BCMA Conference 2026
Speakers
Snuneymuxw Territory | Nanaimo | November 3-6, 2026
Keynote Speaker
Dr. Candace Tangorra Matelic
Dr. Candace Tangorra Matelic teaches and consults widely with museums and cultural organizations about community engagement, organizational change/development, strategic planning, and programming. She developed her skills over five decades, with leadership positions at and at The Henry
Ford, Mission Houses Museum in Hawaii, Historic St. Mary’s City, and Santa Fe’s Children’s Museum and Center for Contemporary Art. Working with over 60 clients, Candace’s consulting, planning, and coaching work is distinguished by helping organizations engage their communities as partners, and then fundamentally transform their vision, assumptions, organizational culture, and work patterns.
Dr. Matelic has taught hundreds of workshops for working professionals throughout North America, including certificate courses, keynotes and projects in five Canadian provinces and the Yukon Territory. Academic teaching includes dozens of online and on-site immersion courses for the Cultural Resources Management Program at the University of Victoria and 20 courses for the museum studies program at Johns Hopkins University. She created and ran the Arts Leadership and Entrepreneurship minor at Texas Christian University, and she ran the Cooperstown Graduate Program in Museum Studies for a decade. Candace has presented at over 100 conferences and workshops, now 37 times as a keynoter, and authored dozens of articles, webinars, and other and publications. She is a past president of the Association for Living History, Farms, and Agricultural Museums (ALHFAM) and the founder/first president of the Midwest Open Air Museums Coordinating Council (MOMCC).
Dr. Matelic holds a Ph.D. in Organization Studies from the University at Albany, SUNY, an M.A. in History Museum Studies from SUNY Oneonta, and a BFA (Fine Arts and American Studies) from the University of Michigan.
When Candace is not working, she is probably cooking, gardening, reading, aqua-jogging, traveling to the nearest beach, visiting museums and arts events, or doing a creative project with her daughter. She is also an active Rotarian and community volunteer.
Presentations
Speakers and session details will be added to this page as they are confirmed, check back regularly for updates!
Grace Sneddon Wong, Victoria Chinatown Museum
A Seat at the Table: Local Adaptations of Chinese Canadian History in Community Museums
About
- Grace Sneddon Wong is the Board Chair at the Victoria Chinatown Museum Society and Adjunct Assistant Professor at the University of Victoria.
Owen Cook, BC Forest Discovery Centre
A Seat at the Table: Local Adaptations of Chinese Canadian History in Community Museums
About
- Owen Cook is the Archivist and Librarian at the BC Forest Discovery Centre.
Amy Greenaway, Nanaimo Museum
A Seat at the Table: Local Adaptations of Chinese Canadian History in Community Museums
About
- Aimee Greenaway is the curator at the Nanaimo Museum and Managing Editor of BC History.
Mandy Kilsby, Barkerville
Heritage Under Fire: Lessons learned from Barkerville’s 2024 Wildfire Response
About
- Mandy Kilsby is a heritage professional committed to responsible stewardship, inclusive interpretation, and the meaningful care of cultural history. With over a decade of multidisciplinary research experience, she brings expertise in collections management, policy development, risk planning, and long‑term sustainability. At Barkerville Historic Town & Park, Mandy works across many roles—often beyond the job description. Driven driven by curiosity, context, and community, she has a particular passion for initiatives that navigate truth, meaning, reconciliation, and the complexities of interpreting colonial sites in a changing world.
Carrie Chard, Barkerville
Heritage Under Fire: Lessons learned from Barkerville’s 2024 Wildfire Response
About
- Coming soon.
Theresa McFarland, BC Heritage Branch
Heritage Under Fire: Lessons learned from Barkerville’s 2024 Wildfire Response
About
- Coming soon.
