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Arts and Minds
Paul Dewar
A new parliamentary arts caucus made up of MPs and senators from all parties has come together to serve as a forum for dialogue with Canada’s arts and culture community.
Despite the importance of arts to our cultural identity and economic viability, political debates and decisions regarding arts and culture have often been out of touch with the real importance of arts to our communities. The all-party arts caucus aims to provide a forum for artists and people working in the culture sector to speak directly with parliamentarians from all parties.
The idea of the caucus was developed at a meeting I had with Nancy Oakley, general manager at the Ottawa-based Great Canadian Theatre Company. She said artists want to reach MPs on a more regular and informal basis to help us better understand the arts sector. Together we thought of a solution which may prove much more effective than usual lobbying.
Our hope is to bridge the huge chasm between decision-makers and artists. We hope there will be a lot less ignorance among decision-makers.
An impressive group of MPs and Senators have been involved in the first stages of developing the group. We have elected Denise Savoie, New Democrat MP for Victoria, as the chair of the group and she’s already undertaken organizing further meetings and opportunities for dialogue between the group and the arts community.
We have begun with the basics. At its first meeting, the group took a wide view of the arts scene in our country and the larger challenges that the community faces.
Meanwhile, I have engaged with the arts community in Ottawa through a series of consultations to identify solutions that will support and improve arts and culture. Community members offered their ideas to address the economic challenges of artists: from restructuring tax systems including income averaging, to increasing demands for arts products through tax incentives. They emphasized the importance of education and developing our community’s arts and culture reputation.
These ideas will be reported to the arts caucus once the House is back in session.
The economic viability of our cultural sector creates thousands of jobs in every region of the country. I hope discussions in this arts caucus will improve the quality of debate and decision-making in our country when it comes to arts and culture.
Paul Dewar is a New Democrat Member of Parliament representing Ottawa Centre.
Heritage and Museum Networks — Making an impact in Ottawa
CHOO/COPO is the Council of Heritage Organizations in Ottawa/ le Conseil des organismes du patrimoine d’Ottawa — a heritage service organization representing the interests of over 60 local heritage groups in the Ottawa area. This includes museums, archives, historical and genealogical societies, friends of groups, and a host of other heritage-related organizations. Through these member organizations CHOO/COPO represents approximately 7,500 individuals.
Formed in 1992 as a not-for-profit and registered charity run by volunteers, CHOO/COPO has grown into a professionally run organization with two full-time staff. CHOO/COPO is a grassroots organization that encourages partnerships and communication throughout Ottawa’s diverse heritage community. The staff and Board of Directors believe that by sharing experiences, resources and best practices amongst local heritage organizations we are strengthening the entire sector. As a united and strong voice we are able to mobilize heritage supporters quickly to respond to issues and concerns. CHOO/COPO was originally formed to address municipal heritage issues but over the last few years has also become a voice at both the provincial and federal levels.
Since their inception in 2007, the Ottawa Museum Network has worked on initiatives involving the 11 museums funded by the City of Ottawa. These museums include 3 city-owned and operated sites – Billings Estate Museum Historic Site, Pinhey’s Point Historic Site and the Cumberland Heritage Village Museum, as well as 8 community museums — Bytown Museum, Diefenbunker: Canada’s Cold War Museum, Goulbourn Museum, Nepean Museum, Osgoode Township Historical Society & Museum, Vanier Museoparc, Watson’s Mill and Workers’ Heritage Centre. The OMN develops centralized marketing and advertising campaigns to provide a level of exposure that would be impossible for each of the 11 sites to accomplish on their own. A pilot project organized and administered by the OMN to share the services of a professional conservator to assess collections and undertake artefact treatments is currently underway. Funded in part by MAP and the Ontario Trillium Foundation — the project is another example of how sharing resources across a network of museums can provide each site with services that are out of reach of individual sites working in isolation.
For more information about CHOO/COPO www.choocopo.ca or info@choocopo.ca
For more information about OMN www.OttawaMuseumNetwork.com or omn-rmo@bellnet.ca
A New Museum
We welcome the new Art Gallery of Alberta: a new and daring look without and a commitment to excellence within.
News from Parliament
The House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance has tabled its report on the pre-budget consultations and has recommended significant investments in arts and culture. The report includes a recommendation that the federal government develop funding strategies for long-term sustainability of non-national museums.
A New CFFM Board Member: Pauline RaffertyPauline Rafferty brings an ideal mix of knowledge, skills and experience to the position of Chief Executive Officer of the Royal BC Museum. A trained archaeologist, her work first centered on archaeology, then on heritage interpretation, from supervising survey crews and managing grant processes for heritage-project proponents to meeting the marketing and financial needs at provincial sites such as Fort Steele and Barkerville. In 1990, Pauline was appointed Assistant Deputy Minister at the Ministry of Women’s Equality. She joined the Royal BC Museum to help the institution develop a new business focus and held responsibilities for finance, marketing, human resources and information systems.
