Osoyoos Museum curator Gayle Cornish (left) is presented flowers by British Columbia Museums Association President Brenda Weatherston on Oct. 16 in recognition of Cornish's efforts to help organize the association's annual workshopping conference in Osoyoos. The gathering, which was held from October 15 to 17, drew in more than 140 attendees from across the province. Photo by Paul Everest - Click on picture for larger image
OSOYOOS TIMES-October 21, 2009
By Paul Everest – Osoyoos Times
Perseverance seemed to be the unofficial theme for the British Columbia Museums Association 2009 Provincial Workshop in Osoyoos last week.
More than 140 representatives of museums, historical organizations and cultural centres from as far away as Victoria, Prince George and MacKenzie came to town from October 15 to 17 to, as the conference’s logo states, “ReThink, ReTool, ReWork!”
Dozens of seminars at the Sonora Centre were open to the attendees on topics ranging from Engaging Aboriginal Communities to Kitchen Conservation Techniques to fundraising methods.
And when not in a workshop, attendees were treated to tours of local attractions such as Spotted Lake and the Nk’Mip Desert Cultural Centre.
Throughout the three-day gathering, the issue of difficult financial cuts to the arts and cultural sector at the hands of the provincial government came up again and again but association members and the speakers who addressed them focused on staying positive for the future.
Osoyoos Indian Band Chief Clarence Louie, who spoke to the gathering at a luncheon on Oct. 15, said no one expects museums and cultural centres to make money, but such facilities should be present in every community around the world.
He said finding the money to keep such facilities afloat during difficult economic times is a “leadership responsibility” that falls to governments and corporations so that knowledge and history can be provided to future generations.
Association President Brenda Weatherston, in her president’s report, called on association members to step up and find ways to help museums and cultural centres around the province “survive the storm.”
“We need to collectively mobilize our limited resources now,” she said in the report. “We will need from you the best cases, arguments, stories, data and statistics that you have, and we will need not just your voice but those of your supporters.”
Gayle Cornish, curator of the Osoyoos Museum, worked with 35 volunteers as well as several local sponsors to get things ready here for the conference.
She said many of the gathering’s attendees, including herself, agreed to participate in a letter- writing campaign to the province to express concerns about funding cuts to cultural and arts programs.
Here, such cuts have meant the museum won’t be able to carry out educational programs for local schools as Cornish would have needed to hire someone to run the programs.
In the end, when the last workshop was completed, when all the merit and service awards were handed out and when the association’s annual general meeting ended, Cornish said she was approached by many of the delegates who said they loved the town and were appreciative of the efforts made to make the conference a success.
“I’m so proud and so pleased with how the Town of Osoyoos and the people of Osoyoos pitched in and helped us,” she said.
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