Annual reportRed Deer & District Museum Society

1911 Ross Street, P328, Red Deer & District Archives

1911 Ross Street, P328, Red Deer & District Archives

Contents:

3 Message from the E.D. & President

4 It was a Remarkable Year!

5 Members, Donors & Funders

6 Hats Off to our Volunteers!

7 Exhibiti on Highlights

8 Collecti on Highlights

9 Program Highlights

10 Event Highlights

11 Looking Forward (2014 Strategic Plan)

OUR VISION:The MAG inspires passion for history and art in our community.

OUR MISSION:To represent the history, culture and art of Central Alberta for our community and the rest of the world.

How exciting it is to achieve a long-term goal and explore all of the wonderful possibilities it opens!

In 2013, the MAG staff, assisted by Reich + Petch Design International and Expographiq, completed our new permanent exhibition about Red Deer’s history. Remarkable Red Deer: Stories from the Heart of the Parkland engages visitors in learning about Red Deer’s unique beginnings, and it introduces some of the remarkable people who have built our community.

We are very grateful to the City of Red Deer and the many corporations and individuals who came together to sponsor the project. We are also grateful to all of the individuals who generously gave their time to tell their stories and review text and videos to make sure that it was correct. Remarkable Red Deer is now our cornerstone for presenting activities and events that will encourage members of our community to become passionate explorers of history.

The MAG’s mandate as a public art gallery is to research and showcase the art of Central Alberta artists. In 2013 we invited painter and teacher David More to curate a personal history of art in Red Deer. The result was Refl ections from a Century, an eclectic and fascinating survey of artists who have pursued their creative practice right here in Red Deer.

James Agrell-Smith: A Broader Picture, curated by Mary-Beth LaViolette, was the fi rst retrospective of a Red Deer artist who had achieved national recognition for his excellent wood engravings. Mary-Beth revealed a previously unknown dimension of Agrell-Smith’s artistic practice. The exhibition has since been shown at Lougheed House in Calgary.

The MAG helped Red Deer launch its Centennial Homecoming Weekend with Rock & Roll Reunion at the Rink, a celebration of some of the popular local bands from the 1970’s. The dinner and dance was a smash success – attracting over 1,000 guests who danced the night away and re-connected with old friends. Many thanks to ‘boys in the band’ who inspired us all to make it happen!

I would like to express my deep gratitude to the MAG’s Board, volunteers and staff for their dedication, commitment and hard work in a very busy year. We now have an excellent foundation for engaging all members of our community in adventures that will bring them closer to our community’s art and heritage.

The Board of Directors is proud of the MAG’s contribution to the success of Red Deer’s centennial year. We offi cially opened the Remarkable Red Deer: Stories from the Heart of the Parkland permanent history exhibition on March 25, 2013, the hundredth anniversary of Red Deer’s incorporation. With a selection of key artifacts, multi-media technology, and interactive spaces, the new exhibition tells the story of our city and surrounding area in a fresh and engaging way. It honours the First Nations people of this area, the early European settlers, and others who have built our community since, including the many recent newcomers. In this way, Remarkable Red Deer refl ects us well: a rapidly growing city, proud of its heritage, and committed to weaving its past into the fabric of its present and future.

Dedicating a large amount of gallery space to addressing the priority need for a permanent history exhibition reduces the space available for other art and history feature exhibitions and events. MAG staff worked creatively in 2013 to maximize the remaining gallery space and to incorporate programming within the Remarkable Red Deer exhibit itself. Highlights included James Agrell Smith, Expedition Arctic, and Refl ections of a Century: Artists of Central Alberta.

Further developing our community engagement and addressing our collection storage challenges are important priorities to ensure that the MAG remains a vital institution that can continue to enrich our community and telling its story for the next century and beyond.

We greatly appreciate the hard work of our staff, the encouragement and dedication of our members and volunteers, and the generous fi nancial support from the City of Red Deer and the numerous donors who have supported Remarkable Red Deer so generously.

