April 2023 Update

In Memoriam

Nova Scotia's museum community lost two very bright lights this month. Kathleen MacLeod of North Highlands Community Museum, and Peter Cullen of Ross Farm Museum. Kathleen and Pete were both intensely dedicated to their museums but also engaged in broader advocacy and ANSM board/working group activities. We invite you to read our tribute posts to Kathleen and Pete, and comment to share your condolences with their families and friends. 

ANSM Hiring

In case you missed it, the ANSM board made an announcement recently as it opened the job competition for our new Executive Director. Having had conversations with both the board and hiring committee, this is an exciting time for ANSM and we are all feeling optimistic about the future. Please spread the word and share the posting! Turning to the Member Services Coordinator position, we are awaiting clarifications from CCTH on March's funding announcement before making a decision about this role. In the meantime, we are so happy to have Jacob Agnew and Sandi Stewart working with us. Jacob just completed his Centennial College internship with us last week, so will be staying on part-time and working with Karin on a variety of tasks. Sandi is primarily helping Maggie with our membership renewal and annual report/AGM preparations. Keep an eye on your email inbox for your membership renewal notice.

TRACK

We had our first Tuesday on TRACK webinar this month, looking at revenue generation for museums with David Oyler. If you missed it, you can request the recording by reaching out to Karin. To register for upcoming webinars, visit our website. If your museum receives CMAP funding, participating in four webinars is a condition of your funding. 

We got the assessment document back from the graphic designer, and it looks great! Such a big improvement on the old evaluation document. The TRACK working group is currently reviewing it and sending in their notes for some final tweaking before we launch the second pilot.

Museums 101

In two weeks our Museums 101 course is starting, and we only have a few spots left. This will be an online course that runs for five weeks, Wednesday afternoons from 2-4pm. If you are new to museums, or if you have new volunteers or board members, this is a great course to introduce you to the field. If you've been working in museums for a while now but haven't had a lot of opportunities for professional development, this is a great course to learn about how the field is changing. Remember that this is the only museum studies program course we are offering this year, so don't miss out on the opportunity. Visit our website to learn more and to register.

Mi'kmaq Community Engagement Days

We had our first session in Membertou this week, and it was such a great bonding and learning time. Huge thanks to Jeff Ward for sharing his time and knowledge with us, and thanks to everyone who joined us. On May 12th we will be meeting in Millbrook for another day of learning with Heather Stevens, Roger Lewis, and Katie Cottreau-Robbins. If you'd like to join us there, click here. 

CollectiveAccess & NovaMuse

For years now we have shared monthly numbers for CollectiveAccess and NovaMuse, demonstrating progress in our collective collections management efforts. As we continue to learn how to unlock collections and step away from old colonial practices, we're going to stop sharing these monthly numbers. They were meant to be encouragement and a bit of friendly competition between regions, but we want to focus instead on moving forward. This doesn't always mean you're adding new records. You could be updating old ones...correcting spelling, adding new information found through research, or filling in blank fields that got skipped over in the initial cataloguing. 

Unlocking Collections

The most exciting update in this area is a follow-up from last month, when we shared that a funding application was unsuccessful but we had an upcoming meeting that we hoped would turn that bad news around. We are so happy to say that it has! Our new friends at Acadian Affairs are stepping up to work with us to find some money for a storytelling project. This is fantastic news and we are so happy to have their support in sharing hidden stories of the Acadian experience.

Related to storytelling, we want to remind you one more time to answer the audiovisual materials survey if you haven't yet. So far only 24 museums have responded, and we are using this survey to determine locations of hub training, and to priotitize in-person site visits. It is incredibly important to get feedback from all 60 advisory service museums. The survey is closing Monday, so once you finish reading this post, please answer the survey. 

Educational Partnerships

As we mentioned above, Jacob is finished his internship but not finished with ANSM. We are looking ahead and will have a student joining us from Fleming College for the summer, and have just broadcast a fall placement proposal to a number of schools. Next month Karin is stepping back into her teaching shoes at SMU with a new class of students who want to learn about museums and collections. These partnerships are worth their weight in gold as we cultivate interests in the next generation of museum workers and support emerging professionals. It's a privilege to be a part of it. 

Tribute to Kathleen MacLeod

Sometimes there is a remarkable individual who plays such a pivotal role in a museum, that the organization is forever changed by their loss. Kathleen MacLeod is one such individual. Her commitment and dedication to the North Highlands Community Museum were second-to-none. Throughout her years of involvement she documented the collections - the extensive archives and thousands of objects, but knew that this work was never done and always strove for improvements. She got excited about special projects and supports for the museum that would facilitate research, digitization, and access to collections. Any time she was asked if the museum would like to participate in such a project, she would respond with a resounding yes. She was always quick to express her appreciation and thanks, and never sought praise or the limelight for all that she did. I think this is why Kathleen holds such a soft spot in my heart. She reminded me of my mother - tirelessly volunteering but never interested in the attention that could come with holding such an integral spot in an organization. 

