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A Celebration of OMA's 50th Anniversary
2022 is the Ontario Museum Association’s 50th Anniversary! We are celebrating 50 years of advancing a strong museum sector for Ontario with staff and volunteers from the province’s 700 museums, galleries, and heritage sites. To commemorate this occasion, we are hosting a year-long series of online activities, culminating at the OMA Annual Conference 2022 in Hamilton in November.
The Ontario Museum Association (OMA) was established in 1972 and has a mission to strengthen capacity among institutions and individuals to build a strong, collaborative and inclusive museum sector that is vital to community life and the well-being of Ontarians, especially as we reconnect and rebuild post-pandemic.
We welcome everyone to join the celebration of our 50th anniversary
and to visit a museum near you!
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"I am proud to celebrate this important milestone and to recognize the OMA's 50 years of working with stakeholders—including all levels of government, related sectors and industries, and other professional organizations—to provide Ontarians with the substantial financial and social benefits of museums. Museums are key community assets and contribute to economic, educational, cultural, and social vitality. Despite the ongoing challenges of the pandemic, our province's museums have exhibited resilience and delivered valuable engagement. Further investment in museums means they can be strong partners in reconnecting and rebuilding Ontario.”
-Cathy Molloy, OMA President |
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Celebratory Video Messages - We want to hear from you!
Share a congratulatory video message to mark this commemorative occasion.
- What does the OMA mean to you?
- Tell us about a fond memory you have of the OMA.
- With the OMA’s support, my museum/I was able to…
- What is your future wish for the OMA and/or Ontario museums?
- I am proud to be an OMA member because…
- Why are Ontario museums important?
We plan to share these messages throughout our anniversary year across digital platforms and feature a video compilation at the OMA Annual Conference 2022.
Read more and submit your message HERE.
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The OMA works alongside museums as they play a crucial role in shaping our understanding of the world through the knowledge they share. The OMA has committed to challenging established practices and supporting emerging areas of museum practice, including: Indigenous museology, reconciliation, diversity, equity, accessibility and inclusion, and climate change.
For its members to shape and embrace the nature of museum work in service of their communities, for the past 50 years, the OMA has advocated for the vital role of Ontario's museums to society, promoted emerging best practices through professional development, strengthened a collaborative network of Ontario museums, and fostered a culture of innovation and excellence.
The OMA fulfills its mandate through our ongoing roles as an advocate, convenor, professional body and thought leader. Throughout our Anniversary year, we will feature highlights from past projects, initiatives and events. |
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Recovery Fund for Heritage Organizations
Deadline to apply for funding is August 2
The Museums Assistance Program (MAP) is now accepting applications for assistance with ongoing operating costs through the Recovery Fund for Heritage Organizations ($13.6 million in 2022-2023). This assistance will help heritage organizations as they seek to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Not-for-profit organizations with a heritage collection, such as museums, archives, and historic sites, may be eligible to receive funding. Indigenous organizations with a heritage collection are also encouraged to apply. Organizations can receive between $1,000 and $80,000 in emergency support - grants are calculated to 8% of your expenses.
Deadline to apply for funding is August 2, 2022. Applications for the 2022 Recovery Fund for Heritage Organizations will be accepted through the Canadian Heritage Funding Portal (CHFP). Read the Application guidelines HERE.
If you need assistance, or encounter challenges with your online submission, don't hesitate to contact your Regional office or call 1-866-811-0055 (toll-free) including to receive PDF forms.
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Other Funding Opportunities
Ontario Arts Council - The Indigenous Visual Artists Materials program supports Ontario-based First Nations, Inuit and Métis artists working in the visual arts, crafts or traditional/customary Indigenous art forms to create artwork. Accepting applications until January 31, 2023.
Bell Let's Talk - The Diversity Fund for projects that support the mental health and well-being of Black, Indigenous and People of Colour (BIPOC) communities. Accepting applications from July 6 until August 16, 2022.
FedDev Ontario - Community Economic Development and Diversification program for not-for-profit organizations in small communities working to develop, diversify and transform their local economies. Accepting applications on an ongoing basis.
Northern Ontario Heritage Fund - Community Enhancement Program stream is designed to support priorities of northern communities and organizations that contribute to a healthy and strong community. Applications now open. |
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Webinar Recording:
Know Your Target Audiences with
Environics Analytics
On Tuesday June 28, 2022 the OMA presented a member exclusive webinar, "Know Your Target Audiences with Environics Analytics," with Nader Shureih from Environics Analytics. Participants learned how understanding the profile of Ontario’s museum visitors can help museums make strategic decisions to build the size of their audience.
