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The Canadian Federation of Friends of Museums was founded in 1977 and is proud to be under the viceregal patronage of His Excellency the Right Honourable David Johnston, C.C., C.M.M, C.O.O, C.D, Governor General of Canada.
La Fédération canadienne des amis des musées, fondée en 1977, est fière d'être sous le patronage vice-royal de Son Excellence le très Honorable David Johnston, CC, CMM, COO, CD, Gouverneur général du Canada.
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Spotlight on Canadian Regional Museums!
Langley Centennial Museum
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by Jeff Chenatte
Acting Cultural Services Manager
Township of Langley | Recreation, Culture, and Parks
Langley Centennial Museum
The Langley Centennial Museum, located in the historic village of Fort Langley, the birthplace of British Columbia, is owned and operated by the Township of Langley. The museum opened in 1958 and has grown and diversified along with the community that it serves.
The services that the Langley Centennial Museum provides clearly belie its size. Despite its small footprint, the museum consistently overachieves in terms of the numbers served and programs offered. The museum delivers more than 400 education programs annually, from its catalogue of over 50 different school offerings. It also provides hundreds of public arts and cultural programs and hosts a wide variety of special events and community outreach programs. The museum possesses both a permanent history gallery and temporary exhibition space which hosts four temporary exhibitions annually. Over the years, the museum has explored themes in science, history and fine art, as well as offering professional exhibition space to emerging artists, students and community groups. With such a broad range of services, the museum is able to meet the ever-changing needs of a growing community and strives to be relevant and responsive to those that it serves.
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The cornerstone of the museum is its amazing volunteer team which supports all facets of the organizations’ operations, from office and curatorial duties to special events and public programs. However, it is the Volunteer Docent team which has long been the foundation upon which all other successes have been built. This team, formed in 1974, is comprised of some 50 members who have amassed a staggering 500 years of collective service to the museum. It has been formally recognized by the BC Museums Association (BCMA) and received Honourable Mention from both the CMA and the CFFM for its outstanding work. This group delivers approximately 140 education programs annually with five distinct themes ranging from First Nations Art to science and colonial heritage. This amazing self-reliant group also organizes its own social events and field trips, which invariably involve some charitable component. This year the group helped raise $1200.00 for the Empty Stocking fund over the Christmas season. Such accomplishments are highly regarded in the Langley community and serve to recruit new members as long-time volunteers join the ranks of the Emeritus. Thus, the size of team has remained relatively unchanged which enables the group to continue serving the community as it approaches 50 years of existence.
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The Langley Centennial Museum is a success story that is attributable to the longstanding commitment and dedication of its volunteers over the past five decades. There is no secret to this type of success. Administrators need only to: (a) recognize the value of their volunteers and what they mean to the organization; (b) develop meaningful roles and diverse avenues of contribution; (c) provide training and professional development opportunities; (d) and always include occasions for social interaction and appreciation.
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This is a clear and deliberate volunteer strategy that is a vital component to the success of any contemporary cultural heritage institution. This has been the path that the Langley Centennial Museum has pursued and we as an organization have reaped the rewards of this amazing volunteer team, as have the tens of thousands they have served over the years.
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The Changing Face of the Volunteer Guide
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by Carlotta Stoker Di Fiore
President, Volunteer Guides Association 2016-17, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts
In 1961, Dr. Evan Turner, then director of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA) outlined the hallmarks of a successful guided tour: “Speak clearly, smile, make yourself pleasant, and be sure of your facts.” Such was the premise to 16 ladies, which would henceforth reinforce volunteer guiding. It didn’t take long for this to be successful. One year later, and doubled in size, the Guides were also giving conferences and slide presentations to schools in the Montreal area. The Association of Volunteer Guides (AVG) came into being in 1965 and began offering guided tours of temporary exhibitions and the Museum’s permanent collections to visitors.
By 1986, the number of Guides increased significantly to 124. We are now 185 strong, plus a membership of over 80 associate Guides. With a fifth pavilion that opened in November 2016, the MMFA now has a total area of 53,095 square meters making it one of the largest museums in North America to feature a truly encyclopedic collection that started when it was founded in 1860.
A long history of over 50 years of very dedicated Guides, women and men have inspired several generations of Montrealers and of tourists to visit our ever-evolving museum throughout the years. We work very closely with the Education and Community Department to develop Sharing the Museum programs, this experience is available to community organizations, working with people who would not otherwise be able to visit the museum. Our Guides share the museum with those dealing with physical and mental health challenges including reintegration to society, body image, stuttering, suicide as well as the visually impaired.
The Museum’s Education and Community Programmes Department (ECPD) provide ongoing training sessions for Guides on Mondays from September to May each year. It also organizes lectures on various topics pertaining to forthcoming exhibitions to help Guides perfect their skills. The AVG also coordinates exclusive lectures, social gatherings, tours of private collections and cultural trips for its members.
The AVG Guides share their immense knowledge and passion – be it visual, audio, tactile – with a diverse population of visitors year-round. To top it off, we also guide in languages other than French and English such as Hebrew, Russian, Polish among others. Come and join us, we would love to show you around!
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A two-part feature on Philanthropy in the Museum Sector
by Violette Loget, M.A. museologie and Roland-Arpin prize winner
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Attirer et fidéliser une nouvelle génération de philanthropes
par Violette Loget
M.A muséologie
Lauréate du Prix Roland-Arpin de la Societe des Musees Quebecois, 2016
À Montréal, depuis 2011, quatre musées (Musée des beaux-arts, Musée McCord, Musée d’art contemporain, Musée Pointe-à-Callière) ont instauré des cercles de jeunes philanthropes. Reposant sur un modèle participatif et collectif de don, les cercles permettent aux membres d’un groupe de pairs (ici les milléniaux, nés entre 1976 et 1990) de mutualiser leurs dons en temps et en argent en vue de soutenir collectivement le musée.
