BCMA CONFERENCE 2021
BCMA AWARDS FOR OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT NOMINEES
OCTOBER 7, 14, 21, 28 | #BCMA2021
Congratulations to this year’s BCMA Awards for Outstanding Achievement Winners!
Award winners were announced at the BCMA Awards event during BCMA’s annual conference in October 2021. Winners are selected by a panel of adjudicators and receive an owl award and certificate. To learn more about the adjudication process check out our FAQ.
View Merit Awards View Service & Stewardship Awards
Congratulations to this year’s winners!
Read the full press release here!
Award of Merit: Excellence in Social Action: Stó:Lō Aboriginal Skills & Employment Training (SASET)
Award of Merit: Excellence in Community Engagement: The Reach Gallery Museum for SEMÁ:TH XO:TSA: Great-Gramma’s Lake storybook
- Contributors include: Thetáx Chris Silver, Xémontélót Carrielynn Victor, Kris Foulds, and Laura Schneider
Award of Merit: Innovative Practice: University of Victoria and Partner Organizations for Landscapes of Injustice
- Partner organizations include: Canadian Museum of Immigration, Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre, Nikkei National Museum, Royal BC Museum, University of Alberta, University of Winnipeg, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver Japanese Language School and Japanese Hall, National Association of Japanese Canadians, Library and Archives Canada, Ryerson University
Distinguished Service Award: Colleen Palumbo, Formerly of the Golden & District Historical Society
Museum Stewardship Award: Sdahl K’awaas Lucy Bell, Haida Repatriation Committee
People’s Choice Award: The Bateman Foundation for thier Wellness Program
Honourable Mention: Pacific Museum of Earth for resilience and a successful pivot during COVID-19
Honourable Mention: Sncewips Heritage Museum for resilience and excellence in online video content during COVID-19
Honourable Mention: Council of the Haida Nation, Haida Gwaii Museum, and School District 50 for their iPads for Elders Program
Honourable Mention: Museum of Anthropology & Contributing Artists for Playing with Fire: Ceramics of the Extraordinary
- Contributing artists include: Judy Chartrand, Gathie Falk, Ian Johnston, Glenn Lewis, Bill Rennie, Brendan Tang, Ying-Yueh Chuang, Jeremy Hatch, David Lambert, Alwyn O’Brien, Debra Sloan
Learn more about the BCMA Awards Here. Check out last year’s winners Here!
Awards of Merit Categories
Award of Merit – Excellence in Community Engagement
This Award of Merit recognizes a recent outstanding success in community engagement, as demonstrated by ongoing participation of new audiences, new partnerships with community organizations, supporting needs of the community, etc. New audiences and community partners will be measured in respect to the nominated organization’s own capacity, community, and audience history.
Award of Merit – Social Impact
This Award of Merit recognizes the significant contribution of an organization advocating for the advancement of an important social cause such as reconciliation, social justice, inclusiveness, accessibility, sustainable development, climate action, wellness, etc. Initiatives will be measured in respect to the nominated organization’s own capacity and history.
Award of Merit – Innovative Practice
This Award of Merit recognizes a recent outstanding innovative and/or creative achievement in any and all aspects of an organization’s practice. At the heart of our communities are people who actively push boundaries, challenge conventions, and exemplify innovative ways of thinking, seeing, and doing. Creativity and innovation will be measured in respect to the nominated museum’s own capacity and history; it may reflect an all-new approach to museology in general, or it may reflect an individual museum doing something it has never done before.
Awards of Merit Nominees
Nominee: Barkerville Heritage Trust
“Covid kickstarted a total rethink of Barkerville’s programming. Virtual field trips allowed students to continue to visit while keeping everyone safe.”
HONOURABLE MENTION: The Bateman Foundation
“During this challenging time, The Bateman Foundation has supported the mental wellbeing of our community by providing free therapeutic art programming throughout this past year.”
Nominee: Chilliwack Museum & Archives
“The Chilliwack Museum & Archives aimed to bring multiple demographics of their community together to highlight the talent and experiences of Chilliwack during the COVID-19 pandemic through the Creative in Quarantine Exhibition.”
Nominee: Council of the Haida Nation, Haida Gwaii Museum, School District 50
“The iPads for Elders program helped equalize access to technology among the islands’ senior citizens.”
Nominee: The Exploration Place
“The items accumulated for the COVID Collection have come entirely from the community and will show future generations COVID-19’s impact on their region.”
Nominee: Haunted History BC
“Promoting BC heritage and actively inspiring everyone to discover and explore their own unique community.”
Nominee: Huble Homestead Historic Site
“Ceepee and the Fish Camp is a beautiful, collaborative celebration of Lheidli T’enneh history, created to spark historical imagination in little readers, teach local history to children, and help advance reconciliation and knowledge of First Nations history.”
Nominee: Lakes District Museum
“The Lakes District Museum Society established a Facebook page in 2018 to engage the community on topics relating to local history. The society’s posts now reach more than 100,000 people annually.”
