Concurrent Speakers

 

THURSDAY FRIDAY
Time Session Time Session
11:00a - 12:00p

Addressing Diversity and Inclusion

FOMO-vs-FOOI: Community Museums and Open Data

Navigating Open Waters: Online Collections and Linked Open Data

Reconciling Heritage: Knowledge Sharing and Inclusive Practices in Indigenous Collections

11:00a - 12:00p

Leveraging the Magic of Mentors

Relevant & Meaningful Collections: Change Makers Past, Present, Future

Discovering Kaná:ta

Mobilizing a Community Museum: First World War Comes to Life Travelling Exhibition Case Study

Museum Intercultural Education Program

1:00p - 1:30p Ignite Sessions 1:00p - 1:45p

Indigenous Collections: Who Cares?

Maximizing Millennials in Ontario’s Museums

In a Manner of Speaking: Why Language Matters in Museums

1:30p - 2:15p

The Journey Towards Equitable Education: A Museum’s Role

Honouring Through Ceremony: Walking With Our Sisters at the Thunder Bay Art Gallery

Queering History: Including Queer Content at Your Museum

2:15p - 3:00p

Animating Historic Sites & Museums: Creating Innovative Programming in Evocative His-toric Spaces

Who Writes the Story of Mississauga?

Access to Art Programming @ the Art Gallery of Ontario

3:30p - 4:00p

Engaging Audiences: The New Canadian History Hall at the Canadian Museum of History

Drawing People to the Forks: Opportunities and Challenges

ROM Welcomes: Inviting Canadian Newcomers to the ROM

   

Full list of Speaker Biographies


Addressing Diversity & Inclusion

    

Presenters:

  • Christian Blake (Moderator), Editor, AccessTO
  • Karen Carter, Executive Director, Myseum of Toronto
  • Cathy Gallagher-Louisy, Director, Knowledge Services, Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclusion
  • Cheryl Blackman, Assistant Vice-President, Audience Development, Royal Ontario Museum
  • Mark Campbell, Adjunct Professor & Senior Research Associate, Ryerson University

Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) practices are important in today's workplaces and in museums in particular. The panelists will share their unique insights and experiences of how D&I has evolved in their organizations. To make this panel discussion engaging and interactive, we’ll be using an innovative audience response system (ARS) that will allow us to poll all participants on the key questions that will be addressed by the panel in real time.

Slides: Addressing Diversity & Inclusion Presentation - coming soon!

Recording: Addressing Diversity & Inclusion Presentation - coming soon!

   

Images: Ontario Museum Association

 

Reconciling Heritage: Knowledge Sharing and Inclusive Practices in Indigenous Collections

   

Presenters:

  • Emily Meikle, Recent Master of Museum Studies Graduate, University of Toronto
  • Heather George, Indigenous Research Office of Vice-President Research, McMaster University
  • Tanis Hill, Assistant Project Coordinator, Deyohahá:ge: Indigenous Knowledge Centre at Six Nations Polytechnic
  • Cara Krmpotich, Associate Museum Studies Professor, University of Toronto

Museum and Indigenous relations have been central to Canadian museology in recent decades. In 2015, Canadian museums and archives were named by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission as places where education - and ultimately reconcilia-tion - can happen. A fundamental role of museums is to act as repositories of knowledge and stories, building visitors’ passion and pride in their culture and heritage. Drawing upon case studies, experience, and scholarship, this panel will examine how museums and cultural centres can promote knowledge sharing both within indigenous communities and between cultures, exploring themes of reconciliation, accessibility, community building, interpretation, and collaboration.

Slides: Reconciling Heritage, Emily Meikle PresentationReconciling Heritage, Heather George Presentation


FOMO-VS-FOOI: Community Museums and Open Data

 

Presenters: 

  • Kathleen Powell, Supervisor of Historical Services/Curator, St. Catharines Museum and Welland Canals Centre
  • Robin McPherson, Communications Strategist

How can community museums harness the power of the open data movement to provide increased access, gain depth of information related to collections, and engage the community in knowledge building? Using the St. Catharines Museum’s WWI mapping project as a case study, this panel will explore the conflict between the Fear of Missing Out and the Fear Of Opting In when it comes to open data and digital projects.