Sincerely,

Torben Andersen

President

Lorna Johnson, Executive Director

message from the presidenT

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to the MAG

Hats off

to our

volunteers!

Red Deer & District Museum Society – Board of Directors

Torben Andersen, PresidentSheila Bannerman, 1st Vice PresidentMarguerite Watson, 2nd Vice President; Chair, Waskasoo Museum FoundationRon Crossley, Treasurer (January through August)Chad Neilsen, Treasurer (as of September 2013)Partitosh Ghosh, Secretary

Directors

Brett SpeightJeremy MooreFamida Martin (January through August)Paul Harris City Council Representative (outgoing October)Frank Wong City Council Representative (incoming November)

The MAG is very grateful to community members that volunteer their time to help the Red Deer Museum + Art Gallery with our many activities and special events. From helping to install art works, to serving cake and refreshments, we appreciate the hours you devote in support of the MAG.

Connie Barnaby Katherine Colby-HallmanVivian Delude Lois DobbsAlysa DuMontier Jasper LewisJan Sirrs Michael VillasanaCassandra Wesbrod Vivian WillilamsonSheila Wright Courtney Ziegler

Administration

Lorna Johnson, Executive DirectorChrist Fletch, Finance & Grants CoordinatorKarin Richardson-MacKenzie, Assistant ED; Marketing & Fund DevelopmentKarli Kendall, Executive AssistantSharon L’Hirondelle, Administrative Assistant

Visitor Services

Rosie Townsend Kimi JannLeah Jackson Kate MacleanMike VillasanaRichard Cloutier, IT & Building CoordinatorCandace Ross, Custodian

Collections & Exhibits

Valerie Miller, Collections CoordinatorMichael Dawe, Curator of HistoryKim Verrier, Exhibitions and Registration CoordinatorMelanie Berndt, PreparatorPeter Allen, Educator & Gallery AttendantGrant Woodcock, Educator & Gallery Attendant

Programs

Rod Trentham, Educational Programs CoordinatorCarol Davies, EducatorJanet Cole, MagSparks CoordinatorTanya Zuzak-Collard, Magnifi cent Saturdays CoordinatorMalorie Montpetit, Young Canada Works Summer Student

Artists

Erin Boake Dawn CandyCarlene La Rue Maria PorsKaleb Romano Shannon Woolgar

275 volunteers devoted

1700 hours

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Red Deer & District Museum Society Members are an integral part of realizing the MAG’s vision. In 2013, Society members committed to our fund-raising efforts and helped us to realize the monies necessary to complete Remarkable Red Deer. We are very grateful for their contributions to the project.

Family Members tell us how that the MAG is a special place, one that offers a variety of unique hands-on experiences. They follow us on Social Media and tell their friends about our special activities and programs every week.

2013 CAPITAL CAMPAIGN DONORS

Inspire Level (Over $50,000)Government of Alberta – CFEP Grant

Lead Level ($10,000 - $24,999)Alberta Museums Association BMO – Bank of Montreal

Build Level ($2,500 to $4,999)Red Deer Kiwanis Club Red Deer Twilight Homes Foundation Swainson Family & Southside Dodge Chrysler

Create Level ($1,000 to $2,499)Richard & Marian Cloutier Iron Horse Drilling Services

Believe Level ($500 to $999)George & Katherine Goruk Don & Joan Hepburn Justice J. K. Holmes Karli Kendall Karin Richardson & John MacKenzie Doris A. Vallée

The Centennial Club fund-raising initiative set a goal of 100 distinguished donors of $2,013Red Deer Chinese Community Society Colleen Graham & Donald Graham & Family Anne Marie, Elizabeth Jane & Michael Watson Families Edward L. & Joan Gaetz Lorna Johnson Irene Wardill/Cole Family Mr. Kenneth Morton Lawrie Knight-Steinbach Barbara Swinton Rotary Club of Red Deer

Making History Club (Up to $500)

Diane Cingel Sheldon Code Red Deer Shrine Club Carol Turk

Our long-standing ‘life time’ members have been strong supporters over the years. They faithfully attend exhibition openings and special events. Many generously donated to the Remarkable Red Deer fund-raising campaign.

