this type of invaluable volunteer support.

CFFM BOARD NEWS

At its Annual General Meeting on March 30th in Ottawa, CFFM welcomed two new Directors – Peter Homulos and Wally Kozar. Peter and Wally, both of Ottawa, have worked in the Federal Heritage Department for many years. With their professional experience and additional volunteer interests, they will be valuable additions to the Board. Morris Flewwelling, of Red Deer, Alberta, a long-time Director, has resigned from the Board and has been appointed to the Advisory Council.

It is with great happiness that we announce that Her Excellency, the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean, C.C., C.M.M., C.O.M., C.D., Governor General of Canada, has graciously consented to become the patron of CFFM.

We are greatly honoured that she is following the tradition of previous Governors General in supporting our family of members who voluntarily endeavour to augment museums and heritage sites throughout the nation for the betterment of all Canadians.

To find out more about Her Excellency, please visit the official web site www.gg.ca, or use the link on our web site www.cffm-fcam.ca

NATIONAL DIRECTOR’S MESSAGE

We at CFFM wish you all everything of the best for 2007. This year, we celebrate our 30th anniversary and offer thanks to those foresighted people who saw the need and created CFFM.

In this issue, we announce the glad news of the continued patronage of the Governor General, have a fascinating article about the power of volunteers, and provide news of an exciting Egyptology initiative in Canada. We enclose the Conference Programme for the Canadian Museums Association’s conference in Ottawa this March – their 60th anniversary – and provide advice of our own Annual General Meeting, which is, as always, held during this conference.

We are also sending a copy of the re-issued “How to Start a Friend’s Group”, first published by the World Federation of Friends of Museums in English and Spanish, with a French translation, to all CFFM members.

We do hope that as many of you as possible will attend the Annual General meeting in Ottawa (so many museums to visit) and join us for dinner afterwards (which, unfortunately, will be, as always, “Dutch treat”).

Looking forward to meeting you,
Jo Breyfogle
National Director

IN SEARCH OF ANCIENT EGYPT IN CANADA

Have you stumbled across a bit of ancient Egypt in Canada? If so, the team working on the Ancient Egypt in Canada project wants to know!

Sponsored by the Society of the Study of Egyptian Antiquities (SSEA), the project is attempting to locate and describe Egyptian artifacts in museums across Canada, as well as examples of art and architecture inspired and influenced by Egyptian motifs and iconography. The goal is to make the collections more accessible to both researchers and the general public, and to broaden interest and awareness in this most ancient of cultures and the impact it continues to have. Artifacts have been located in over 30 locations, and a similar number of examples of art and architecture have already been identified.

For more details, visit our web-page at: http://www.thessea.org, or contact:

Mark Trumpour: trumpoma@msn.com, 416.261.6598
Brigitte Ouellet: ssea_Montreal@hotmail.com, 514.353.4674

THE TALE OF TWO (ALMOST) CLOSURES AND THE POWER OF VOLUNTEERS

At the Ontario Museum Association’s Annual Conference in Owen Sound last October, I attended a panel given by two museum managers who had faced closure (and indeed, one did suffer temporary closure before re-opening). One was the Canadian Canoe Museum in Peterborough, Ontario, with a collection and story of national historic importance, and the other Fanshawe Pioneer Village, which showcases the early history of London, Ontario, and is a very important resource for the area, and also has far-reaching influence in the total historical fabric of Canada. The incidents were documented in the Globe and Mail, April 1, 2006 by Val Ross in an article which begins: “Ironically, in the midst of a cultural building boom, the vast majority of the country’s museums are critically neglected and underfunded.”

In their presentations, in each case, the museum managers stated categorically that if it had not been for the volunteers, each of the museums would have closed permanently.

Shanna Dunlop is the Curator and Head of Operations of the Fanshawe Pioneer Village, located in London, Ontario. This museum outlines the history of settlement in the area, and as its name suggests, takes the form of a village with relocated original buildings and artifacts and archives from the local area. Its major source of operational funding was the Municipality of London.

As frequently seems to happen, when the city council was reconsidering its budget and needed to make cuts, what softer target than a museum? How wrong they were! In the face of closure, the volunteers rallied for five long months and refused to let it happen. Staff continued to operate the site, and a volunteer advocacy team went into the community and rallied strong support for the museum. To make a long story short, they succeeded, and Fanshawe Pioneer Village won back its funding and had a very successful 2005 season to celebrate London’s sesquicentennial anniversary.

