Click here to download the Summer 2010 au courant in colourful PDF format.
Linda Kane – Winner of this year’s CMA/CFFM Museum Volunteer Award
At the Awards Dinner held in St. John’s on May 12th during the National Conference of the Canadian Museums Association, Linda Kane received the CMA/CFFM Museum Volunteer Award as outstanding museum volunteer for her work at the Cupids Museum and within her community.
The opening of the Museum in 1995 under her leadership was a pivotal event. The museum started with no money, no staff, no artefacts… in two empty classrooms. Under her guidance the Museum has grown to an award-winning community museum that this year has become the primary focus of the 400th anniversary of the founding of the first English settlement in Canada by John Guy in 1610.
Linda Kane has upgraded her skills (always at her own expense) by attending training in museum studies provided by the Museum Association of NL. She has participated in many workshops and seminars to remain current in the latest developments in museum management. She has designed exhibits and helped with construction and set-up. In 2001 she received the Manning Award from the Historic Sites Association of Newfoundland and Labrador for her exhibition on outport schooling, “Present Miss”.
She has trained and supervised dozens of volunteers and summer students to work as interpreters. Linda is truly the driving force behind every aspect of running a successful community museum. Her example has inspired heritage groups from other Newfoundland communities to consult her for advice on establishing their own museums.
Linda Kane has made Cupids a tourist attraction. Linda’s service has had a significant impact on heritage appreciation of people in Cupids and visitors from near and far. For that reason, the Mayor and Council of the Town of Cupids supported her nomination for this Award.
Among the many museum outreach programs initiated by Linda, we’ll just mention one example: a school-based stamp design contest that has grown from a local activity to a province-wide project this year to mark the 400th anniversary of Cupids.
Through her work as a member of the Board of Directors of Cupids 400 Inc. she will see the culmination of her 15 years as a museum volunteer result in the creation of the new Cupids Legacy Centre – a new interpretation centre that is the core project of the Cupids 400th anniversary celebration.
The recipient of the annual CMA/CFFM Museum Volunteer Award is selected based on the following criteria:
- Value: Nominee contributed a valued service to the museum and the community;
- Innovation: Nominee initiated new programs or activities and used new methods to solve problems;
- Achievement: Nominee accomplished desired results;
- Impact: The activity or service produced positive changes and provides examples for other groups;
- Time: Amount of time devoted to the activity or service was significant;
- Dedication: The nominee demonstrated ongoing dedication and commitment to volunteerism and to the cultural and heritage field.
Linda Kane embodies all these qualities to the fullest. We wish her many more years of happy volunteering – Linda has made a difference and continues to do so!
The Cultural Access Pass
The Institute for Canadian Citizenship (ICC) in partnership with the Canadian Museums Association (CMA) have announced the expansion of the Cultural Access Pass (CAP) program to 12 galleries and museums in the National Capital Region.
The Cultural Access Pass was launched in April 2008 in the Greater Toronto Area with six galleries and museums. Twenty-three museums and galleries in the GTA are now participating in the program, along with nine museums and galleries in the Kitchener and Waterloo region and four in Montreal. The program allows new citizens free admission for a full year from the date they are sworn in as Canadians.
The ICC is a national, non-profit organization founded and co-chaired by the Right Honourable Adrienne Clarkson and John Ralston Saul dedicated to engaging Canadians about citizenship. www.icc-icc.ca
The CMA is the national organization for the advancement of the Canadian museum sector, representing Canadian museum professionals both within Canada and internationally. www.museums.ca
CFFM Annual General Meeting
The AGM was held on March 22 at the Art Gallery of Toronto. Your new Board of Directors for 2010-11:
Cynthia Armour
William Barkley
Barbara Bloor (Treasurer)
Tony Bowland
Yves Dagenais
Susan Down
Joan Goldfarb (Co-President)
Peter Homulos (National Director)
Marie Tremblay-McNiven (Co-President)
Pauline Rafferty
Doris Smith
Martha Wilder
Members of the Nominating Committee:
Martha Wilder, Bill Barkley,
Marie Tremblay-McNiven and Jean Read.
The following members of the Advisory Council were reconfirmed:
Flora Agnew, Richard Alward, Jo Breyfogle, Louis Dussault, Morris Flewwelling, Sean Murphy, Bill Peters, Jean Read, Margot Magee Sackett, Jocelyn Shaw, Suzanne Stohn.
Two New Board Members
Yves Dagenais began his involvement in museums in 1982 as Director of Administration and Finance for the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, where he achieved very positive results in the areas of fundraising and self-generated revenues as well as overall resource management. In 1988, he joined the National Gallery of Canada as Deputy Director and later Vice Director, principally responsible for operations.
After retiring from the Gallery in 2000, Mr. Dagenais became a part-time Advisor in Museum Management, sharing his experience with a medium-sized Montreal Museum on issues such as Board Governance, Performance Management, Strategic Planning, Budgets and Policies.
He has been a regular panelist or chairman of discussions for the Canadian Museums Association on key issues such as fundraising, sponsorship and performance and has animated workshops and seminars for the Société des Musées Québecois.
In 2002, in recognition of his contributions to the museum community in Canada, he was named a Fellow of the Canadian Museums Association (FCMA), the highest distinction bestowed by the CMA upon one of its members and is currently the secretary of the group of Fellows. He is still involved in some of the important issues of the CMA, part icularly that of group insurance.