Slides: Community Museums and Open Data Presentation


Navigating Open Waters: Online Collections and Linked Open Data

 

Presenters:

  • Charlie Costain, Director, Canadian Heritage Information Network
  • Liana Radvak, Manager, Collections Information & Image Resources, Art Gallery of Ontario

The world of online museum collections is rich and growing all the time. While there have been efforts to bring collections information together, new approaches are providing new ways to connect rich resources online. What resources are available to your organization, and how can you to use online collections to grow your reach as a museum? This session explores the potential of new kinds of digital resource sharing, including the world of Linked Open Data (LOD). The session will also provide an overview of the Canadian Heritage Information Network (CHIN) LOD demonstration project and discuss plans for modernizing Artefacts Canada.

Slides: Online Collections and Linked Open Data Presentation


IGNITE SESSIONS

Recording - coming soon!

 

Picture Imperfect: Tips and Tricks for Using Historic Images When Looking for Artifacts

  • Sean Stoughton, Village Coordinator, Waterloo Region Museum

Often in our museums we need to research small details about objects in order to determine function, assess the accuracy of replicas, or for general information about a place or event. When historic photographs are available as reference, they can be an enormous asset. However, using historic photographs as research material comes with its own set of problems which can lead to confusion and misinterpretation. This talk will offer some basic hints and tips for finding the details you need from historic photographs, as well as some of the pitfalls and limitations of using photos as research material.

Slides: Download Presentation

 

New Heights at the Great War Flying Museum

  • Nat McHaffie, Curator, Great War Flying Museum

The Great War Flying Museum, operated by the Ontario Aviation Historical Society, is a non-for-profit volunteer organization that guides visitors on a journey of discovery through various galleries and displays showing military air life and aviation during the First World War. From flags and uniforms to models and fragments, machine guns, lovingly embroidered mementos from wives and sweethearts, the impressive collection is a moving tribute to the pilots who served with gallantry and distinction during the Great War and the early pioneers of military aviation. Join curator Nat McHaffie for an engaging introduction to this unique museum and its offerings.

Slides: Download Presentation

 

Shared Authority & Inclusive Storytelling: A Grassroots, Community-Led Effort to Build Toronto’s First Museum of Migration

 

  • Arlene Chan, Tour Guide, Toronto Ward Museum
  • Anja Hamilton, Programming Coordinator, Toronto Ward Museum

Shared authority and inclusive storytelling are guiding principles of the Ward Museum, a museum without walls dedicated to telling stories of migration to Toronto. Since its inception, the Museum has been supported by a network of institutional partners from four different sectors, working to give local residents the opportunity to co-develop and co-deliver the museum’s programming. This presentation will speak to the ethical necessity and importance of sharing authority within museums, as well as exploring the experience of Arlene Chan, one of the guides and storytellers on the Museum’s Dishing Up Toronto tours.

Slides: Download Presentation

 

Come See The Real Thing: Film-Based Programming in Historic House Museums

  • Emma Tennier-Stuart, Master’s Student, Folklore Department, Memorial University of Newfoundland

Historical dramas on television and in film have always been popular, and recently Canada has been experiencing a boom in its own production of historical television. With museums always looking to reach wider audiences, and develop engaging, experiential program-ming, film-based programming is an excellent way to create an accessible museum experience for a ready-made audience. However, trying to tie in museum programming with television and film is an imperfect art. Based on field work carried out for her Folklore Master’s degree, Emma will outline a basic Do and Don’t list for creating film-based programming applicable to the museums here in Ontario.

Slides: Download Presentation

 

What Can Museums Learn From Agencies Serving Immigrants? And What Can They Offer to Newcomer Audiences?