Janice Griffith, the director of The Canadian Canoe Museum in Peterborough tells a somewhat different story. The museum, which through its collection of over 600 canoes, kayaks and 1,000 related artifacts tells the story of Canada from aboriginal trade and travel through European contact and exploration and the present day’s mainly recreational use. The museum’s collection also includes international watercraft such as outriggers from the Pacific rim.

There were plans to expand the museum in 2002, but the museum ran out of money and closure became necessary in October 2003. The volunteers would not accept this. Over the next six months, the volunteer board and operational volunteers worked to raise money, restructure and reopen the museum. It re-opened in May 2004 with a new Manager (Janice). She said the volunteers were there to show her how things ran and pitched in to help in every way possible. They made the re-opening happen and have remained the backbone of the institution. Two short vignettes, but each serves to illustrate how important museums are to a community, and how, without volunteers, most museums would not be able to survive and give the broad range of services they do to the community. It also demonstrates the power of group advocacy and tenacity.

The Canadian museum world is filled with similar stories.

Jo Breyfogle
National Director, CFFM

To find out more about these museums, visit their web sites:
Fanshawe Pioneer Village: www.fanshawepioneervillage.ca
The Canadian Canoe Museum: www.canoemuseum.net

A gallery in the Canadian Canoe Museum in Peterborough, Ontario
Note: The Globe and Mail (Jan. 7, 2007) announced that James Raffan has joined the Canadian Canoe Museum as its first curator.
 

CONFERENCES/SYMPOSIA

Care of Archival Collections, a conference of the Canadian Conservation Institute (CCI)
February 15-16, 2007, Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre, Yellowknife, NT.
Contact Rosalie Scott at 867.873.7664 for more information.

Preserving Aboriginal Heritage: Technical and Traditional Approaches, CCI
September 24-28, 2007. Call for proposals deadline: January 15, 2007.
Contact carole.dignard@pch.gc.ca for more information.

The CCI offers many opportunities for learning. For complete information, visit
www.cci-icc.gc.ca or call toll-free at 1.866.998.3721

Museums: The Real Thing! A conference of the Alberta Museums Association
September 20-22, 2007, Red Deer, Alberta. Call for proposals deadline: January 26, 2007.
For more information, visit www.museumsalberta.ab.ca

What Does A Curator Do Anyway? A presentation of the Art Gallery of Sudbury
February 1, 2007, Sudbury, Ontario. For details, contact gallery@artsudbury.org

The Canadian Museums Association (CMA)’s 60th Annual Conference
March 28-31, 2007, Ottawa, Ontario.
A Conference programme is enclosed with this mailing. Info at: www.museums.ca

The Canadian Federation of Friends of Museums (CFFM)’s 30th Anniversary
Our anniversary will be celebrated at the CMA conference, where we will also hold our Annual
General Meeting. Advice of our Meeting is enclosed with this mailing.

Museums and the Web 2007
April 11-14, 2007, San Francisco, CA. Info at: www.archimuse.com/mw2007

World Federation of Friends of Museums (WFFM)’s Congress and Annual Meeting
April 26-29, 2007, Singapore, Malaysia. Contact: spore2007@gmail.com for details.

Anthem: Perspectives on Home and Native Land
May, 2007. Contact www.aboriginalcuratorialcollective.org for details.

Library and Archives Canada (LAC) promotes and facilitates access to Aboriginal
resources across the country: www.collectionscanada.ca

The Ontario Volunteer Committee of Art Museums (OVCAM)’s Annual Conference
September, 2007, Burlington, Ontario. Go to: info@BurlingtonArtCentre.on.ca

TRAVEL OPPORTUNITIES

Tanzania: A Family Safari, organized by the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto. March 10-22, 2007.
Contact Worldwide Quest Intl. Inc., 416.633.5666 / 1.800.387.1483

Treasures of Libya II, Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto. March 15-29, 2007, with Rome extension:
March 29-April 1, 2007. Contact Canadian Travel Abroad Ltd., 416.364.2738 / 1.800.387.1876

Classic China, organized by the Winnipeg Art Gallery. April 1-13, 2007. Contact Bill Owen,
Continental Travel, 204.989.8597

A Passage to Shangri-La: Yunnan, China, organized by the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto.
May 8-24, 2007. Contact Tour East Holidays, 416.492.9989 / 1.877.578.8888

