Reconsidering Museums: What We Heard with Museums for Me

Caroline Loewen, Project Lead
Alberta Museums Association

What do Canadians see as the value of museums for them, their communities, and for Canada? Reconsidering Museums, a three-year national project, sets out to answer this question. Through a rearticulation of the value of museums and a rebrand of the sector, this project aims to support museums with the tools and language necessary to better connect with and serve their communities, deepening their relationship, and therefore their relevance, to the Canadian public.

Coming Together to Share #MyCanadianMoment

by Vanessa Puczko 
Social Media Community Manager, Summer Intern
Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame

If there was ever a need for the country to come together, the time is now.  

A time for inspiration. 

A time for hope.

During this unprecedented time, Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame is aiming, as always, to unite Canada through sport. We know that sport has the power to bring people together, and Canada has no shortage of incredible sporting moments! But as we faced cancellations, we needed a different way to connect with Canadians.

 

Flood and Fire: A Story of Resilience at Heritage Village and Heritage Shipyard

by Roseann Davidson

Executive Director, Heritage Village and Heritage Shipyard

Natural disasters hit our city and our museums not once, but twice. This is our story.

The Hangingstone River Flood of June 2013 devastated Heritage Village (formerly Heritage Park) and we wondered how we would ever function as a museum again. The damage to our buildings, infrastructure, collections, and archives was beyond our comprehension. 

Yet four years later, through the tireless work of our staff, Board of Directors, volunteers, and external partners, we began a new chapter. Our new beginning placed us in a position to become bigger and better than we could ever have imagined. We affectionately grew to call this time as our “flood of opportunity.”

The Hangingstone River Flood leaves Heritage Village (then Heritage Park) under water.
All images courtesy of Roseann Davidson

Opening and Closing Plenary Presenter Preview with Cathy Molloy

Cathy Molloy is the Director of Markham Museum. She was born in Toronto and grew up in the Rouge Valley, specifically on the edge of one of its wonderful ravines. Before returning to Markham Museum and becoming its Director in 2008, Cathy worked as a Curator at both the Oshawa Museum and Markham Museum, and was instrumental in raising funds to build the Aurora Cultural Centre. Cathy’s interest in environmental issues goes back to her teen years where she participated in the Boyd Conservation Archaeological Summer Field School, which was the start of a life-long desire to better understand how humans interact with the natural world. 

Please provide a brief overview of your role at Markham Museum and the work that your organization does.

The Vision of Markham Museum is to "inspire a life-long curiosity, pride in, and care for, the people, tangible heritage, places, lands and waterways of the City of Markham: past, present and future.” Our mission is to “examine Markham by engaging technologies developed and used by all human cultures to live in the natural world; agriculture and food; material culture; engineering and environmental. We will engage science, industry, history and the arts to understand how Markham became what it is today and what its possible futures could be”.

Museums and Environment

One of the questions that repeatedly comes up when museums are asked to think about how they can engage with environmental issues is “our museum is about [insert subject here] - how do we engage in discussions around the environment when it does not apply to us?” When museum professionals look at their institutions through a different lens, however, it becomes obvious that there are many connections to the environment. By highlighting these connections, museums can be agents of social change by engaging their communities in timely discussions around this vitally important topic.

Still not sure how your museum might fit? Consider the following broad examples: