FLORA AGNEW
Flora was born in Lindsay, Ontario. Growing up in Toronto, she attended and graduated from the Bishop Strachan School. She must have acquitted herself very well as many years later she became the school’s first woman president of the Board of Trustees.
Flora tells me her first volunteer job was to load the ancient dishwasher at the Red Cress Canteen on Adelaide Street. She was twelve years old at the time and too young to work out front with all those service men! She loaded the dishwasher for four hours every Saturday morning. Her secret ambition was to ferry RCAF bombers across the Atlantic but the war ended before she was old enough to enlist.
Flora graduated from the University of Toronto and in her final year was awarded the University of Toronto medal for her contribution to under- graduate life. Among several extra-curricular activities, she was, in her final year, one of two Sunday editors of The Varsity, then a five day a week under- graduate newspaper. The other editor is now her husband, Arnold.
After working for a year in New York for the circulation promotion department of Time/Life International and bicycling around Europe for three months, she returned to Toronto and has never looked back.
With her husband and four children, she has led an interesting and busy life. She was President of both the Junior and Volunteer committees of the Art Gallery of Ontario, chairing and serving on a variety of committees. She became a part of CFFM soon after its inception, editing our earlier publication ‘Communique’ for many years. Her introduction to the World Federation of Friends of Museums (WFFM) was to accompany Carol Sprachman to a World Congress in Birmingham, England. She has been to Congresses in Treviso, Italy and Paris and has some wonderful tales tell.
Besides being editor, chief writer, layout and printing supervisor of au courant, Flora is part of the Inuit Art Selection Committee for the AGO’s Art Rental and Sales Gallery, does a weekly stint on the Information Desk at Women’s College Hospital and serves on the Sanctuary Guild at Timothy Eaton Memorial Church.
But there’s more! Few people know the Arctic better than Flora. Eleven times in the last twelve years, she has led tours and travelled to various destinations in the North. I know, from experience, she is a tour leader par excellence.
We are all extremely grateful to Flora for being CFFM’s au courant editor for the past four years. (Ed.’s note: Is that all?) Long may she continue! Au courant is our prime means of communication with our CFFM member museums and supporters. Fortunate, indeed, we are to have you, Flora.
Suzanne Stohn
Suzanne is, as you all know, the Volunteer Executive Director of CFFM
NEWS FROM OUR FRIENDS
Volume 5, number 2 marks the final edition of Passing the Torch, the newsletter of the fundraising campaign for the Canadian War Museum. We will miss reading this excellent publication that has faithfully followed the successful efforts of so many dedicated Friends of the CWM. They are closing in on their target of $15-million! Congratulations!
We welcome the handsome redesigned Journal of the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia and a compact, informative and colourful journal it is. Congratulations! The Journal mentions CFFM Board member, Sandra MacLennan who, with another volunteer, has taken over the Art Study Groups. These are four study groups, three daytime and one evening group. They meet weekly during the year. AGNS volunteers are also involved in the Gallery Shop and in the operation of the Art Sales and Rental Society.
The Gallery Association of the Agnes Etherington Art Gallery in Kingston has decided to reprise their successful Afternoon Tour and Tea series, beginning November 30. Those attending, tour current exhibitions, followed by tea in the elegant Etherington House. This can be followed by a visit to the Gallery Shop where much of the merchandise is wisely keyed to the current exhibitions.
The Volunteer Committee of the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria recently held their major fundraising event, a tour of a variety of beautifully designed and decorated Victoria area residences.
The Gallery Group of the Mendel Gallery in Saskatoon has been busy since their Mothers’ Day Tea and Spring Plant sale last May. In June they set up for an exhibition opening and reception. Then there was the Waterfront Art and Craft Show and Sale in August and now they’ve settled into the routine of monthly Gallery Group meetings and monthly Art Appreciation Meetings. A busy Gallery Group! Judy Koutecky, Volunteer Coordinator at the Mendel, is the CFFM representative on the Canadian Museums Association 2005 Conference Committee.
The Friends of the Owens Art Gallery, Mount Allison University in Sackville, NB raise funds to help in the development of the Gallery’s permanent collection. This past year they contributed $85,000 towards the purchase of art. This year the Gallery was able to purchase ‘Suburbs Standing West’ by Christopher Pratt, the first Pratt painting to enter the collection. Christopher Pratt is a graduate of Fine Arts from ‘Mount A’.
