MUSINGS HITS THE ROAD: A TOUR OF CANADA'S CAPITAL, MMSt CLASS TRIP 2017

WEEKEND EDITION

BY: NATANIA SHERMAN

This past week was reading week, and rather than hibernating, Musings went on a road trip! For those of you unfamiliar with the Museum Studies (MMSt) program, every year the Museum Studies Student Association, MUSSA, hosts a class trip which is open to first and second year MMSt students. Every other year we visit Canada's capital city, Ottawa, to see what's happening in our national museums.

A foggy view of the parliament building (Photo: Natania Sherman)

This year's trip, organized by MUSSA's social chair and Musing's Museum Innovations writer Kelly Mackenzie, brought us to Ottawa in the middle of February where we had the opportunity to devote four days to experiencing the culture and unseasonably mild weather of Ottawa, Ontario.

Between us we managed to visit the Canadian Museum of History, the Canadian Museum of Nature, the Canadian War Museum, the National Gallery of Canada, the Bytown Museum and the Canadian Aviation and Space Museum.

Since Serena and Hayley already provided an overview of the museums and museum programs in Ottawa, this article will just provide a recap of some of the highlights of the trip.

February 23rd

Our first stop at the CMH in Gatineau (Photo: Natania Sherman)

For our first stop, the Canadian Museum of History (CMH), located in Gatineau, Quebec, hosted us for a variety of candid talks about some of their ongoing projects, including the upcoming Franklin Expedition exhibition, inspired by the recent discovery by Parks Canada of the H.M.S. Erebus and Terror in the arctic. We heard from the Virtual Museum of Canada about how they facilitate museum and community online projects and learned a bit about the CMH's approach to accessibility and repatriation of indigenous objects. The highlight, however, was being led on a tour of the Canadian History Hall which is currently under construction but will reopen on Canada Day. I can't wait to go back to see the finished exhibition!

Part of a behind the scenes tour of the Canadian History Hall (Photo: Natania Sherman)

After our day-long visit to the Canadian Museum of History, we had the option to visit the Canadian Museum of Nature or the Canadian War Museum. Choosing which museum to visit in our free time was much like choosing a favourite child, but I ended up visiting the Canadian Museum of Nature to take in the Reptiles exhibit and play with the interactives. All in all, a long day of successful museum-going.

February 24th

Part of the Alex Janvier exhibition at NGC (Photo: Natania Sherman)

Friday brought us to the National Gallery of Canada where we got to hear presentations from staff about their diverse career trajectories and get an inside look at past exhibit, Elisabeth Louise Vigée Lebrun. We got to learn from professionals in every aspect of the museum, from marketing and digital strategies to education and interpretation. We also received a guided tour of the Alex Janvier exhibition from the curatorial team, which provided a deeper perspective into his life and art as well as background to some of the curatorial decision-making that occurred when planning this exhibition.

Students mingling with alumni at Boston Pizza (Photo: Natania Sherman)

In the evening, all students were able to partake in an alumni networking event at Boston Pizza. It was a wonderful experience to get to meet and mingle with so many MMSt alumni working in the Ottawa region and many of us were able to make new connections and get some advice from those who have been there before us.

February 25th

Walking to the Bytown Museum (Photo: Natania Sherman)

On Saturday, the last day of our trip, we had the option to visit either the Canadian Aviation and Space Museum (CASM) or the Bytown Museum for tours of their current exhibitions. This was once again like choosing a favourite child. At the Bytown Museum, we had an amazing tour of the building and got to learn about museum management, especially for a small museum. Those who visited CASM took part in a tour of the collections facilities and current exhibitions. Then we loaded ourselves back on the bus and departed for Toronto


Key Themes from This Year's Trip 

The Sesquicentennial: Canada 150 is a major event that is bound to take over Ottawa, and a major source of funding for cultural organizations. Most of the museums we visited seemed to have some kind of ongoing renovation project related to the sesquicentennial, many of which won't be revealed until July of this year.

Reconciliation: At both the NGC and the CMH many staff members were putting a concerted effort into placing indigenous stories front and centre and trying to place them as part of a living culture within Canadian History. This meant re-evaluating some of the ways indigenous cultures had been displayed previously in their museums and making major changes to interpretive and curatorial practices.

Government: The challenges of being a national museum can impact an institution's scope and mandate as well as create bureaucratic hurdles. Many of the museums we visited had to balance politics with museology as a result of being located in the capital city and political centre of Canada.