With her appointment as CEO in 2001, Pauline set out to achieve several objectives. Among the successes so far: transforming the RBCM to a Crown corporation; seeing a new Museum Act implemented; having title for Cultural Precinct lands transferred to the RBCM Corporation; and achieving greater financial self-sufficiency. Still on Pauline’s list of things to accomplish: bringing to fruition the RBCM’s master redevelopment plan, with new state-of-the-art collections facility; putting in place stable, multi-year plans for programs and exhibits; and advancing the work already begun on the RBCM’s strategic research and collection plans.
Pauline has been honoured for her work at the RBCM with awards from the Canadian Museum Association, Tourism BC and other organizations. She serves on the boards of the National Capital Commission’s marketing and programming advisory board, the Greater Victoria Chamber of Commerce, Tourism Victoria and Advisory Committee for the University of Victoria Cultural Resource Management Program. Pauline is currently the President of the Alliance of Natural History Museums of Canada.
CFFM Board Nominations Request
The CFFM Board is looking for Board Directors with experience and expertise in the areas of government relations and advocacy, business and/or association experience and volunteer management. As well we are looking for the next generation of young people.
We are always looking for individuals who have a passion for museums and galleries.
It is an exciting time to join CFFM, as we are about to embark on an ambitious project – a National Museum Volunteer Survey.
The Board meets about six times a year in Ottawa, Toronto and Montreal. Those unable to attend in person can participate by teleconference. We are a Governance/Hands-on Working Board where directors are encouraged to “roll up their sleeves” and get involved. Committees include Nominations, Fundraising, Advocacy, Communications and Membership.
Please forward your suggestions to Zehra Mawani in the CFFM office at: cffm@museums.ca by March 12th to be included in the 2010 Nominations Slate for a three-year term.
This year’s Annual General Meeting of CFFM will be held on March 22 in Toronto, at the Art Gallery of Ontario. All members will receive detailed information ahead of time and are invited to attend.
Heritage Day 2010
Your Ottawa office will be represented at the Heritage Day celebrations on February 16th in Ottawa City Hall. We will have a table with information and handouts about CFFM and hope to spread the word among the hundreds of visitors who attend this yearly event. We shall also be handing out brochures and information sheets about our member organizations in the Capital Region.
How will you be celebrating Heritage Day? If you wish to share your experiences with our readers, send information to aucourant@museums.ca and we will include it in our Summer 2010 issue.
Recognizing Volunteers
The five members of the jury to select the winner of the joint CMA/CFFM Museum Volunteer Award met on January 22nd. The decision was not easy — all 15 applications had great merit. However, one winner emerged and will be recognized during the CMA Awards Dinner in St. John’s on May 12th.
For a somewhat different way of recognizing out-standing contributions, consider what the Alberta Museums Association does. They recognize out-standing service in four categories: Innovation, Leadership, Sustainability and Outreach.
Awards were won by members of staff, a committee, an institution and an individual volunteer.
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 Memorial Lecture. This year’s speaker will be Jeffrey Simpson, National affairs columnist at The Globe and Mail who will present a sweeping perspective on the geo-political trends affecting museums from politics to tourism.
Members of CFFM are entitled to attend the CMA conference at CMA members’ rates.
Alberta Museums Association
September 23 – 25, 2010 in Edmonton, AB.
This year’s them is Place-Making: Museums and Building Community. Place-making can be defined as “the art of creating public places of the soul” that uplift and help us connect to each other.” It is about design of public space, experiences within public space, and empowering those that engage within that space.
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.
Deadline for submission of copy for the Summer 2010 issue is May 23rd. Articles and news items for our web site can be submitted at any time for consideration. Check out the web site for new links and articles! Especially Arts and Minds which deals with the situation in Ottawa but will have relevance to other cities as well.
It is CFFM policy to respect and protect personal information and an individual’s right to privacy in compliance with current legal requirements. CFFM does not lend or sell its membership information.
CFFM is a charitable organization registered under # BN 11883 0876 RR 0001
au courant is the newsletter published by Canadian Federation of Friends of Museums
400 – 280 Metcalfe Street, Ottawa, ON K2P 1R7
Telephone: 613-567-0099 ext. 260; Fax 613-233-5438
e-mail: cffm@museums.ca web site: www.cffm-fcam.ca
Editor: Doris M. Smith, e-mail: aucourant@museums.ca
Editorial Advisory Board: Michel Cheff and Gerald Glavin
Translation: Michel Joanis
CE BULLETIN EST AUSSI DISPONIBLE EN FRANÇAIS