Ladies of the Royal Purple donate to the MAG

MEMBERS, DONORS & FUNDERS

John & Gayle Olson made the first $2,013 donation to the Centennial Club.

2013 Operating Revenues

City of Red Deer $877,562

Other Grants $221,807

Admission & Programs $28,572

Memberships & Donations $59,627

Other $63,413

Amortization $8,088

2013 Operating Expenses

Administration $402,924

Marketing & Development $113,252

Collections $150,431

Exhibits & Programs $328,575

Building & Technology $239,056

Amortization $8279

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486 supportive mag members

The Red Deer & District Museum Society holds over 60,000 items in the collection. Each item tells a very unique story or demonstrates a particular period in Red Deer’s history.

The new history exhibition, Remarkable Red Deer, positions the MAG as the ‘hub of history’ in our community. The four exhibit themes are the foundation that enables us to bring out objects from the collection to help tell the local and personal stories of the past 100 years. Early stories and recent stories, from the first early entrepreneurs through to the many newcomers in our community, all are part of Red Deer’s diversity heritage.

Two Special DonationsOne of the remarkable sports teams in Red Deer in the 1970s was the Basebelle Angels, coached by Murray McLeod, a supervisor of athletics with the City’s Recreation Department and volunteer coach. In 1972 and 1973, the Angels won the provincial softball championships, and went on to represent Alberta at the Canada Summer Games in British Columbia. The uniform is now displayed in the ‘community case’ in the Club Café section in the exhibition.

In the fall of 2013, a special package was delivered to the MAG. Inside were several objects of an early Red Deer family, the S. Miller family. Virginia Bordwell, a distance relative from Iowa, felt it important to return personal family items back to Red Deer and the Red Deer Museum.

Kendal Miller was born September 13, 1897. Like many of his generation during the First World War, he lied about his age and enlisted on May 3, 2916 in Red Deer. Sadly, Kendal was killed in action on June 25, 1917.

The items returned in the package included photographs and personal items belonging to Kendal, as well as the Memorial Cross, which was presented to his mother, Mrs. A. Miller, after his death.

Kendal Miller

Former team members L to R: Diane Clark, Juanita Reid, Sue Swainson, Judy Poor, Sherry Jackson donate a team uniform.

COLLECTION highlights

Donors to the CollectionWe want to extend our sincere appreciation to the many community members that came forward to donate objects and archival material in 2013.

Vera Anderson Ada Barg Jenna Baynes Gordon Becker Alfred Blore Virginia Bordwell Lissa & Wayde Braseth Mario Ceccato Allan Charles Michael Dawe Jeanne Depalme Morris Flewwelling Edwin Gaetz Rosemary Gerdts Jan Grant Phil Hallet Walter & Eileen Hanna Sylvia Hayhoe Don Hepburn Joyce Herber Kibermanis Lynda Houseman Sherry Jackson Barbara Jewell Lee Barry Lashman Joe Lowis Grant MacKay Marilyn Mann Jennifer O’Brien Preston Parks Judy Poor Duane Rollheiser Denise Touchette Leo Touchette Gordon & Alexis Skeels Judy Smith Jim Sutherland Sue Swainson Gary Thompson Leo Touchette Tom Tuck Doug Wood Mitchell & Jewell Marguerite & Eugene Watson Red Deer Community Band Society Waskasoo Museum Foundation

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The Memorial Cross medal

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Curated by Mary-Beth Laviolette

Curated by Dave More

Magnifi cent Saturdays

Drop in program for the whole family. An innovative program lead by artists that connects our exhibits with art-making activities.

MagSparks

Community Visual Art Program for adults with developmental disabilities.• Accessible to everyone• Peaceful studio space• Great place to make friends

School Groups & Tours

Reel Movie Mondays

The 2013 Winter and Spring series were co-sponsored by the MAG and the RDC Motion Picture Arts Program. With the opening of the new City Centre Stage, the MAG and a small but enthusiastic group of volunteers presented the Fall series.