Canada 150 logo at the Canadian Museum of Nature (Photo: Natania Sherman)

Thank you to all of the museums and museum professionals who hosted us and shared their current and upcoming projects with us. We really appreciated you taking time out of your busy schedules to talk to us and answer our questions. A special thank you to social chair Kelly Mackenzie and MUSSA for organizing the trip and making sure that everyone had a great time in Ottawa.

CLASS TRIP MUSEUM REVIEWS: NIAGARA EDITION

EXHIBITION MUSEUM REVIEWS

BY: MADELINE SMOLARZ

The annual MMSt class trip is something students always look forward to throughout the year. Washington, Montreal, and Ottawa have been significant past destinations, and the trip's itinerary generally involves a few days spent in one city visiting several museums and their employees, some of who are alumni of the program. The care and time that goes into planning them is extensive, and time in the host museums' galleries is supplemented by professional lectures, collections tours, and many more behind-the-scenes insights.

This year, Museum Studies Student Association (MUSSA) President Dylan Dammerman and Social Chair Leah Moncada - Musings' own fantastic Historic Kitchen contributor - have organized a selection of shorter trips to cities across southern Ontario that include 3 day-long trips and 1 two-day excursion. This article will shine the spotlight on the latter, which took place a week ago: the exciting overnight trip to the Niagara Falls region!

I'll be providing a short description of the three amazing museums we visited over 36 hours as well as recognizing each institution for something they do exceptionally well, rather than just focusing on their exhibitions. Let's just call it Musings' own version of the film industry's highly anticipated awards season happening right now.

St. Catherines Museum & Welland Canals Centre: Best Program - aMuse

The entrance to the St Catherines Museum during nicer weather than we experienced! Source.

Speakers: Kathleen Powell (Supervisor Historical of Services / Curator), Meredith Leonard (Visitor Services Coordinator)

Part of St. Catherines Museum's permanent exhibition space. Photo Credit: Madeline Smolarz.

After we were all revived with some delicious coffee from our very considerate hosts at the St. Catharines Museum, who knew we had left Toronto before sunrise, the MMSt contingent was broken into three small groups and taken through the Museum's extensive collections areas in stages while the others explored a temporary exhibition. We gained plenty of insight into the collecting practices and management challenges posed by the collection, such as dealing with the vibrations from the huge ships that pass through the canal next door in the summer. Everyone then assembled for an excellent presentation on the Museum's innovative aMuse program, which is a series of one-of-a-kind offsite pop-up events that brings the Museum into the city. Our visit concluded with a quick tour then free time within the permanent exhibition as well as the new World War I addition. Kathleen and Meredith were even able to share a few details about the changes they hope the Museum will undergo in the near future.

Niagara Falls History Museum: Best Response to the Local Situation of the Community

NFHM is comprised of a historic building (L) and new addition (R). Source.

 Speakers: Clark Bernat (Manager, Niagara Falls City Museums), Suzanne Moase (Curator)

Mr. Bernat's favourite interactive at NFHM - building a simple and a complex bridge. Photo Credit: Madeline Smolarz

I was impressed by the Niagara Falls History Museum even before the formal presentations and tours began; the foyer of the complex joins the historic and new halves of the Museum and is flooded with natural light. We received a thoughtfully delivered introduction to the Museum and the other sites associated with it - find out more here - and then split into two groups that switched over midway through our visit. Suzanne led the collections side of the tour down into the basement while Clark took his groups through the airy temporary and permanent exhibition spaces located in the new building. Clark and Suzanne were clear that the Museum was not perfect, but agreed that it is a work in progress (as all museums are, really) and there are many things that they excel at. The local community is currently facing a series of social and economic challenges, and the Museum's staff  members not only recognize this, but they are actively working to meet the public's needs, provide people with resources, and partner with various initiatives to help improve the community overall.

Niagara Historical Society Museum: Best Use of Internal and External Resources

The exterior of the NHSM in summer, showing the original building (L) and later addition (R). Source.

Speakers: Tami Daoust (Acting Curator), Amy Klassen (Society Administrator / Acting Managing Director), Sarah Kaufman (Managing Director / Curator) Barbara Worthy (Freelance Producer / Writer / Actress)

The interior of the NHSM's original building. Photo Credit: Madeline Smolarz.