Nominee: Lou-ann Neel, Royal BC Museum
“Lou-ann Neel helped to find homes with primarily First Nations families for an estimated 200 stuffed animals and 100 pairs of children’s shoes left at an RBCM vigil.”
Nominee: Museum of Surrey
“To provide meaningful access to visitors of all abilities, the Museum of Surrey has worked collaboratively with numerous partners to upgrade services and the facility.”
Nominee: Oli Beeby, The Pacific Museum of Earth
“For excellence in all things digital, visual, and creative.”
HONOURABLE MENTION: The Pacific Museum of Earth
“For pivoting so successfully during Covid that the museum has expanded its reach & become a role model to larger institutions.”
WINNER: The Reach Gallery Museum
“The Reach preserves and shares the stories of Abbotsford’s rich cultural heritage and showcases the best in arts from inside and outside the community. The Reach’s Semá:th Xo:tsa project, in partnership with Stó:lō collaborators, resulted in the publication of a children’s book, exhibition and community programs about the drainage of Sumas Lake in 1924 to create additional farmland for settlement. The project renounces the celebratory settler narrative to focus on the enduring and profound impact drainage had on the lives and livelihood of the Stó:lō people.”
Nominee: Seeds for Seniors, BC Farm Museum
“BC Farm Museum’s Seeds for Seniors provided seniors with a sense of well-being and a bounty of fresh vegetables and flowers to harvest.”
Nominee: Shirley Rosichuk, Stewart Historical Society
“Shirley is a whirlwind of enthusiasm, dedicated to sharing the history of Stewart and making her museum a social hub in the community.”
WINNER: Stó:Lō Aboriginal Skills & Employment Training (SASET)
“SASET makes it possible for museums to engage Indigenous youth in a transformative way, and be the change through hiring practices.”
HONOURABLE MENTION: Sncewips Heritage Museum
“Celebrating Indigenous culture and heritage through fun, fresh, and engaging online video content during the COVID-19 pandemic.”
HONOURABLE MENTION: The UBC Museum of Anthropology staff and eleven artists:
Judy Chartrand, Ying-Yueh Chuang, Gathie Falk, Jeremy Hatch, Ian Johnston, David Lambert, Glenn Lewis, Alwyn O’Brien, Bill Rennie, Debra Sloan and Brendan Tang.
“An exhibition that utilizes the creativity of eleven BC ceramics artists and the staff of MOA to bring attention to social, economic, political issues and challenges.”
WINNER: Landscapes of Injustice Research Collective
University of Victoria, Canadian Museum of Immigration, Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre, Nikkei National Museum, Ryerson University, Royal BC Museum, University of Alberta, University of Winnipeg, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver Japanese Language School and Japanese Hall, National Association of Japanese Canadians, Library and Archives Canada
“Landscapes of Injustice was a partnership of museums, community, and academics that shed new light on the history of racism in Canada.”
Nominee: Vernon Public Art Gallery
“The Vernon Public Art Gallery raised the bar for the Okanagan Print Triennial in the midst of a global pandemic, engaging people globally through their virtual artist talk series.”
Nominee: We’ve Been Here All Along Exhibit and Workbook, Coquitlam Heritage Society
“Coquitlam Heritage’s exhibit and workbook highlights the history of Black British Columbians which has historically been erased or ignored.”
Service & Stewardship Award Categories
Distinguished Service Award
This award recognizes an individual, paid or volunteer, who has made a unique and outstanding contribution on a regional, provincial, or national basis to the arts, culture, and heritage fields over an extended period of time.
Museum Stewardship Award
This award recognizes an outstanding effort and contribution with a lasting impact to the museum, gallery, archive, or heritage resources field. This award would encompass individuals, partners/organizations/associations, and in-kind community partners.
Service & Stewardship Award Nominees
WINNER: Sdahl K’awaas Lucy Bell, Haida Repatriation Committee
“Lucy Bell has, by a single act of courage and power, rocked the entire world of the GLAM sector in the West Coast. This has had ripple effects to enact meaningful change and to motivate others to be enactors of change. She is a leader, a fighter and has the heart of a lioness.”
Nominee: Kirstin Clausen, formerly of the Britannia Mine Museum
“For twenty years, Kirstin Clausen led the Museum with passion and diligence, taking the Museum from a ‘rundown’ industrial community museum to an award-winning centre of learning on environmental stewardship with notable exhibits, programs and historic restorations, all well suited to benefit from tourism so that the museum is financially self-sufficient.”
Nominee: Paul Crawford, Penticton Art Gallery
“For more than 20 years, Paul Crawford has worked in the BC public art gallery sector to celebrate and amplify the voices of diverse artists.”
WINNER: Colleen Palumbo, Formerly of the Golden & District Historical Society
“Colleen recently retired after 30 years operating the Golden Museum and Archives. She has nurtured the museum into a community-oriented, inclusive, accessible organization.”
Nominee: Dr. Kirsten Hodge, The Pacific Museum of Earth
“For exemplary leadership in (and outside of) an unprecedented crisis. ”
