When we underwent the development of our new Mission statement I was nervous because I wasn’t sure what the new approach to THIS museum would look like.  We were hoping for less stuffy, more fun and engagement from a more diverse Lennox and Addington. We wanted folks off all ages, backgrounds, beliefs, and economies to enjoy what we do here and that meant doing things away from our typical scope of traditional lectures and author reads, school visits, and heritage workshops.  Over the past 2 years, I have been proud of the museum team’s creativity to include programs and exhibits for peoples of different backgrounds, as seen in our March Around The World during March of 2023. We enjoyed visits to China, Portugal, Indonesia, India, Afghanistan, Turkey, Syria, Israel all the while staying in the walls of the museum. We brought in Refuge Canada and were made aware of the plight of immigration today- from this we created an oral history project that captured refugee and immigration stories of our local newcomers.  What was lost while we went about making sure our 1830’s history was present, was the fact that history is made every day.  The histories of people new to L&A was not represented nor did it seem important. However from this experience, museum staff realized – EVERYONE who contributes to Lennox and Addington adds to its historical record in some way.   

With this very thought – we started to look at the museum collection itself – what did it say and was the story correct?  We have started to work with Indigenous communities to foster compassion and understanding of what has happened in the colonization of their world and what we need to do moving forward to reconcile and create space for their voices, culture, and history as they see it.   

Museums are not just dusty, stuffy places. Museums are dynamic – they tell stories, they inspire, we spark thoughts, we connect people together. But we are also a place of community that has nothing to do with our history but as everything to do with our present – we wanted to make sure we are relevant and that the community continues to find need with us. That was a big concern.  Are we needed? Why do we matter? How can we make space for the untraditional museum visitor. Well…we do this by making room at the table so to speak; we create programs and exhibits that are maybe are a little strange to people who like a traditional visit. We bring in old-time carnivals by the river to capture the imagination, we make Turkish lamps taught by someone from Turkey, we dance Zumba and hold yoga poses, we gather like-minded people for genealogy support, we make our space inclusive for those who maybe like a quiet visit  and we bring in guest speakers to talk about mental health. We play loud music for those who love a little loud music, we create drama at our historic house for those who love a good play, and we make space for our youth so they can speak about how they feel when they can’t express themselves…..maybe this is sitting on the rug during a children’s book reading and telling the author in a safe space – “I am not always understood but I know I am smart” or maybe you are a teen that creates fun reels for our followers to enjoy.  ALL of this together make for a very new museum experience and it is heartening to see the community coming back to visit over and over and over again…..clearly this is the museum they want too.

Just before we started working on our strategic plan (mission, vision, values etc.) I was hired as the museum’s Programs and Exhibitions Co-ordinator. When I think back to when I was first hired, I can see many changes in how I do my job. The first big change I can see was how I organized organizing various events. One of my biggest challenges at first was trying to keep all the information organized from various artists. When are they arriving? Have I asked them for marketing photos? What set-up do they need? All this information was initially just stored in sometimes more than a dozen emails per artist. I began making a standardized general info sheet for every single event with all the relevant details that needed to be shared with various other staff simply and efficiently in a single place. The other element that has increased organization has been implementing an event agreement with artists and presenters. By having artists fill out a single document with all the basic information required that both the artists and I can refer to, this has ensured clear communication and has set basic expectations. The other areas I’ve noticed changes in the last two years has been in my own confidence when delivering programs. While there is never an end to learning, I think that I have developed significantly more confidence, especially when running my own programs and speaking with crowds of people.  I’ve also been learning to relax a little when it comes to booking programs; I can’t force an artist/presenter to email me back, but as long as I get an early start there isn’t much point in getting lost in unproductive worry. Overall, I feel like a have grown in my role, especially under the guidance of our strategic plan.