  • Marta Keller-Hernandez, Administrator, Sur Gallery; Programming Coordinator, Paralia Newcomer Arts Network

Agencies Serving Immigrants are the first place to go for over 95,000 newcomers moving to Ontario every year from a country other than Canada. Based on the presenter’s experience when using these agencies’ services, this session aims to explore some key aspects that make ASI’s services and programming a successful way to attract and engage newcomers. How can these practices be implemented in the museum sector? What can museums offer when trying to build long-lasting relationships with newcomers? The presentation will provide some ideas and thoughts around potential programming opportunities for museums to attract, engage, and retain newcomer audiences.

Slides: Download Presentation


Honouring Through Ceremony: Walking With Our Sisters at the Thunder Bay Art Gallery

Presenter: Nadia Kurd, Curator, Thunder Bay Art Gallery

In this presentation, I will examine Walking With Our Sisters, a commemoration that focused on Missing and Murdered Indige-nous Women which came to Thunder Bay in 2014. Consisting of 1800+ handmade moccasin vamps laid upon fabric pathways, participants were invited to walk through and observe the emotional stories related to the unfinished lives of Indigenous women along the way. The project presented a fundamental rethinking of participatory practices within galleries but also brought an understanding of audience participation drawn from Indigenous frameworks.

Slides: Honouring Through Ceremony Presentation


Queering History: Including Queer Content at Your Museum

  

Presenters:

  • Nathan Etherington, Program Coordinator, Brant Museum and Archives
  • Jade Pichette, Volunteer and Community Outreach Coordinator, Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives
  • Jim Parrott, President of the Board, SPECTRUM—Waterloo Region’s Rainbow Community Space

Diversity and inclusion of queer culture in exhibits and programming can often be problematic, if you don't know where to look. This talk will primarily focus on the sub-themes of Relevant and Meaningful Collections and Effective & Collaborative Workforce and offer solutions to attendees about including queer content at their museum. Participating organizations will explain how they came by their queer collections and broke them out of the closet. By the end of this session you should be more knowledgeable on finding existing queer histories in your collection and have collaborative connections with museum professionals who actively share their content.

Slides: Queering History Presentation


The Journey Towards Equitable Education: A Museum’s Role

 

Presenters:

  • Jan Emonson, Curator, York Region District School Board Museum & Archives
  • Christina Blake, Education Programmer, York Region District School Board Museum & Archives
York Region is one of the most diverse communities in the country and as a school board museum and archives we have students from across the region coming to our site to take part in our programs. How have we responded to the cultural landscape of our audience? Using our updated in-house programs and our board wide WWI Arts Inquiry Project we will provide the audience with an interactive look into how we have embraced the diversity of York Region through our programming.
 
 
   
Images: Ontario Museum Association

ROM Welcomes: Inviting Canadian Newcomers to the Royal Ontario Museum

  

Presenters:

  • Jaclyn Qua-Hiansen, Audience Coordinator, Royal Ontario Museum
  • Yasmine Mohamed, Manager, Cultural Access Pass, Insti-tute for Canadian Citizenship
  • Lisa Randall, Program Manager, Settlement Workers in Schools

The Royal Ontario Museum’s ROM Welcomes is a multi-year initiative to engage newcomers to Canada with the cultural sec-tor. In collaboration with ROM Community Access Network (ROMCAN) partners Institute for Canadian Citizenship and Cul-ture Link, the ROM launches this program with Syrian newcomer families in 2016, with the aim to expand to more newcomer communities in the future. Co-developed with ROMCAN partners with expertise in welcoming newcomers, ROM Welcomes provides free guided visits to the Museum and a unique opportunity to learn about the art, culture and nature of Canada through objects and specimens found in the ROM’s world class collections.