But Kathleen's service extended beyond the museum. She was a fervent advocate for museums, wrote her fair share of letters advocating for funding increases, and served as Cape Breton rep on the Advisory Service Working Group. She was a wonderful addition to this group, and as with everything, was 100% commited to the job. Unless she was visiting her grandchildren out west, she would join meetings virtually. We definitely heard a few stories about those visits, which she treasured greatly. She loved her museum colleagues and was always so quick to smile and laugh with us, but her family came first.

Even after she started to have some health struggles, Kathleen found it hard to step away. She would reach out after reading the latest blog post, expressing her support or regretting that she couldn't attend a workshop or meeting. Our last visit included a rich conversation about storytelling and perspectives being shared in the museum, and how museums can better serve communities. She was excited to get museum resources into schools, to give space for stories not currently being told, and to build new relationships with communities. She was always so open and eager to learn, and always so excited about next steps. 

As I looked through our photos of site visits and workshops and conferences, trying to find a good one to share in this post, Sandi and I recalled how reluctant Kathleen was to have her photo taken. She would instead encourage us to take photos of summer students or managers. She always proudly talked about them, about the things they learned, the suggestions they gave, and the way they made the museum better. She especially loved seeing students learn how to make items in the blacksmith shop, which were then sold in the gift shop. She would lovingly pick up each item and declare, "look at what [insert name here] made - isn't this amazing". The students would beam with pride. What an amazing person for them to have as their support all summer long. 

Back to the question of the photo, it seems incredibly appropriate to share the group photo from when NovaMuse won a CMA award. This is how Kathleen worked. She may have been a lynchpin...she may be the one holding the award in the picture...but she always celebrated being part of a team. 

Rest easy Kathleen. You've left a lasting legacy and will be greatly missed.

~Karin

You can read Kathleen's obituary here.

Tribute to Peter Cullen

Peter speaking on behalf of ANSM at the 
Interpretation Canada Conference, October 2022

Tuesday morning I was working on a project which required me to refer back to some emails from ANSM board members. Little did I know that later that night, I would a receive the very sad news about the passing of Peter Cullen. Words from one his emails quickly came back to me and have been the voice in my head this week... "All the best. Pete." This fits Pete perfectly. 

Peter joined the Nova Scotia Museum family only four years ago and in that time made important connections with many of us. Executive Director of Ross Farm Museum, ANSM Board Secretary, advocate for museums including the Southwest Nova Scotia Curator's Group and the M8 group. Pete was quick to show up when needed, do what needed to be done, support and raise up others, and provide many much needed laughs. At ANSM we will forever be thankful for Peter's work on the board, including providing guidance on developing the TRACK program, learning with us at of the Unlocking Community Museum Collections sessions, and helping lead ANSM's advocacy efforts with the provincial government. 

In the last day many of you have shared with me your memories of Pete - over and over I heard you describe Peter as nice, professional, creative, passionate, wise, down to earth, a community builder, and most often, as a friend. He was also described as the man not of many hats, but of many pockets, referring to his fishing vest he proudly wore (including during virtual meetings). ANSM has opened comments on this blog as a space for the ANSM community. We hope you will share your memories, stories, and condolences. ANSM will ensure this message board is sent to Peter's family.

In memory of Pete, the ANSM Board has voted to rename our conference bursary the "Dr. Peter Cullen Memorial Bursary." This bursary, which ran for the first time last fall, supports ANSM members attending our annual conference or symposium. More details will be released in the coming weeks as we prepare for the conference this October. We know the conference's theme "Museum Care: Self Care, Team Care, Community Care" will provide us many opportunities to remember Pete's legacy.

As we remember Peter, I hope we also remember those works, "all the best." Peter may inspire us all to give our best to our work. More importantly though, may we give all our best to ourselves. May we give all our best to our family. May we give all our best to our friends. May we give all our best to our colleagues. May we give all the best to our community. 

From ANSM our deepest condolences to Peter's family, friends, and colleagues. He will be missed and remembered.

Maggie

Peter helping present Queen Elizabeth II's
Platinum Jubilee Medals
with Maggie on behalf of ANSM to
Carol Nauss and Ethel Feener.
December 2022. 

