New Exhibition: SNOW, Museum Detectives, Family Activity Night, Winter Film Series, Behind-the-scene tours and more.

Last days to check out “Don’t Read This If You Are a Woodpecker”

This exhibition explores the theme of scrapbooks, a unique group of artefacts that continue to foster public fascination. Many scrapbooks held in museum collections read as visual biographies, often containing locks of hair, photographs, newspaper clippings, flowers and letters, all carefully chosen to document meaningful moments in personal or collective histories.

This exhibition will feature local artist Melanie MacDonald’s large based paintings. Melanie’s paintings are re-imagined from a pair of scrapbooks, dating back to the 1930s and 40s that she purchased from a local antique store.

Don’t Read This If You’re A Woodpecker: The Scrapbook Paintings leaves on January 15, 2017, at Niagara Falls History Museum, 5810 Ferry Street, Niagara Falls.

Below is a link to a video about the exhibition an interview of the artist by Cogecotv:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TW3oZfORIxg

New Exhibiton Opening in the New Year:

Snow, the first exhibition of its kind in Canada, portrays the amazing love-hate relationship that the inhabitants of this great land have had with snow since the arrival of the First Peoples in North America. Created by the Canadian Museum of History in partnership with the J. Armand Bombardier Museum, Snow gives visitors a historical and cultural perspective on this element of nature as a source of adaptation, passion, ingenuity and creativity.
With over 400 digital photos and captions contributed by Canadians from across the country, Snow gives visitors a true feel for winter. Snow presents artefacts such as boots made out of sealskin and caribou hide, snowshoes and clothing designed to be warm and waterproof. Eyeglasses made from walrus ivory by Nunavut’s Thule Inuit that date back to around 1300 are among the items on display. Visitors young and old can try on replicas of the glasses and see some of the clever ways in which humans have adapted to snow and cold. Among the exhibition’s interactives are opportunities to try on a snowshoeing outfit, listen to recorded stories and view sketches made by explorers, voyageurs, soldiers and scientists, to learn how Canada’s early settlers endured and adapted to the winter months. It opens to the public on Thursday, January 26^th.

Family Day @ the Museum
February 20
10am - 4pm

Celebrate Family Day @ the Museum for FREE! Sit back and enjoy a performance by JUNO-nominated Mike Ford as he explores Canadian history through song @ 11am, 1pm, 2pm & 3pm, make a craft, complete a scavenger hunt and explore the history of our unique city!

Queen Victoria Fountain

Although it is scarcely noticed by passers-by today, this excellent monument was once very much a part of the south-end scene and presents an interesting chapter in Stamford's history. It was designed as a memorial to the long and beneficent reign of Queen Victoria and provided a constantly running source of water as a drinking fountain for man and beast. To know more about the fountain, click on the link below:

Queen Victoria Fountain

Help Celebrate Canada’s 150 Birthday by lending us a piece of your history

The Museum is gathering 150 objects from the people of Niagara to tell the story of what it is to be Canadian.
Do you have an heirloom that ties you to Canada? What connects you to your Canadian Community? What do you have that makes you think of Canada? What is quintessentially Canadian to you? What do you miss when you are away from Canada?
Your objects and your stories will be on display at the Niagara Falls History Museum from
May – December 2017

BE A PART OF THIS ESSENTIAL EXHIBITION

Contact the Museum to share your object and tell your story.

Cinema Winters Film Series

Our winter offerings in our film series explores just that – winter. A series of films curated by Joan Nicks that complement our exhibition on Snow and provide a variety of films that will amuse, entertain and make you think. Viewings start with an introduction to provide attendees with some context and additional information before you watch the film.
This series runs every other Thursday and starts on January 26^th, the series includes:
FARGO (Joel and Ethan Coen, US/UK, 1996) 98 mins. R
ENCOUNTERS AT THE END OF THE WORLD (Werner Herzog, US, 2007) 99 mins. G
COOL RUNNINGS (Jon Turteltaub, US, 1993) 98 mins. PG
FROZEN RIVER (Courtney Hunt, US, 2008), 97 mins. 14A
McCABE AND MRS MILLER (Robert Altman, US, 1971) 120 mins. R

Free Admission every Thursday night from 5 - 9 p.m. Make us a habit.

Thursday Nights are a great way to stay warm in the winter

The Niagara Falls History Museum is Free every Thursday night (5pm-9pm). Below are the activities on the schedule for this month.

January 5 @ 5 - 9pm
Family Activity: Cookie Cutter Bird Feeders
Make a special treat to keep our feather friends nourished during the winter!

January 12 @ 7pm
Museum Detectives
Explore the role museums play in our society and the “pieces of history” they display. Uncover the stories of a number of artefacts by working through a set of questions and discover the historical information they contain. Suitable for all ages!

January 19 @ 7pm
Behind-the-Scenes Tour
Join one of our museum curators for a behind-the-scenes tour of our collection.

January 26 @ 7pm
Winters Film Series
Fargo movie poster
FARGO (Joel and Ethan Coen, US/UK, 1996) 98 mins.
Rated R Crime drama set in wintery Minnesota. A pregnant police chief investigates the crimes and quirks of her community. Witty and engaging. Starring Wm. H. Macy, Frances McDormand, Steve Buscemi. Oscars: best actress, writing.

The Insiders

Also on Thursday nights, when you visit the Museum, you might run across one of our new crew of volunteers. These individuals have worked with us on coming up with a new perspective on looking at our history. There will be new people out each week, so make it a habit of stopping by.

Educational Programs

The Museum has released the 2016/17 educational program offerings for teachers. There are a few new programs that fit the Ontario Curriculum as well as Museum and Battlefield tours.

We are also excited to be working with Niagara Falls Transit on offering free bus transportation to elementary school children.

2015 Donors

The Niagara Falls Museums would like to thank the following financial donors to the Museum for their support of the work that we do here.

Bank of Montreal
George Dunn
George & Teresa Dyck
Dino Fazio
Friends of Stamford Village
Cindy Milner
Jonathan Milner
Niagara Community Foundation
Patterson Funeral Home
Willoughby Historical Society

Event and Program Sponsors
Oast House Brewery

Donors to the Collection
John Ainslie
Sharon Allen
Cady Berardi
Domenic Caruso
Malerie Dorman
Don Ede
Peggy Erwin
Kathleen Ferro
Marcia Hoag
Linda Killip
Town of Lincoln
Risto Liipere
Brian Merrett
Wilma Morrison
Lt. Col. Bernard Nehring
Crystal Nelson
Peter Richmond
Anthony Roberts
Violet Wright
Sherman Zavitz

Financial Support also provided by
City of Niagara Falls
Government of Canada
Province of Ontario

Project Partners
Niagara Falls Art Gallery
Brock University
Stamford Collegiate
Ontario Genealogical Society-Niagara Branch
Niagara Falls History Museum
The Counsell Family
Bob & Vera Gale
Niagara Historical Society & Museum
Stephen B. Shanfield M.D.
TAG Art Gallery
Ed Werner