Brandon General Museum and Archives requests $80K in annual funding

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This article was published 21/09/2022 (1139 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Brandon General Museum and Archives requested five years of guaranteed funding from city council Tuesday evening, saying the money is needed to continue operations and help steward the organization as it plans to eventually move into the Library/Arts Building.

Museum board chair Brent Chamberlain and administrator Keith Waterfield outlined the museum’s activities from this year before making a request for $80,000 in annual funding.

The council meeting had originally been scheduled for Monday before being delayed a day so the city could recognize the day of mourning in honour of Queen Elizabeth II.

According to Waterfield, the museum has been averaging 40 patrons a month since it reopened to the public in March when COVID-19 restrictions were loosened. There have also been more than 60 tours since then.

Another change for the museum is that it has been opening itself up as a venue for community events once again. Recent examples include a talk on queer history for Brandon Pride week.

According to Waterfield, the museum is still working on re-establishing itself post-COVID. Contributing to that re-establishment has been a notable increase in donated items since COVID restrictions, though Waterfield noted that the museum is running out of storage space.

With Truth and Reconciliation Week coming up at the end of September, Waterfield said the museum is working on expanding its exhibits focusing on local Indigenous history as well as the history of the former residential school site on Grand Valley Road.

That work is being done with the help of the Brandon Urban Aboriginal Peoples’ Council.

To reach new patrons, the museum is looking to expand the walking tours it hosts downtown, add digital and multimedia elements on display, host more in-person events, rotate the items on display every month and create more exhibits per year.

Waterfield also outlined some of the museum’s hopes in respect to the planned renovations to the Library/Arts Building on Rosser Avenue that could incorporate the BGMA to create a cultural hub for the city.

Speaking about the potential of the refreshed building, Chamberlain said he believed the friendlier space with a more centralized entrance would be a draw to downtown.

However, he said the library was hoping for the museum to make a long-term commitment to the space.

To achieve that, Chamberlain requested guaranteed funding for the museum for the next five years, at $80,000 a year.

That’s more than double the current annual funding grant of $40,000, which Chamberlain said barely covers the museum’s annual rent and utility costs of around $38,400, let alone the staff salary at $25,000, plus incidentals.

Coun. Kris Desjarlais (Rosser) praised the presentation, saying it’s the best he’s seen from the museum since he joined city council. He also lauded the BGMA for its interest in contributing to that potential cultural fund.

“This is a real shot in the arm for not just the BGMA and the two other partners, but for the whole downtown,” Chamberlain said of the cultural hub project.

With the school year getting going for 2022-23, Coun. Shaun Cameron (University) asked if there had been an uptick in groups booking tours and if the museum had considered taking exhibits to schools to put on display for students.

The museum representatives signalled that there had already been at least one school tour and expressed interest in bringing exhibits on the road.

All members of council were present for Tuesday’s meeting, plus several community members who are running in next month’s municipal election.

Though Coun. Barry Cullen (Victoria) acknowledged that he had previously been critical of the museum’s finances and low attendance, he credited its board and staff for keeping busy and moving forward despite the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mayor Rick Chrest said this was the earliest in the year he’d ever seen the museum make its funding request, adding it would be helpful as the city moves forward with preparing next year’s budget.

Later in the meeting, Coun. Shawn Berry (Linden Lanes) invited residents to attend the scheduled Brandon Police Board meeting at noon Friday.

He said that after attending a policing conference in Saskatchewan with Brandon Police Service Chief Wayne Balcaen, he wanted to improve the board’s public transparency.

Council also reminded residents that Truth and Reconciliation Week events will be going on at the riverbank next week.

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