Jouant sur le sentiment d’exclusivité, l’adhésion annuelle (250$ à 295$) permet d’accéder à des événements privés et de s’investir auprès de comités organisateurs. La stratégie des fondations muséales s’inspire des méthodes employées par les universités avec leurs alumni. Elles misent sur des activités mêlant culture, réseautage et divertissement ainsi que des événements bénéfices (soirées 5 à 7, vernissages, conférences, visites d’exposition ou de collection, bals) pour créer des liens solides avec les donateurs, bénévoles et porte-paroles de demain. Les musées espèrent que les faibles contributions du début ancreront une habitude de dons, dont l’envergure devrait augmenter à mesure que les carrières se construisent.
Le marché des cercles de jeunes philanthropes est concurrentiel, et les quatre musées montréalais développent le même type d’activités, principalement événementielles. Bien qu’il permette d’attirer un grand nombre de jeunes, le concept de soirées branchées risque de s’essouffler. Or, les fondations endossent la responsabilité de sensibiliser les générations émergentes à la philanthropie culturelle. Il est important qu’elles ne perdent pas de vue l’essence de leur mission, soit la protection financière de leur musée d’attache. Pour concrétiser l’engagement philanthropique à long terme, il faut nourrir une triple approche de la philanthropie : marketing, créative et pédagogique. L’éveil à la responsabilité sociale doit s’accompagner d’une sensibilisation à l’importance du musée pour la collectivité et le donateur, d’une conscientisation aux besoins des acteurs et des utilisateurs du lieu et du développement d’une passion pour le domaine de spécialisation de l’institution.
For English
Violette Loget
Membre de la génération des milléniaux, Violette Loget (M.A muséologie, Université de Montréal) est lauréate du prix Roland-Arpin 2016 qui récompense l’excellence de la recherche de la relève en muséologie au Québec pour sa recherche sur le renouveau philanthropique dans les institutions muséales montréalaises.
Le prix Roland-Arpin a été créé en 2001 pour souligner l'excellence au plan académique d'une étudiante ou d'un étudiant finissant à la maîtrise en muséologie. Il est remis conjointement par les partenaires suivants : le Programme conjoint de maîtrise en muséologie de l'Université du Québec à Montréal et de l'Université de Montréal, le Diplôme de deuxième cycle en muséologie de l'Université Laval et la Société des musées québécois.
Pour contacter l’auteure : violette.loget@gmail.com
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In 1972, two dedicated museum volunteers from the Art Gallery of Ontario attended a congress in Barcelona that was composed of 150 representatives from 24 societies of Friends of Museums worldwide. Three years later, the World Federation of Friends of Museums (WFFM) came into being. Not long after, in 1977, one of those dedicated museum volunteers, Diana Goad, became the first President of the nascent Canadian Federation of Friends of Museum. Forty years later, CFFM is celebrating its 40th Anniversary!! This milestone is an important one as we continue to move ahead in representing the many thousands of museum volunteers and friends across Canada.
With the Governor General of Canada as our Patron, and in association with the CMA, the CFFM is delighted to be working with Rideau Hall to implement the awarding of the Sovereign’s Medal for Volunteerism. We are also expanding our membership with an Ambassadors Committee for members who will represent Canada at the World Federation of Friends of Museum. The next WFFM Congress will take place in Verona and Mantua, Italy in May 2017. All members of CFFM are eligible to attend and those interested are invited to consult the WFFM website for more details: http://museumsfriends.com
We are currently actively seeking young people to create a Youth Wing. In addition, our close relationship with the Canadian Museums Association will see the CFFM present at its Annual Conference in Ottawa for the presentation of the Museum Volunteer Award. The CFFM has also prepared a Brief to be presented to the House of Commons Committee for Heritage.
Finally, thanks to the energetic and enthusiastic work of our Editorial Committee, Au Courant, our newsletter is being viewed and appreciated by more and more volunteers. We provide a unique platform to put a Spotlight on Canada's many amazing regional museums. All such submissions are welcome! For a small and compact team - the CFFM charges on and appreciates all the encouragement received from Canadian museum volunteer community!
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When you become a member of CFFM, you are joining an established and well-respected organization that has been supporting and celebrating volunteers in museums and heritage sites throughout Canada since 1977.
Give greater volume to the voice of Canadian museum volunteers through your memberships and donations !
En devenant membre de FCAM, vous vous joigniez a une organisation dévoué a donnez une plus grande voix au rôle essentiel des bénévoles du milieu muséal canadien ainsi qu'autour du monde, et ce depuis 1977.
Chaque adhésion et don nous permet d' ajouter du volume à la voix de amis bénévoles des musées canadiens.
Did you know Au Courant provides a unique platform for sharing the story of Canada's many less-known regional museum's and their volunteers from the Yukon to Newfoundland ? Saviez-vous qu'Au Courant est une plateforme unique de partage de l'histoire des nombreux musées canadiens moins connus du Yukon à Terre-Neuve?
We welcome submissions on any of Canada's regional museums and their volunteers. Nous acceuillons toute soumission sur les musees regionaux canadiens et leurs benevoles. Courriel & email : cffm-fcam.ca
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