 
   
Images: Ontario Museum Association

Drawing People to the Forks: Opportunities & Challenges

Presenter: Amber Lloydlangston, Curator of Regional History, Museum London

After exploring the history of the museum prior to my assumption of the position of Curator of Regional History, I will outline my own efforts to reach out to the community in order to create exhibitions which reflect the diversity of London and the re-gion. Finally, I will discuss an exhibition currently planned for 2019 entitled “Difficult Terrain.” This exhibition will feature and discuss racist, sexist and homophobic artifacts in the collection. I will discuss the way in which this exhibition will be developed and the hopes I have that it will generate dialogue in the community.

Slides: Drawing People to the Forks Presentation


Engaging Audiences: The New Canadian History Hall at the Canadian Museum of History

Presenter: Glenn Ogden, Creative Development Specialist, Canadian Museum of History

How do we engage audiences to create 21st century museum experiences? How can we plan for and balance audience needs with those of stakeholders and communities? This session will take you through how the Canadian Museum of History grappled with these questions to craft its new signature exhibition, the Canadian History Hall. This case study will focus on the value of audience development and public engagement as a vital activity for all institutions. It will explore how this process unfolded for a major project, and how it shaped messaging, guiding principles, storytelling, content selection, design, accessibility and inter-pretive approaches.

Slides: Engaging Audiences Presentation


Leveraging the Magic of Mentors

Presenter: Kate Butler, Museum Director, Haliburton Highlands Museum

Visitors to the Haliburton Highlands Museum have long been telling staff that there were many traditional skills they wished they had learned from parents and grandparents. In this session, you’ll learn about the innovative mentorship program we implemented to address this need, partnering seniors and children in our community. Kate Butler will share the lessons we learned along the way and the adventures we had (including babysitting bees and emergency crafting lessons), as well as how this sort of rewarding program can be adapted to a museum of any size, including yours!

Slides: Leveraging the Magic of Mentors Presentation

   

Images: Scott Foster


Relevant & Meaningful Collections: Change Makers Past, Present, Future

 

Presenters:

  • Mandy Salter, Director/Curator, Art Gallery Mississauga
  • Rhéanne Chartrand, Aboriginal Curatorial Resident, McMaster Museum of Art

In 2017 Canada will celebrate its Sesquicentennial Anniversary of Confederation. A time to honour Canadian nation builders and change makers, many anticipate a year that will celebrate and strengthen the diversity of our country. Only twenty four years ago another anniversary was celebrated: the quincentennial of the arrival of Christopher Columbus. The year of 1992 celebrated the discovery of this continent, but would also be the beginning of change in Canadian museums and galleries. At this time the National Gallery purchased its first work by an Indigenous Canadian artist; Carl Beam’s The North American Ice-berg. Carl’s work would be at the forefront of Land, Spirit, Power, the first Indigenous exhibition at the National Gallery. The Art Gallery of Mississauga is a young gallery, housed in the diverse and ever-growing Peel community, but nevertheless houses a Permanent Collection of noteworthy works from some of the most significant artists in Canadian Art History. Among these notable Canadian artists are works by several Indigenous artists including Norval Morrisseau, Carl Beam, Rita Letendre, and Robert Houle. Their work tells stories that span histories far beyond one hundred and fifty years. However, their history of recognition and acceptance within arts and cultural institutions is a recent one. Anniversaries offer moments for us to be introspective. What does it mean to house work by survivors of the Residential School System, or work by the first Indigenous artist to have a retrospective at the National Gallery? Furthermore what can their stories tell us about Canada, about ourselves?

   

Images: Scott Foster


Museum Intercultural Education Program

Presenters:

  • Madeline Smolarz, Museum Assistant, Craigleath Heritage Depot
  • Michelle Johnson, Researcher, Aurora Museum & Archives, & Exhibition Coordinator, Aurora Sports Hall of Fame
  • Emily Meikle, MMst
  • Leah Moncada, Founder, Historic Kitchen Web-blog
  • Lindsay Parsons, MMst

Due to increasing globalization, the ability to effectively navigate cultural differences has become a global critical issue that deserves attention across all disciplines. Drawing upon a program developed by University of Toronto MMSt students in Fall 2015, this workshop will simulate an experiential intercultural outing to the Royal Ontario Museum. Attendees will be intro-duced to the development of the ROM outing, learn effective cross-cultural communication techniques, participate in modified activities from the outing, and be shown the results of the program. The workshop will then be followed by a Q & A session with the MMSt team.