Susan Down is managing director at the Canadian Newspaper Association, based in Toronto. She has had a long newspaper career both as a marketing manager and as a feature writer whose work has appeared in The Toronto Star, National Post and numerous Canwest papers and magazines. She holds degrees from Carleton and Royal Roads and has taken museum studies courses at the University of Victoria. She served an internship at the Royal BC Museum and worked for the Maritime Museum of BC, later serving on its board of directors.
REBORN AT 100: A new face for the Canadian Museum of Nature
The Canadian Museum of Nature in Ottawa – Canada’s national natural history museum – has undergone an extensive make-over. Its 100-year-old public exhibitions building has been completely renovated. It now boasts entirely new galleries, special exhibition spaces, modern amenities, beautifully restored heritage elements, and a handsome glass “lantern” atop its main entrance.
An integral part of the renewal project has been the 186 museum volunteers whose dedication and support – in such areas as collections, educational programmes and Grand Reopening festivities – have undeniably contributed to the successful rebirth of this venerable historic museum. Volunteers will continue to play an active role, as they have for more than 30 years, as the Museum presents its new face to Canadians. If you are interested in volunteering, contact Katherine Day, Volunteer Coordinator at kday@mus-nature.ca or by telephone at 613-566-4261.
Rich with history, the building is a designated national historic site and has been home to many of our national museums at some point. Prime ministers have addressed audiences within its walls, and one (Sir Wilfrid Laurier) lay in state there in 1919.
Carved in stone above the doors is the name, Victoria Memorial Museum. Constructed from 1905-10, the museum was a tribute to Queen Victoria who died in 1901. Its castle-like design is a combination of Tudor Gothic (turrets and crenellations) and the symmetrical École des Beaux-Arts. Originally an imposing stone tower rose above the main entrance. Unfortunately, it had to be removed by 1915 as the Leda clay upon which the museum was built could not support its heavy weight.
In 2004, work began on rehabilitating the aging building, which would include major mechanical, electrical and structural upgrades to bring it into the 21st century. New galleries would be installed, and a glass lantern with enclosed “butterfly” staircase would be erected. Heritage elements would be fully restored, from the marble staircase to the stained glass windows to the mosaic tile floor.
On May 22, 2010, the Canadian Museum of Nature’s Board of Trustees, staff and volunteers will proudly unveil the completed building. Opening that day are the new Water Gallery, with a 19-metre blue whale skeleton, only one of two in Canada; a new Earth Gallery, with 1,000 dazzling minerals from the Museum’s collections as well as a two-metre high HD globe; a live specimen exhibition, Animalium; a new HD theatre, renovated Salon, and two special shows, AQUA and Frogs – A Chorus of Colours. These join the other galleries that have been opened since 2006 – the Talisman Energy Fossil Gallery, Mammal Gallery, Bird Gallery and Discovery Zone.
For more information about the Canadian Museum of Nature’s history, renovation and programmes, visit www.nature.ca.
Dan Smythe
Web sites of interest:
www.culturedays.ca
About Culture Days
Culture Days is a collaborative pan-Canadian volunteer movement to raise the awareness, accessibility, participation and engagement of all Canadians in the arts and cultural life of their communities. A national Steering Committee, together with provincial committees (known as Provincial Task Forces) are self-mobilizing at the grassroots level to implement concurrent annual province-wide public participation events each September beginning in 2010. The annual, concurrent Culture Days events across Canada will feature free, hands-on, interactive activities that invite the public to participate “behind the scenes,” to discover the world of artists, creators, historians, architects, curators, and designers… in their community.
In support of these annual provincial events, Culture Days will drive a major annual national communications and public relations campaign designed to help inspire and catalyze greater public participation in the arts and cultural life of our communities.
Culture Days is a collaborative movement that relies on your participation. Everyone has a role they can play, as a citizen, as a business person, as a cultural professional, on behalf of an organization, or in any other way you can imagine. You can be among the first to join this exciting new cross-country network by first subscribing to Culture Days e-bulletins, and inviting your friends, family and colleagues to join the movement.
Hill Strategies Research
www.HillStrategies.com
On March 30, Hill Strategies Research published Volunteers in Arts and Culture Organizations in Canada in 2007. The report contains details about arts and culture volunteers, volunteer hours, volunteer activities, reasons for volunteering demographic characteristics of volunteers, changes in volunteering, and provincial data. The full report is available for free at their web site.
Meetings and Conferences
This spring the Canadian Museums Association invited members of CFFM to join them in a special visit to the 2010 World’s Fair in Shanghai China from June 20-24. Information about participating in this event was published in timely fashion on our web site, www.cffm-fcam.ca.
We invite you to check out our web site regularly for breaking news.
Regional Events
On October 21st, CFFM in Ottawa will present a free public lecture by Simon Brault: “No Culture, No Future: the urgency of renewing public engagement with arts and culture in Canada”.
The lecture will take place at 7 pm in the Canadian Museum of Nature and is a joint project of CFFM, Friends of Library and Archives Canada, the Volunteers’ Circle of the National Gallery and others. CFFM has the support of the City of Ottawa and the Council for the Arts in Ottawa. For details, contact the editor at aucourant@museums.ca.
On Heritage Day, February 16th, CFFM was represented at Ottawa City Hall by Peter Homulos, our National Director, Doris Smith, your editor and Gerry Glavin of our Editorial Advisory Board. Over 1,000 visitors toured the displays.
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 Autumn 2010 issue is August 15th. 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