Webinar Review: Exhibiting Photographs

A selection of photographs on NovaMuse

Hi everyone! My name is Jacob, and I am ANSM’s spring intern for 2023. Today, I’ll be bringing you a
review of a recent webinar held by Connecting to Collections, called ExhibitingPhotographs . It was presented by Emily Phoenix, the Head Preparator at the George Eastman Museum in Rochester, New York.

This webinar focused on the particulars of properly and safely exhibiting photographs of various kinds (photos, negatives, daguerreotypes, etc.…). To get a better sense of the factors involved in displaying photos, the webinar was divided into a few distinct parts: Matting and Framing, Mounts, Installation, Lighting, the Use of Reproductions and Maintenance. For each of these subjects, there were practices that were recommended and ones that it was suggested curators avoid as well. Finally, Connection to Collections also provided follow-up resources for anyone wanting to advance their knowledge beyond what the webinar provided.

Matting and Framing

Properly framing your photos is the beginning to any photography display. The webinar facilitator noted that one of the most important things to remember is that any materials used in backing and framing should be of the highest quality possible, specifically archival quality. This includes the frames themselves, as well as the backings and mats within the frames. If photo corners are used, it is also recommended that they are made of archival paper as opposed to polycarbonate, as these are not always reliable.

Mounts

Understanding how to mount your frames and other photographic artifacts is key to safely running a photograph exhibit. A variety of unusual techniques were shown, including the use of pins and magnets, specifically for artifacts that want to be shown in their entirety, such as tin prints. Magnets can also be used to mount larger pieces that you are unable to frame properly. The float mounting technique was discussed, where the corners of the mat are folded to make the picture look as though it is floating on the backing. For large, contemporary pieces, partipants were encouraged to consider dry mounting, a process which uses a sheet of polycarbonate to hold down larger pieces and keep them flat and held in place. However, this process can be costly and is very difficult to reverse, so keep that in mind.

Installation

The next part of the webinar discussed considerations for when you are preparing to install your exhibit. First off, make sure you are using the right kind of gloves for what you need. If you are handling photos directly, it is advised that you use nitrile gloves, as they provide the most stable grip on the artifacts. If working with frames, however, it is suggested that you use nitrile-palmed fabric gloves, as they are sturdier than nitrile while still providing a decent grip.

Another point to consider is the hardware used in hanging and securing your frames. The most seen hardware includes cleats, d-rings and hooks. Specifically, it is recommended that if you have eyelet screws in your pieces, that they be replaced with d-rings for improved stability. It is also important to ensure you secure your displays, whether that is with t-screws or wires. This will ensure that visitors do not damage the often delicate photos in your exhibit.

Lighting

As with most displays, ensuring the safest levels of light is extremely important to ensure there is no additional degradation. The facilitator suggested that photos can be much more difficult to deal with, for two reasons. One, many types of photos are very sensitive to light levels, and thus need to avoid direct light. However, the second issue is that some types of photos, such as daguerreotypes and other prints, require direct light to be properly seen. In these cases, the best recommendation is to use switches and timers to limit the amount of light these photos are exposed to over a short period of time.

Use of Reproductions

Reproductions of photographs are something that can be used in lieu of the original artifact if needed. Here, the facilitator suggested that you should not use reproductions if it is not necessary because using them can cause unexpected issues. One of the most significant is the potential for copyright issues to arise, especially if artists are still alive. However, reproductions can also be used as décor in non-gallery spaces, as well as for poorly monitored spaces where there is a concern that guest might touch the items. Thus, curators should consider carefully before they use reproductions in their gallery or exhibit space. This is not an opinion that is shared or accepted across the museum field, but provides some good points to ponder. 

Maintenance

The webinar wrapped up with a conversation about maintenance. As with any displays, careful maintenance is key to keeping them in good shape throughout their entire life cycle. This includes regular and thorough cleaning of any surfaces, as well as any frames and tools. However, maintenance also includes monitoring the temperature and humidity of the displays, to ensure they do not get too high or low and potentially cause damage to the artifacts. As well, monitoring the area around your exhibit will ensure that you notice any damages such as leaks that may cause harm your exhibit before they grow too big. Finally, monitor your adhesives and other mounts to make sure they are not damaged in any way that may cause a major disaster or emergency in your exhibit.

In conclusion, this was an excellent and useful webinar! It was very thorough and gave excellent and valuable information for any curator that is hoping to use photographs in a future exhibit. I would highly encourage anyone who is interested to watch the recording on Connection to Collections’ website, to get more detail on specific topics than I can put in this review. Anyone interested can also get access to a variety of resources there related to exhibiting photography, including a variety of links leading to books and sites with additional information.