This free webinar was made possible thanks to the support of Environics Analytics and collaboration with George Brown College’s Professor Karen Sinotte.
Review the presentation slides HERE.
Watch the webinar recording HERE.
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Registration is open! Spaces are available!
Upcoming Certificate in Museum Studies Courses
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Collections Management
Format: Online
Course dates: Sept. 19 - Nov. 27, 2022
Course Director: Janet Reid, Markham Museum
Registration Open! |
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Organization & Management of Museums
Format: Online
Course dates: Sept. 19 - Nov. 27, 2022
Course Director: Kathleen Powell, St. Catharines Museum & Welland Canals Centre
Registration Open! |
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Education Programs
Format: Online
Course dates: Oct. 3 - Dec. 11, 2022
Course Director: Meredith Leonard, City of Hamilton
Registration Open! |
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Registration for Certificate in Museum Studies courses is open to OMA Individual Members and Commercial Consultant Members.
Find out more about the Certificate in Museum Studies Program HERE.
Questions? Email pd@museumsontario.ca |
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An Opportunity to Recognize our
Esteemed Colleagues
Is there someone at your organization who has retired (or will retire) between October 2021 and November 2022?
In 2019 the OMA started a tradition of recognizing our colleagues who have retired in the past year at the annual OMA Awards reception. This year we look forward to continuing the tradition in person in Hamilton!
Share the following information with us so that we can honour the contributions that these individuals have made to our dynamic sector.
- Name
- Organization
- Title
- Retirement date
- Photo
- How long they worked in museums and/or at the organization from which they retired
- Some other interesting fact or anecdote about what they achieved in their career
Send submissions to pd@museumsontario.ca
Deadline for submissions: Monday, October 17, 2022
Notes:
Submissions are welcome to recognize retirees in any role at an organization.
Retirees do not need to be present at the in-person event to be recognized.
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Webinar Recording: How to build a case for your nonprofit to invest in technology
Ontario Nonprofit Network (ONN)
On Tuesday June 28, 2022, the ONN held a webinar to discuss how to internally "sell" the need for technology within nonprofits and highlight the expected benefits it will bring. With speaker, Kevin Christopher-George of GreenMerits Consulting Inc, the webinar reviewed some important building blocks to create a compelling, results-focused internal business case to justify a technology purchase.
Watch the recording HERE.
Read the presentation slides HERE.
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Please Note: The federal Digital Access to Heritage funding opportunity is now accepting submissions for the final September 1 deadline
The Digital Access to Heritage component of The Museums Assistance Program (MAP), provides funding to heritage organizations to digitize collections and make them available to the public, develop digital content and build their capacity in these areas.
Application Deadline:
September 1, 2022 for projects taking place between Sept. 1, 2022 and Mar. 31, 2024
Who Can Apply:
Indigenous governing bodies or Indigenous organizations, incorporated non-profit Canadian museums, museums associations or incorporated non-profit Canadian service organizations whose membership relates to the museum sector, Incorporated non-profit Canadian museums without a permanent physical space.
Review the Application guidelines HERE.
Contact your Regional office to discuss your project and request an application package. |
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CMA now accepting nominations for the
2022 Governor General's History Award for Excellence in Museums: History Alive!
Nominations deadline is August 15, 2022
First presented by the Governor General in 2011 at Rideau Hall, the goal of History Alive! is to honour significant achievement in the historical field and encourage standards of excellence specifically in the presentation, preservation and interpretation of national, regional or local history. This award is presented in a partnership between the Canadian Museums Association (CMA) and Canada's History Society (CHS).
Learn about nomination criteria, application instructions and past winners HERE.
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Upcoming webinar:
What’s in a Name: Rebranding Your
History Organization
American Association for State and Local History (AASLH)
Thursday July 28, 2022
3:00 - 4:00 pm ET
Fee: $5 AASLH Members / $15 Nonmembers
Instructions on how to access the live event provided upon registration
This webinar will discuss rebranding in a broad context, explore common reasons for rebranding a historic site, and discuss the process sites across America have used, regardless of size and budget. Jane Mitchell Eliasof draws on her own experiences as well as those of the 12 other history organizations featured in her book Rebranding: A Guide for Historic Houses, Museums, Sites, and Organizations (2022).
Read more and register HERE.
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Transforming Inclusion in Museums:
The Power of Collaborative Inquiry
by Porchia Moore, Rose Paquet, Aletheia Wittman
This book offers a new paradigm for understanding inclusion grounded in a retrospective of museum worker efforts to test the limits of inclusion, a reflection on inclusion’s advantages and limitations in practice, as well as the integral concerns of racial equity and social justice. Questions throughout the book invite readers to reflect on how their own experiences can add to, and expand on, new ways of thinking about inclusion in museums. Museum workers and lovers can use this book as a tool for engaging with “inclusion” anew, and as a terrain for collaborative inquiry and world-building that can help us imagine and realize new potential for museums in the future.