Slides: Museum Intercultural Education Program Presentation

   

Images: Scott Foster


Discovering Kaná:ta

Presenters:

  • Christine Girardi, Assistant Curator, City of Niagara Falls Museums
  • Heather George, Indigenous Research Office of Vice-President Research, McMaster University

In an effort to provide First Nations content, as requested by local educators, the Niagara Falls History Museum and Chiefswood National Historic Site created a half-day educational program featuring the history, culture and art of the Haudenosaunee (Six Nations of the Grand River). This two-year project involved 10 First Nation artisans, 5 museum profes-sionals, 384 local students and 7 Niagara region schools. The end result was an outreach program created and delivered exclu-sively by First Nation individuals and a model for future collaborative efforts between museums and First Nation communities. In this session, explore the challenges and successes of the project, and consider recommendations for museums wishing to collaborate with First Nation communities.

Slides: Discovering Kaná:ta Presentation

Wampum Belt Activity Results: CLICK HERE

      

Images: Scott Foster


Mobilizing a Community Museum: First World War Comes to Life Travelling Exhibition Case Study

Presenters:

  • Lyndsey Friesen, Exhibition Project Manager, Victoria County Historical Society
  • Ashley Creed, Exhibition Project Manager, Victoria County Historical Society

The Victoria County Historical Society has embarked on an ambitious four-year commemorative project, entitled “First World War Comes to Life.” Best described as a “living history travelling event”, First World War Comes to Life seeks to break down barriers and challenge existing ideas of what an exhibit could be, as well as what a small town community museum is capable of with a little bit of vision and creativity. This session explores how this unique project worked to navigate the challenges inherent in interpreting Canada’s past in a way that is meaningful to and inclusive of an increasingly diverse population.

Slides: Mobilizing a Community Museum Presentation

   

Images: Scott Foster


Maximizing Millennials in Ontario's Museums

Presenters:

  • Laura Gibbs, Museum Coordinator, Gibson House Museum
  • Braden Murray, Curator/Educator, Lake of the Woods Museum
  • Pailagi Pandya, Program Officer, Scarborough Museum

They are known as millennials or GenY, GenNext, Facebookers, and Screengazers. Born between 1980 and 2000, they will comprise the largest proportion of the workforce after the baby-boomers. This is the generation that will need to fill leadership gaps as baby-boomers retire. By all accounts, millennials view the world differently than preceding generations, redefining the meaning of success, with different priorities and world-views than older generations. With museum leaders trying to under-stand how to harness this generation's strengths, this presentation is about understanding the millennial generation and what motivates them in order to attract, retain and mentor millennials in our Ontario museums.

Slides:

      

Images: Scott Foster


Indigenous Collections: Who Cares?

Presenters:

  • Petal Furness, Grey Roots Museum & Archives
  • Cara Krmpotich, University of Toronto
  • Heather George, McMaster University
  • Tanis Hill, Six Nations Polytechnic
  • Mary Collier, Ontario Museum Association

We do and we want you to as well. Join members of the Indigenous Collections Symposium Working Group for a panel of perspectives on why we care about Indigenous collections in Ontario’s museums and what is at stake if the status quo persists. In the months leading up to the Indigenous Collections Symposium in March 2017, let’s talk about what issues need our atten-tion and what action we as museums, small and large, can take.