A good portion of our time at the Niagara Historical Society Museum was spent learning from the welcoming staff during detailed presentations about the Museum's history, current exhibitions, and recent large-scale traveling video project called "Flames of War," which we each received a copy of and thoroughly enjoyed watching on the bus ride back to Toronto. The Museum staff were honest when sharing details of their limited finances, so it was all the more impressive when they explained how they make their small operating budget stretch so far every year. They had many space, time, and money-saving tips to share with the group, which we were then able to witness in action during tours of the Museum's current exhibitions and it's collections holdings. If you're interested in the events surrounding the War of 1812 and World War I in the Niagara region, the NHSM is the destination for you.

Honourable Mention -- Fort George: Best Immersive Experience

Conservation Tips & Tricks contributor Nikita walking around the Fort. Photo Credit: Madeline Smolarz.

Although the Fort was not a site that we visited as an organized group, many of us were able to get in before it closed to thoroughly explore the open buildings, which included the Officer's Building and the original Powder Magazine, and some of us even joined in on a couple of tours run by very knowledgeable historical interpreters. There's nothing like following in the footsteps of the people who lived and worked there 200 years before... and the sun came out just as I arrived there, so the Fort gets bonus points for being incredibly beautiful.

MMSt students are happiest when on guided tours. Look at those smiles! Photo Credit: Madeline Smolarz.

SUMMARY

In the end, all of the museums we were fortunate enough to visit are on the precipice of great change. It was fascinating to learn about how they are each moving forward in their own way and pushing museum practice beyond what has been done before to better serve their surrounding communities.

Thank you to all of our hosts. The trip would not have been such a success without your donation of time and expertise. We greatly appreciated your honesty, generosity, and hospitality. Your passion for museum work was infectious and we all look forward to crossing paths with you again some day.

Special thanks to Leah & Dylan for organizing the trip. The MMSt program is lucky to have you.

CLASS TRIPS!

GREATEST HITS

BY: HAYLEY MAE JONES

Looking through Musings' archives, it is interesting to see which articles were popular amongst the readers.  Blog posts (find an example here about the 2015 Ottawa trip) dedicated to the class trips, including fundraising for the trips were always popular.  Even back in 2013, the bake sale fundraising post for the 2014 Washington trip gained a lot of internet action.

This gets me really excited because just last week, MUSSA - the Museum Studies Student Association - announced the plans for the 2015/2016 school trip. I was really curious about what MUSSA had planned this year.   All I wanted to know was: where are we going? Would we be going to Ottawa or Washington as in previous years? 

The waiting paid off because this year MUSSA surprised everyone and planed not one, not two, but three fantastic trips.  To top it off, two of the trips are free!

If you missed the meeting, and want more information the MUSSA website has all the wonderful details.  

Hope to see you all on these museum adventures.

Source

VIP ACCESS TO CANADA'S CAPITAL MUSEUMS

MUSEUM MONDAY

BY: CADY MOYER

View from the Peace Tower on Parliament Hill.
You can see the Canadian Museum of History to the left, and the National Gallery to the right.

Welcome to another Museum Monday! My name is Cady Moyer, and this is my most exciting post yet.

This past week, students and professors from the iSchool, mostly from the Museum Studies program, embarked on a whirlwind tour of Ottawa. Leaving Toronto in the afternoon on Wednesday, January 14th, and returning late in the evening on Saturday, January 17th, we went behind the scenes at museums big and small, visited national heritage sites, dined with program alumni, explored the tasty offerings of the Byward Market, and froze on the seasonally frigid streets of Ottawa.

In just two full days and two half days, we collectively managed to see:

the National Gallery of Canada, 
the Canadian Museum of History, 
the Canadian War Museum, 
The Museum of Nature, 
Parliament Hill, 
the Bytown Museum, 
and the Canada Aviation and Space Museum. 

Through both special programs set up for us by museum staff, and through our own adventures, we got an in depth look at what it takes to be a museum in Canada’s capital.

The trip’s main events were the special programming put on for us at the National Gallery of Canada (NGC) on Thursday, and the Canadian Museum of History (CMH) on Friday.

THURSDAY, JANUARY 15TH
Megan Richardson, Chief of Education and Public Programs at the NGC, and alumnus of our program, met us at 9am for a full day of talks and tours of the gallery. The day’s presentations included the museum’s innovations in programming and design, as well as function with social media, and making the most of statistics to guide a museum through the year. At lunch there was a guest speaker, fine art photographer Edward Burtynsky, sharing both the ideas and stories behind his work as an artist, and the photographs themselves. Our scheduled time wrapped up with a tour of the Biennial Exhibit, showcasing Contemporary Canadian artists’ works. Our tour guide did an excellent job of showcasing the qualities of a modern interpreter by being inclusive and sharing authority to create an engaging experience through participation. The rest of the day students to themselves to tour the rest of the museum, or retire to the hotel to rest for an alumni reception later in the evening.