Cultural Access Pass

A gift to each Canadian citizen during their fi rst year of citizenship, the Cultural Access Pass provides complimentary admission to more than 1000 of Canada’s cultural treasures from coast-to-coast-to-coast. The MAG is pleased to be a partner so that Canada’s newest citizens can discover our rich cultural history.

Vanessa, a MagSparks participant

The Red Deer Public School Division celebrated 125 years by funding complimentary admission to schools that visited the MAG in 2013.

Rod Trentham facilitating Rob Coumont’s Grade 5 Class from St. Patrick’s Community School

9293 participants took part in

103 mag sparkersgot creative in 2013

1931 avid fans viewed 18 films

2776 students & 673 adults

took part in 172 education programs

1896 family membersenjoyed art-making at50 saturday programs

PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS

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It all started with a donation of rock bank posters. As a teenager, Phil Hallet collected all sorts of concert posters that featured many local bands in the area. Through his efforts, a small but enthusiastic group of musicians met at the MAG every month for over two years to plan this special fund raising event. The result... the biggest live music concert of 2013!

The Rock & Roll Reunion @ the Rink event kicked off Red Deer’s Centennial Homecoming Weekend. Six bands, many with original band members, volunteered their time. Over 1100 people came to listen and dance to music of the 1960s to mid-1970s. The event raised $15,000 for the MAG.

The Drifters

Glenn Chidlow Dick Gehrke Stephen Pavlick Colleen Rudd Kent Cadman Mariya Soetaert

SAM

Harley Hay Richard HarrowRon Mah Paul Robinson

Easy Street

John Carlyle Matt Cocks Richard Hayhoe Mike Hayhoe Richard McCracken

Gaetz Avenue Dance Band

Len Thompson Dave Parfett John Lacey Harley Hay Gary Thompson Allan GarberAl Grondin Mike Gueffroy Kevin OlsonDana Crawford

Bedford Page

Dave Gauthier Lorne HalletGuy Stenberg Ted Hiscock

Six Pak

Jack Westera Theresa Westera Jordan Westera John Westera Stu Krogman John BarthelHarvey Kelt Real Lamontagne Owen Martin Cliff Wheeler Leo Wheeler – 8hrs Wayne Russell – ‘classic car’ display organizerDanny Teed – M.C.William Stobbart – Video Production

Our sincere thanks to the fantastic group of staff and community volunteers that helped make the evening FAR OUT!

Melanie Berndt Kim & Claude BerubeDrena Burns Bill CargillAngela Carlyle Richard & Marian CloutierMarian Cloutier Janet ColeDanah Cumming Josephine deBeaudrapLois Dobbs Kristy DunkleEd Verrier Annette EdmontJennifer Glennie Phil & Lorie HalletEdie Hiebert Bruce JacobsonLorna Johnson Curtis JohnsonTrevor & Sherri Karll Karli KendallJenna & Brian Klippert Stephanie & Peter Lawson Carlene LaRue Gary L’Hirondelle John MacKenzie Jayme Markus Valerie Miller Teresa Neuman Jennifer Poor Karin RichardsonCandy Ross Jan SirrsAmber Stonebridge Ken StotzLawrence Toepher Rosie & Dave TownsendRod Trentham Susan UiterwykTerry Vander Plogg Kim VerrierLee Weselak Brent Wilton

ROCK & ROLL REUNION @

@THE RINK - JUNE 28, 2013

Rock & Rock Event Planning Committee. L to R: Richard Hayhoe, Gary Thompson, Harley Hay, Lorne Hallet, Phil Hallet, Valerie Miller

3666 participants

34 special events held in 2013

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Goal 1: To develop and implement a sustainable strategy for the MAG’s collections which will establish the MAG as a centre of excellence for the history and art of Red Deer and the Central Alberta region. The strategy will guide future planning for research, collections, programs and the facility requirements.

Develop a multi-year plan to determine the appropriate size and scope for the MAG’s collections, including documentation each artefact in the collection.