CFFM Board member, Bill Barkley (author of the article on page 4), former director of the Royal British Columbia Museum, is Co-Chair of the Northwest by Southwest 2003 Conference being held in Reno, Nevada. This is a cross border conference of the BC Museums Association and the US Western Museums Association. One session is entitled ‘Museums in Transition: Volunteer Needs and Challenges During a Period of Growth or Institutional Change’!
LEADING THE WAY INTO A REAL FUTURE
Museums and galleries in Canada have earned the respect of the world for our numerous accomplishments. Some of the significant advances in Canadian museums and galleries resulted from the leadership of the Government of Canada. The creation of a national inventory of objects in Canadian collections came from the leadership of the federal government in creating the Canadian Heritage Information Network (CHIN). The creation of the Canadian Conservation Institute provided expertise and leadership and vastly improved the state of preservation of collections held in museums throughout this country. Other examples include the Museums Assistance Program, the Indemnification Program and the Cultural Properties Export/Import Act. In all these areas the government of Canada led the way to the benefit of all museums in this country.
In the 1999 speech from the throne the government of Canada showed foresight and leadership by announcing that museums and galleries could explore and become part of the “world” of the internet. The idea for an electronic museum called the Virtual Museum of Canada (VMC) became a reality. Many museums and galleries had a website prior to the creation of VMC and most were struggling with how to use these sites to engage their public. Some feared that if people could visit the museum electronically they would not visit it in person. As VMC develops many of these concerns and issues are being addressed.
The first question is ‘What is a virtual exhibit?’ VMC created some guidelines to help define this new kind of exhibition. Most importantly it must exploit the media and not just be an electronic version of a book or a documentary video. One of the characteristics of this media is that people can interact with the media and the subject matter. This results in such things as games or the user providing information that would change or develop the exhibit, or it allows for people to interact across vast distances with other people. The guidelines also support creating partnerships both within and outside the museum and gallery community. One of the guidelines is to include youth in a meaningful way in creating the virtual exhibition.
There are now 132 (as of June 2003) virtual exhibits on the VMC site (http://www.virtualmuseum.ca). The topics are wide ranging and reflect the diversity of the country and its museums and galleries. One of my favourite is “Through the Eyes of the Cree” based on the art of Saskatchewan First Nation artist Allen Sapp. This exhibit is rich in colourful images and sounds. For me this virtual exhibit provides an intimate look at the life and art of a Canadian I had no knowledge of before. At some time in the future, I will make it a point to visit the Allen Sapp Gallery. A new addition to the array of exhibits is the Community Memories component. This was designed to assist smaller museums create virtual exhibits. These exhibits tend to be more static but can be very engaging. On of them entitled “A Mother’s War” is based on diaries and letters of a mother who had two sons overseas in World War I. These diaries and letters were discovered in a suitcase the museum acquired and provide a vivid and personal account of a Newfoundland family’s experience during the First World War.
The research into virtual exhibitions is ongoing thanks to the staff at CHIN and in time many of the question and concerns raised about theses exhibits will be answered. Already it is clear that this new means of exhibiting our heritage offers a special kind of experience with our heritage. I predict that it will be shown that the profile of museums and the visitors’ experience will be enhanced by having access to these virtual exhibitions.
Our thanks to CFFM Board member, Bill Barkley, for this article on the Virtual Museum of Canada.
TRAVEL WITH FRIENDS
Gallery Association, Agnes Etherington Art Centre at Queen’s University, Kingston
Tour Eastern Europe in 2004: Prague, Vienna and Budapest.
For information call: 613-542-5473 or 613-549-8842
Volunteers of the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto ON
Sicily: Crossroads of Civilization: April 2004
New York in Springtime: May 2004
Paris at Leisure: Fall 2004
Christmas Markets in Bavaria: Fall 2004
For information on all these trips: 416-979-6660 ext. 444
Or http://www.ago.net/ago/travel”
Art Tour Committee, Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Halifax NS
Treasures of Russia; 22 May – 8 June, 2004
For information on this trip: 902-429-7100 or 902-425-5050
Or email: apoulos@matherstravel.com
Department of Volunteers, Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto ON
Southeast Asia: Thailand, Laos and Cambodia: 3-22 November, 2003
Cuba with a Difference: 21 February-1 March, 2004
Morocco and Southern Spain: In the Footsteps of the Moors, 22 April-8 May, 2004
Southern Ireland, Stately Homes and Country Gardens: 5-16 May, 2004
North of 60-Bathurst Inlet and Yellowknife: 30 June-11 July, 2004
Nova Scotia, The Acadian Legacy: 17-26 September, 2004
Treasures and Pleasures of China: 10-29 October, 2004
For information on all these trips: 416-586-8034
Or e-mail travel@rom.on.ca