Read more HERE. |
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Museums Association (UK) launches
Museums for Climate Justice campaign
Supporting museums in tackling the climate and ecological crisis
This campaign will support museums to be bold and brave in taking action, putting forward a systems change approach which focuses on climate and social justice. In delivering this campaign, Museums Association aims to align work to tackle the climate and ecological crisis with their ongoing anti-racism and decolonization campaigning, showing how these issues intersect. Museums Association will invite members and the wider sector to take part in their digital hive, and use other platforms to share good practice and resources.
Read more HERE.
Learn about the Digital Hive HERE.
Learn about the Climate resources bank HERE.
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Watch interviews from:
The Best in Heritage's 21st annual conference
The Best in Heritage announces its 21st edition which will take place online from late May to early October 2022, featuring video interviews from representatives from over 40 museum, heritage and conservation projects that have been awarded in the past year. The online edition will deliver an overview of best practices from all over the globe, focusing on the criteria of professional excellence, public value and innovation.
Learn about the diverse awarded projects and watch the interviews HERE.
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Collections Technician
St. Catharines Museum & Welland Canals Centre
July 31, 2022
$23.20 - $27.34 per hour
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Education Manager
Gardiner Museum
August 5, 2022
$50,000 - $60,000/Year
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Associate Curator, Indigenous Art (2 positions)
National Gallery of Canada
August 5, 2022
$78,877 - $97,405/Year
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Ontario Museum Jobs
The OMA features job listings from the online submissions received through our website. To submit a listing for an open position at your institution, CLICK HERE! |
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#OMAConf2022 Tradeshow and Partnership
Partnership Application Deadline: August 8
Showcase your products to an engaged audience of current and future leaders in the field by partnering and exhibiting at the only conference dedicated to Ontario Museums.
As we gather in-person and online for the OMA Annual Conference 2022 and to celebrate the OMA's 50th anniversary, we are offering categories of partnership opportunities.
Partnership Opportunities are offered on a first-come, first-serve basis. Please complete the order form by August 8, 2022 and return to membership@museumsontario.ca.
Download the OMA Conference 2022 Opportunities Package and order form HERE.
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#OMAConf2022 Registration Open
Register now and save!
2022 is the Ontario Museum Association’s 50th Anniversary, and we are so thrilled to welcome members back to both an in-person and online conference this year!
This year’s theme is Changing Directions: Practice over Permanence. This theme embodies the changing nature of museums and focuses on what museums are currently doing, rather than what they might do in the future.
Join us in-person!
Monday, November 7, 2022
Hamilton Convention Centre
1 Summers Lane
Hamilton, ON L8P 4Y2
Tuesday, November 8, 2022
Local Hamilton activities and planned Study Tours - separate registration required, stay tuned!
Join us online!
Monday, November 7, 2022 – select sessions will be live-streamed
Monday, November 21, 2022 – interactive online sessions
Learn about early-bird rates!
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Fully Subsidized Registrations
The OMA provides limited subsidized in-person and online conference registrations. Subsidies will be allocated on a first-come first-served basis.
Learn more HERE.
Book Your Accommodation for the In-person Conference
Sheraton Hamilton Hotel
116 King Street West
Hamilton, ON L8P 4V3
Book early to secure your room at the special OMA rate. Learn more HERE. |
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Support Ontario’s Museums: Donate Now!
As museums across Ontario face the challenges of reopening safely and renewing relationships with your communities, the OMA is here for you. Your support, participation, and membership make our work possible.
If you are already an OMA member, thank you! Please renew your membership when you receive an email reminder. If you are not yet a member, please consider an individual, institutional, or commercial membership for yourself, your colleagues, or your institution. You can find information about member categories and benefits on our website.
You can make a donation to the OMA on our website or through Canada Helps. Every contribution adds to the collective strength of our sector. Thank you for your support!
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We're Here to Help!
For all questions or inquiries please contact the OMA: community@museumsontario.ca or call 416-348-8672 / 1-866-662-8672.
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| As an organization of provincial scope, the Ontario Museum Association recognizes that its members and community live and work on the lands and territories of Indigenous peoples. Toronto, where the OMA offices are located, is the territory of the Mississaugas of the Credit, Haudenosaunee and the Huron Wendat. We wish to express our gratitude for the resources we are using and pay respect to the rich and ongoing Indigenous history of what is now Ontario and Canada. |
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