Slides:

   

Images: Scott Foster


In a Manner of Speaking: Why Language Matters in Museums

Presenters:

  • Lindsay Marlies Small, PhD Student, Faculty of Information, University of Toronto
  • Mary Kate Whibbs, Aqua-Links Coordinator, Toronto Zoo

This session features current research on the effect of inclusive and exclusive language in museum practice. Lindsay's explora-tion of gendered language use on text panels highlights an exclusionary practice common to aviation and space museums and seeks to investigate alternative language use. Mary Kate examines language used in zoo and aquarium interpretation. Fear-based terminology and descriptive terms focused on physical traits represent out-dated interpretive practices and present barriers to visitor learning. These two case studies explore how different communication styles can use problematic language which may alter a visitor’s understanding or sense of inclusion.

Slides: Why Language Matters in Museums Presentation

   

Image: Scott Foster


Who Writes The Story of Mississauga?

Presenters:

  • Stuart Keeler, Chief Curator, Manager, Museums of Mississauga
  • Bonnie Devine, Founding Chair, OCAD U’s Indigenous Visual Culture Program
  • Camille Turner, Artist-in-Residence, Museums Mississauga

Historical narratives have a long tradition in visual art, literature, performance and film. Sharing these stories stirs the imagina-tions of both the author and the audience, and, in the best examples, the works hold to the rigor of historical accuracy and the imagination. Sadly, many of the stories of the 905 Peel Region have been forgotten, eclipsed or not included in the story of Mississauga. The Museums of Mississauga Artist in Residence project seeks to challenge the norm of the industry amnesia and open a dialogue on the past and the power of shared history with an Artist in Residence project. The artists are Camille Turner, researching to disrupt the staging of Canadian history in heritage museums and historical sites by evoking the memory of enslaved Africans in Canada’s past, and Bonnie Devine, conducting a three-part investigation into the history of the north shores of Lake Erie, and Lake Ontario, which includes the territories of the Mississauga, the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois), and the Huron Wendat Nations. The intention is to illuminate a set of historical events that are now largely forgotten or ignored in most historical narratives of Ontario. The hope is that the project will build reconciliation through understanding among the various cultural communities now sharing this region.

Slides: Who Writes The Story of Mississauga? Presentation


Animating Historic Sites & Museums: Creating Innovative Programming in Evocative Historic Spaces

   

Presenters:
  • Linda Irwin, Manager, Museums, City of Toronto Museums & Heritage Services
  • Claire Hopkinson, Director & CEO, Toronto Arts Council and Toronto Arts Foundation
  • Penelope Stewart, Artist
  • Allen Kaeja, Co-Artistic Director, Kaeja d’Dance
The Toronto Arts Council and City of Toronto Museums started a partnership in 2013 entitled "Animating Historic Sites & Museums" to create an innovative and creative opportunity for artists to animate historic sites outside the downtown core. The project has served as a catalyst for people to see and think about historic places in a new way – to provide alternatives to traditional methods of historic understanding and interpretation. The program positions historic site museums as vital public spaces of social interaction – where the past provides creative context for future-looking interpretation. Entering its 4th year, this project offers funding to artists to create and present new work inspired by and presented in the historic spaces. A range of innovative projects have been presented to date including dance, theatre and exhibitions. A panel of representatives from the TAC, the museums and artists will discuss the inspiration and some feedback on this program concept. Discussion will provide inspiration and suggestions for museum and cultural professionals to consider developing similar programming at their own museums.
 
 
   
Image: Scott Foster

Access to Art Programming @ the Art Gallery of Ontario

Presenter: Melissa Smith, Gallery Guide and Adult Education Coordinator, Art Gallery of Ontario

Creative engagement with art is proven to support emotional well-being; reinforces the brain cells responsible for memory; cultivates a positive approach to life that enhances the immune system, and promotes social interactions that help combat depression. The AGO supports a range of visitors through the Access to Art programs and workshops. Melissa Smith, Gallery Guide and Adult Education Coordinator at the Art Gallery of Ontario will talk about different access and multi-sensory programs museums can provide and how partnerships can create many opportunities – all while staying within a tight budget.

Slides: Access to Art Programming Presentation

   

Images: Scott Foster


Full list of Speaker Biographies

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