Virginia – Williamsburg, Jamestown (celebrating 400 years) and other historic sites,
Art Gallery of Windsor, Ontario. April, 2007. Contact Jackie King at www.agw.ca

Vienna – Enchanting City of Arts and Music, organized by the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa,
Volunteers’ Circle Travel Committee. May 1-11, 2007. Contact jsheikh@executive-trvl.com

Eternal Russia, organized by the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto. May 11-24, 2007.
Contact Canadian Travel Abroad Ltd., 416.364.2738 / 1.800.387.1876

Nova Scotia and Cape Breton – A Feast of Culture and Nature, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa.
June 19-24, 2007. Contact jsheikh@executive-trvl.com

DID YOU KNOW?

Michael Koerner has won the Edmund C. Bovey award for leadership support of the arts. As chief of “Transformation A.G.O.” (Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto), and leadership donor, Mr. Koerner was honoured for his support by the Council for Business and the Arts in Canada (CBAC). He received the award at a gala event at the Art Gallery of Ontario on October 16, 2006.

In Ottawa, the Canadian Museum of Nature’s 150th anniversary was marked by the re-opening of new galleries in the West Wing. Consult www.nature.ca for more information.

The Canadian Association of Science Centres (CASC) has moved its offices from Sudbury, Ontario, to Ottawa. See www.canadiansciencecentres.ca The Mendel Art Gallery of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, founded in 1964, has announced an $18 million capital project to expand its facilities by 60%.

The Sep/Oct 2006 issue of Muse, the magazine of the Canadian Museums Association, is devoted to Risk Assessment for Museums. Contact info@museums.ca for back issues or information.

From the Alberta Museums Association’s Fall 2006 newsletter INFOrm: “… whereas museums welcome 59 million visitors each year, are supported by over 400,000 members and friends, and have over 55,000 volunteers.”

The real Canadian new year always seems to begIn at Labour Day after our summer . It is said that in England everything stops for tea. I sometimes feel that in Canada everything stops for the summer. And quite right too, in many ways, with our short season.

Even though many of our members may have been quiet, museums have been open to their biggest season of visitors. On vacation I visited the Peterborough Canoe Museum in Ontario, and was fascinated with their displays of canoes, kayaks and umiaks and the well- conceived historical explanations, so easily understood (my favourite was the comparison of a Hudson Bay trade canoe with a huge modern truck and the bill of lading for each, so similar despite the different methods of recording and transportation).

In this issue we are reproducing the report given by Sean Murphy, our Past President and retiring Vice President of WFFM for North America, to the WFFM Council meeting in Santiago, Chile, earlier this year. It outlines many of the problems we are facing at CFFM. We also give a brief history of CFFM since its inception almost 30 years ago. We will be celebrating our 30 years in Ottawa in 2007 with the CMA conference as they celebrate their 60 years. More about that later.

Jo Breyfogle
National Director

The International Council of Museums (ICOM) defines a museum as “an institution in the service of society and of its development.”

“It’s my Home away from Home”

That is how Adele Shami, long-term volunteer at the Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art in Toronto, described her attitude to volunteering at that museum as reported on CBC Radio on July 27, 2006 in relation to the comment made by Judy Maddren (News Anchor) that Canadian museums, art galleries and historic sites would not be able to function these days if it were not for volunteers. New figures from Statistics Canada show that many not for profit institutions rely heavily on people who do their volunteer jobs just for the love of it.

CBC reporter, Marcia Leaderman went on to say that new data from Statistics Canada shows that volunteers make up more than 85% of the workforce at not for profit art galleries and museums. In an interview with Barb McIntyre, who runs Quaco Museum (a shipbuilding museum) in St Martins, New Brunswick on a volunteer basis, Ms McIntyre stated “I feel that if it were not for the volunteers, the love and the concern that is given to the preservation of our heritage would not be there because you care more if you are not being paid.”

Interesting observations.

                        CFFM
                        317 Dundas Street West
                        Toronto, Ontario M5T 1G4
                        cffm_fcam@ago.net
                        www.cffm-fcam.ca

It is CFFM’s policy to respect and protect personal information and an individual’s right to privacy in compliance with current legal requirements.

A SHORT HISTORY OF CFFM

Jo Breyfogle, CFFM National Director

Groups of museum friends go back a long way. According to the World Federation of Friends of Museums (WFFM) the first such association was the Vorarlberger Lanesmuseumsverein of Austria, set up in 1857. Subsequently the Ballart Fine Arts Public Gallery Association of Australia was created in 1884, and the Koninklijke Maatschappij Woorhet Museum voor Schoone Kunst van Gent in Belgium followed in 1897. There was a tendency for the early organizations to be elitist whose members were art collectors and wealthy benefactors who achieved prestige from their affiliation.