Secure funding to support the cost of additional staff to record and document the collection, as well as leasing of interim space, fitting it up and materials for packing.

Research • Develop curatorial expertise in the social and art history

of Central Alberta within the broader contexts of Canadian history and art history.

• Identify collections-based research priorities.• Begin to submit data to the Artifacts Canada website.

Collections Development

• Define the aspects of the collection in which we want to be a centre of excellence and establish the research, collecting and de-accessioning plans that will achieve it.

Collections Management

• Ensure that each artefact has a digital record in the museum’s collections database.

• Clear the backlog of accessions data entry.• Undertake a complete collection inventory & assessment.• Develop the collections database into a searchable tool.• Develop plans for an interim solution for collections storage

that will enable us to meet the requirements of Health and Safety for the employees and emergency requirements, and maintain good stewardship of the collection.

Community Involvement

• Work with the City and local community groups to begin a public dialogue about the MAG’s collections and to develop the criteria and milestones for the long term plan for collections.

• Launch a recruitment and training program for volunteers to assist with documentation and data entry for the collection.

Goal 2: Position the MAG as Red Deer’s primary resource for learning about history.

• Encourage general interest and community engagement with our history by using the collections of the MAG and the Red Deer & District Archives for:

• Developing a presenting innovative and engaging public programs that appeal to visitors of all ages

• Research and the presentation of the research in exhibitions – physical and virtual

• Present more collections-based research on our website

• Engaging the community in discussion and learning• Increase access to artefacts in the MAG’s collections

through research, exhibit development (physical and virtual), website and social media content.

• Complete the organizational re-structuring that will facilitate the development and implementation of dynamic, responsive and innovative programming.

Goal 3: Ensure financial sustainability.

• Develop a 5-yr business plan which includes strategies for developing a diversified funding base for core programs.

• Continue to develop fund development plans• Continue to pursue opportunities for grants and other

sources of operational and project funding.• Develop a ‘signature’ event for fundraising purposes.

Goal 4: Enhance the visibility and reputation of the MAG locally, provincially and nationally.

• Increase attendance through effective use of conventional media, website and social media.

• Increase the number and type of inquiries and requests from the public.

• Increase the number of presentations by staff at conferences and meetings of local, provincial and national organizations.

• Increase the number of ‘scholarly’ papers written by staff and published in professional journals.

• Develop a well-rounded marketing plan that emphasizes a range of issues related to the MAG’s strategic direction.

Challenges 1. Funding • There is limited funding available for research and

development of history-based projects.• The AFA’s Public Galleries Grant Program is under review.• In order to complete the digitization and assessment

of the collection, estimates are an additional $1M is required over the next five years.

2. Collections Storage • A thorough inventory must be completed in order

to obtain insurance quotations and storage space requirements.

• We currently do not have sufficient staff resources to complete the accessions backlog, including photographing and documenting the inventory of the collection.

• We will need to acquire additional space in order to the process, as well as store some of the collection so that we can address the safety considerations in the building.

3. Public Programs • Using Remarkable Red Deer exhibit, programs for various age

and interest groups will be developed/tested. It will take time to establish responsive models for program development.

LOOKING FORWARD - 2014 OPERATIONAL PLAN

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"Our house guests have been enjoying the exhibits for 2 hours now. They range in age from 6 to 72. They have said many complimentary things but I think the length of time we have been here (and they are not finished yet!!) says it all. Thanks!"

"The photos are amazing! Loved the video interviews especially. Also the variety of art was delicious!"

"The Club Café was awesome! We had so much fun! Very interactive and a great way of sharing information on Red Deer Citizens."

4525 - 47A AvenueRed Deer, AB T4N 6Z6

Phone: 403.309.8405Fax: 403.342.6644

Email: museum@reddeer.cawww.reddeermuseum.com

fb.com/RedDeerMuseumAndArtGallery @RedDeerMuseum

OUR SINCERE APPRECIATION TO OUR

COMMUNITY PARTNERS, DONORS AND SPONSORS

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