Heading to the alumni reception.

MMSt students checking out the
Biennial exhibition at the NGC.

Edward Burtynsky at the NGC.

FRIDAY, JANUARY 16TH
On Friday, we all bundled up against the bright chilly morning and crossed over into Quebec to visit the newly renamed Canadian Museum of History (previously the Canadian Museum of Civilization). We heard all about the new Canada Hall redesign that is opening in 2017 from both a collections, and project management standpoint. We also got to know a little bit more about the restructuring of the museum from the Director General, Jean-Marc Blais. There was time to explore the museum at lunch and for forty-five minutes after presentations. At the end of presentations, some students ran off to make the most of the afternoon with a special behind-the-scenes exhibit tour at the Canadian War Museum. I was drawn to CMH’s temporary exhibits—1867 Rebellion and Confederation; Canada’s Titanic—The Empress of Ireland; and Ni’N Na L’Nu—The Mi’Kmaq of Prince Edward Island—as well as a quick walk through the Children’s Museum which made me yearn to be five years old again.

Early morning to the CMH.

New name, same beautiful building at the CMH.

MMSt students hearing about dining
etiquette from a volunteer in the
Empress of Ireland exhibition at the CMH

SATURDAY, JANUARY 17TH
After the rigour of the previous two days, Saturday morning each person got to set their own pace at a museum, or museums, of their choosing. Some went to the Canadian War Museum, others to the Museum of Nature or the Aviation Museum. Myself and a small group of students headed off to the Bytown Museum, followed by a guided tour of the Parliament buildings. We had the privilege of a VIP tour with the Executive Director, and MMSt alumnus, Robin Etherington.

The museum was closed to visitors that day which gave our group the unique experience of having a tour that was concurrently about the museum’s content and its management. Robin gave us her undivided attention, establishing a professional dialogue with us and answering all of our very detailed questions. Of great interest to me, was the Bytown Museum’s community exhibition space, where cultural groups within Ottawa can apply to mount a temporary exhibition. I find this such a fantastic idea because it engages the museum directly with its community, it broadens its audiences bringing in new people to the museum, it makes the most of the small museum’s resources, and it breaks up potential museum hegemony by bringing in other perspectives.

Executive Director of the Bytown Museum,
Robin Etherington talking about the
community exhibition space.

MMSt students exploring the Bytown Museum.

MMSt students exploring the Peace Tower.

Inside the library on Parliament Hill. 

As a museum studies student, the greatest value of the trip were times like these, when I saw, heard, or experienced a museum output that was a really great idea, one to be remembered. While “beg, borrow, and steal” is a saying that is often heard from museum professionals, as students, we have the opportunity to meditate upon these ideas and distill them into an essence of what works, what doesn’t, and why; and that can prepare us to innovate in our own careers.

Each of the nearly fifty attendees experienced their own trip highlights. My favourite moment was watching the trip’s organizer, MMSt candidate Alex Somerville, receive a thank-you gift from the group—it was a book about Marshall McLuhan written by Alex’s undergraduate degree supervisor. Alex shot out of his bus seat in excitement, with a look on his face akin to Jennifer Lawrence winning an Oscar, and with the same amount of charm. I wish I had caught it on camera. 

MMSt students waiting to get picked up
by the bus to head back to Toronto.

The bus trip home to Toronto.

Museum Studies goes to Ottawa was jam packed and full of fun, but why take just my word for it? Hear it from those who went on the trip! During the bus ride back Jaime Clifton-Ross, Musings Editor, and I went around and interviewed a few people about their favourite or most memorable moments. Keep in mind that while filming it was dark, my camera was my phone in my hand, and The Princess Bride was playing on the bus T.V. sets (the scene where Buttercup is almost eaten by eels makes a dramatic appearance on a few of these clips), but all the same, the enthusiastic and excited spirit of the trip is easy enough to see. 

That enthusiasm and enjoyment pervaded not only our experiences on the trip, but also beamed from museum professionals we met with in Ottawa. One professional cautioned us during her presentation, that if you’re not having fun, if you’re work is constantly making you want to tear your hair out, then make a change, find a new way, make it enjoyable again. 

Happy Monday everyone, have a great week, and innovate your way to a better day.