After World War II two trends emerged. The general attitude towards museums changed with greater opportunities in education and with the formation of ICOM (International Council of Museums) and UNESCO. There was also a marked social change because women had been empowered as a result of their war experience, where they had served in the armed forces and had replaced men (mostly temporarily) in many job situations. The time was ripe for the formation of autonomous volunteer groups to become actively involved with museums aided by forward thinking curators. The movement grew, initially in Europe and North America, and has gradually spread throughout the world.

In Canada many such groups were formed, one of the earliest being the Women’s Committee of the Art Gallery of Ontario in 1945. Many Canadian groups of friends/volunteers are celebrating their 40th, 50th and 60th anniversaries in this decade, a great story in how different groups of people from different backgrounds, but with a similar aim (can one say passion?), learned how to act together and change and adapt with the times.

As these groups of volunteer friends became more capable some of the more outward-looking members began thinking about the international museum community and they found a kindred spirit in the World Federation of Friends of Museums. Subsequent to the first congress in Barcelona in 1972, WFFM was formed, being legally constituted in 1975 as a non-profit, non-governmental organization to unite and support national associations and federations. The organization now has an association with the International Council of Museums (ICOM), and reports on its activities to the Executive Council. WFFM co-operates in many ways with UNESCO. Among other endeavours, WFFM provides a code of Ethics for Friends and Volunteers, help in starting up a new Friends’ Group and, most importantly, promotes the exchange of information amongst member associations. WFFM holds a business Council meeting each year, and hosts a triennial Conference located in a different country every time.

Two volunteers from the Art Gallery of Ontario led by Diana Goad attended the first WFFM congress in Barcelona and the Canadian Federation of Friends of Museums was subsequently formed in 1977 with Diana Goad elected as first President. To this day, the headquarters of CFFM remains in the AGO. CFFM maintains close ties with WFFM; the retiring Vice- President for North America, Dr Sean Murphy, is a Past President of CFFM and Danielle Lecours, a CFFM Board member, is the Associate Members’ Representative on the WFFM Council.

Since its formation CFFM has become a registered charity and has been under the patronage of four Governors General. CFFM exists on membership dues and donations, has agreed on a strategic alliance with the Canadian Museums Association, and holds its AGM wherever the CMA (founded 1947) annual conference is sited. CFFM has a double mandate of providing advocacy, particularly in conjunction with the CMA, on behalf of all museums and heritage sites and also providing support and advice to Friends groups. It is run by a volunteer board of advisors from across the country and communicates with its members through the quarterly newsletter, “Au Courant”. CFFM has also published the book, “Significant Treasures/Trésors Parlants” showcasing artifacts from member museums.

Over many years CFFM became, after Diana Goad had retired from the Presidency, synonymous with Carol Sprachman, who was President and subsequently National Director until her untimely death in 1999. Her drive and dedication were outstanding. Her name is remembered annually with the Carol Sprachman Lecture, sponsored by CFFM at the CMA Annual Conference.

The loss of her presence has been an over-riding factor in the recent development of the organization. The CFFM Board has recently completed a strategic planning exercise, and looks forward to strengthening CFFM’s role in the museum community in the future while taking the changes that have occurred in the relationships of Friends groups within their museums into account.

CFFM will celebrate its 30th birthday at our AGM in Ottawa, Friday March 30th, 2007. We hope that many of you will join us in celebrating this anniversary, CMA’s 60th and the continued growth and success of Canada’s museums and heritage sites.

UPCOMING CONFERENCES

ICCROM and the Canadian Conservation Institute
Reducing Risks to Collections
October 16 – 27, 2006
Ottawa,Ontario
http://www.iccrom.org/eng/01train_en/announce_en/2006_10risks_en.shtml

OMA – Ontario Museum Association
Engagement & Advocacy:
Connect, Communicate & Collaborate
October 19 – 20, 2006
Owen Sound, Ontario
www.museumsontario.com

Museum Computer Network (MCN)
Conference 2006
November 8 – 11, 2006
Pasadena, California
www.mcn.edu 

CFFM REPORT FOR THE WFFM COUNCIL

Santiago, Chile, April 20-23, 2006
Sean Murphy, WFFM Vice-President, North America

The year since the last Council in Montreal has been one of consolidation and reflection for CFFM. The outcome was a Retreat in Toronto two weeks ago to examine in depth “where we are”, “where we wish to be” and “HOW” we are going to achieve these goals, the “how” being the most important element that needs solution.

It has been stated countless times that there is a need for an organization such as CFFM in the Canadian museum world and many reasons are given in support of this view. What has not been addressed is the way in which this need can be fulfilled. Canada is not a country that has many museum benefactors who can afford the luxury of supporting the arts to a large extent, and CFFM is not seen by these benefactors as having the same need as individual museums. Consequently our main problem is not one of ideas, but one of obtaining steady funding to facilitate the implementation of the ideas, while adhering to our policy of not obtaining any governmental support money.

CFFM’s current membership stands at 66 institutions and 103 individual supporters throughout the country. One can see there is room for us to improve when these numbers are compared with the statistics quoted below from “Muse”, the newsletter of the Canadian Museums Association, which represents the professional body of museum supporters. “Canada’s 2,500 museums receive over 59 million visitors a year, employ 24,000 people across the country and are supported by 55,000 volunteers and 300,000 friends. Museums, galleries and related institutions contribute CD$650 million in salaries and wages to the Canadian economy and contribute CD$17 billion annually to Canada’s GDP”.

As was mentioned in Montreal the changing demographics of the volunteering Canadian population and the internal organization of volunteers and Friends groups within museums has a great bearing on our membership. Volunteer groups are becoming less and less independent, and more woven into the total fabric of their museum’s organization, and it is often not the volunteer or Friends group that makes the membership decision re CFFM.

In general, unfortunately, staff are disinterested in our association with WFFM since budgeting f or world travel is totally outside their parameters, and they are too busy locally to consider the general good or the total museum world.

We are, as ever, extremely grateful to the Art Gallery of Ontario, which continues to give us office space gratis, evolving from our founding in 1977 by AGO volunteers. Without this gift we would have a major problem.

One CFFM project that has come to fruition this year is translating the booklet “How to Start a Friends Group” by Carol Serventy into French and republishing it in a tri-lingual version.

TRAVEL WITH FRIENDS

NATIONAL ART GALLERY OF CANADA

Art and Architecture in Buffalo
October 10 – 13, 2006
Executive Worldwide Travel
1 – 800 – 267 – 5552

Vienna – Enchanting City of Arts and Music
May1 – 11, 2007
Volunteers’ Circle, Travel Committee
www.national.gallery.ca

THE ART GALLERY OF WINDSOR

Virginia – historic Williamsburg, Jamestown
(celebrating 400 years) and other historic sites
April 2007…….more details to follow
Jackie King
www.agw.ca

THE WINNIPEG ART GALLERY

Classic China
April 1 – 13, 2007
Bill Owen, Continental Travel 1 – 204 – 989 – 8597

British Columbia Museums Association
50th Annual Conference
Conference 2006: Fit at 50- Grow Stronger, Live Longer
October 18 – 21, 2006
Prince George, British Columbia
www.museumsassn.bc.ca

VCAM – Volunteer Committees of Art
Museums of Canada and the United States
19th VCAM International Triennial Conference
Creating Connections
October 19 – 23, 2006
San Francisco, California
pathanson@earthlink.net or www.vcam.org

CMA Canadian Museum Association
60th Annual Conference ( CFFM 30th AGM)
March 28 – 31, 2007
Ottawa, Ontario
www.museums.ca or 416 – 236 – 5557

ROYAL ONTARIO MUSEUM

Mystical Burma (Myanmar)
November 30 – December 15, 2006
Worldwide Quest International Inc.
416 – 633 – 5666 or 1 – 800 – 387 – 1483

Marvels of North India
January 23 – February 5, 2007
Desert Adventure –Rajasthan extension
February 4 – 10, 2007
Worldwide Quest International Inc.
416 – 633 – 5666 or 1 – 800 – 387 – 1483

Tanzania: A Family Safari
March 10 – 22, 2007
Worldwide Quest International Inc.
416 – 633 – 5666 or 1 – 800 – 387 – 1483

Treasures of Libya ll
March 15 – 29, 2007
Rome extension
March 29 – April 1, 2007
Canadian Travel Abroad Ltd.
416 – 364 – 2738 or 1 – 800 – 387 – 1876