The Cortes Island Museum had their AGM on March 30th.
“We had 52 people come out despite a really nice gardening day. You could see people having conversations and lots of hugs. Nice to see everybody out after the winter. Coffee and treats were available, a nice wide selection of home baked goods. So it’s like the social atmosphere was really positive,” explained Melanie Boyle, Managing Director of the Cortes Island Museum.
“The museum AGM business meeting takes maybe half an hour and then Iris Steigemann gave a really wonderful visual presentation of her travels in Greenland. Donations are up and membership is up, so we’re very pleased about those facts.”
Cortes Currents: How many members do you have now?
Melanie Boyle: “When our fiscal year report came out there were 310, but I know between the time we printed the documents and the meeting agenda we had more than that. So it’s well over 300 this year.”
Cortes Currents: Which is impressive on an island whose adult population was just over 900 in the last census. What about your donations?
Melanie Boyle: “The donations were good and we have to just do our final tallies. With the museum, it’s a donation of time or money. We don’t set a minimum donation and we do find that works really well. Some people contribute their efforts in other ways.”
Cortes Currents: What’s coming up this year?
Melanie Boyle: “We have two new exhibitions coming.”
“Wild Cortes will be having the opening of Humpback Comeback Part 2, which explores the plight of the whales in our waters and the encouraging return of the humpbacks around Cortes. That will open on Earth Day, which is Tuesday, April 22nd. Laurel Bohart and Donna Collins are two curators at Wild Cortes and will be designing that exhibition. The date is to be confirmed, but we’re hoping that Jackie Hilder from the Marine Education and Research Society (MERS) based in Port McNeil will be coming to give a talk about the returning Humpbacks. So please stay tuned for our exhibition over at Wild Cortes.”
“At the museum we are opening on May 4th, an exhibition we call, ‘Won’t You Be My Neighbor,’ which is an expansion of the exhibition we had last year ‘From The Ground Up.’ That exhibition explored the dwellings on Cortes and their histories. This one looks at more of the neighborhoods and cooperative living arrangements or land share on Cortes and the region. We are just mounting it now, but that will take place in the main exhibition space here. It’s curated by Monica Hoffman and I’m lending assistance, as is the exhibition committee.”
“In April we will have a talk called ‘So You want to Be a Naturalist’ by Sabina Leader Mense. Dates to be determined, but that will be in late April. Last year we did a thematic programs partnership collaboration with Folk U and CKTZ. Each month comes with a theme, it’s a tie-in with what’s happening at the museum. We offer, say, a workshop or hands-on learning component, and Folk U Radio runs a similar thematic based program. Those have been really popular and very supportive. So the theme for April will be the Natural World and Environment, which ties in with the exhibition. So that talk, ‘So You Want To Be A Naturalist’ falls under that theme.”
“For May, we’ve got workshops. We’re really focusing on a lot of education at the museum. Wine tasting 101, which is a workshop that we had tried to offer in February, but we had to postpone it due to the icy weather. So that’s scheduled for May 25th. And we will be rolling out some advertising shortly.”
“The theme for June is Gardens because we will be having our Creative Spaces Garden and Studios tour, Saturday, June 28th, 10:00 to 4:00 and that’s the Canada Day long weekend. We’re hoping to get lots of visitors who have never had a chance to explore some of the amazing art studios as well as these beautiful gardens on Cortes. So please stay tuned for that.”
“We’re just gathering our list of people who want to host their gardens or studios. If you have a studio or garden that you’d like to put on the tour, just give us a ring or email us and let us know.”
“We will have an artist and author named Jo-Anne Thompson. She’s a watercolorist, her work has beautiful botanical elements. We’ll be hoping for a book launch as well as a watercolour workshop around then.”
“Also, not to forget our Museum Spring Bird Count is coming up on May 3rd. So that’s always a really big welcoming social event for birders, experienced and novice. So please stay tuned for that as well.
“In August we’ll be having a Wild Cortes Silent Auction.”
“These are just what we have on the books right now, but we also offer a lot of programs that will be listed quite spontaneously on Tideline or our website.
Cortes Currents: Is there anything else you would like to mention?
Melanie Boyle: “We have two postings for jobs this summer. We are currently recruiting two young people to work. One person at Wild Cortes as a curatorial assistant and here at the museum, a host interpreter.”
“These positions are funded by the Canada Summer jobs. The requirement for that is, one must be aged 17 to 30. They are full-time, 30 hours a week at Wild Cortes and 35 hours per week at the museum. We have everything loaded up on the website: with details, wage and the tasks involved.”
“We’ve been really fortunate getting funding, these past few years, and it’s a great opportunity to be part of a good team and to learn many skills that can go onto their career.”
Links of Interest:
- The Cortes Island Museum And Archives (CIMAS)
- Articles about, or mentioning, the Cortes Island Museum
- Articles about or mentioning Iris Steigemann and her artwork
- Articles about, or mentioning, Humpback Whales
- The Marine Education and Research Society (MERS)
- Articles about or mentioning MERS
- From The Ground Up: The story of Cortes Island Dwellings – Cortes Currents
- Folk University: For The People Of Cortes
- Articles about, or mentioning, Sabina Leader Mense
- Articles about, or mentioning, the Creative Spaces Gardens and Studio tours
- Spring Bird Count Results, 2004–2024 (pdf) – Cortes Island Museum and Archives
- Articles about or mentioning the Spring Bird Count
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