Tammy Bradford, Creston Museum
Passing the Torch (Without Setting Anything on Fire): Succession Planning in Small Museums
About
- Tammy Bradford spends most of her time t the Creston Museum, where she’s been the manager/curator/executive director/janitor for nearly thirty years. When she’s not doing that, she’s either driving people nuts with her endless stories of local history or taking long walks with her camera. She’s a figure skater and skating coach, as frequent a traveler as possible, and the world’s greatest crazy aunt. In her spare time she deletes a lot of terrible photos and caters to the demands of two very entitled cats.
Dr. Sdahl Ḵ’awaas (Lucy Bell)
Tla Yahda: Haida Museology Makes Things Right
About
- Dr. Sdahl Ḵ’awaas (Lucy Bell) is from the Tśiits G’itanee Eagle clan of Old Massett, Haida Gwaii. She is a Haida museologist and repatriation specialist with over 30 years of experience in the GLAM sector. She has co-led the return of approximately 500 Haida Ancestors and many Belongings from institutions worldwide. Lucy co-authored The Indigenous Repatriation Handbook (2019) and Stealing to Healing – Repatriation and BC First Nations (2025), and her PhD dissertation, Tla Yahda: Haida Museology Makes Things Right (2025). She also co-curated a major exhibition at the Bill Reid Gallery with her daughter Amelia.
Amelia Rea
Tla Yahda: Haida Museology Makes Things Right
About
- Amelia Rea (Gudangee Xahl Kil) is from the Tsiits G’itanee Eagle clan of Old Massett, Haida Gwaii. She is an emerging Haida museologist with experience across leading institutions, including the Haida Heritage Centre, the Burke Museum, and the UBC Museum of Anthropology. She previously worked as Assistant Curator at the Bill Reid Gallery, where she curated her first solo exhibition, NDN Giver (2025). Raised in Haida language, culture, and repatriation work, Amelia brings a strong foundation in community-based practice, storytelling, and mentorship, and is committed to carrying this work forward in the heritage sector.
Louisa Smith, City of Surrey
Surrey’s Memory Map: Activating Collections and Community through Online Tools
City of Surrey
- Louisa Smith is the Curator of Community Heritage at the City of Surrey. She has worked as part of the Heritage team since 2018. Louisa’s portfolio has a dual focus of caring for the City’s Artifact Collection and coordinating the Heritage Interpretation Program, which includes signage, outreach, and online tools. She lives with her dog and cat in Vancouver on the traditional and unceded territory of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations.
Carolyn Smith
Visible Leaders, Quiet Labour: Museum–Archive Power Dynamics and Reconciliation Work
About
- Carolyn Smith is a recent Master of Information graduate from Dalhousie University, specializing in archival sciences, Indigenous-centered information practices, and cultural heritage management with her research focusing on archival responses to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. She actively supports emerging professionals in the heritage field as Chair of the Association of Canadian Archivists’ Student and Early Career Section. Her professional interests include archives, records management, community-based practice, decolonization, memory and identity, and policy development.
Abby Lizee
Friends in Unusual Places: Building Museum Resilience Through Community Partnerships
About
- Abby Lizee has been a museum professional for the past ten years, and has created an award-winning community outreach program that has brought accessible museum learning to tens of thousands of people. She has a passion for community engagement and believes in creating the community she wants to see and live in. She feels privileged to be able to work and live on the unceded ancestral territories of the q̓ic̓əy̓ and q̓ʷa꞉n̓ƛ̓ən̓ First Nations. She has a BA in Archaeology from SFU and has previously worked at Maple Ridge Museum & Community Archives and Coquitlam Heritage.
Leanne Koehn, Ridge Meadows Recycling Society
Friends in Unusual Places: Building Museum Resilience Through Community Partnerships
About
- Leanne Koehn is the Community Engagement Manager for Ridge Meadows Recycling Society, a community-based, social profit organization that works in partnership with the City of Maple Ridge. Leanne also organizes Maple Ridge’s annual Celebrate Earth Day festival and is the founder and manager of Maple Ridge Repair Cafe. She and her husband recently received an Outstanding Heritage BC award for Conservation for renovating, restoring, & upgrading their 1923 Arts & Crafts style heritage family home. Leanne feels privileged to be able to work and live on the unceded ancestral territories of the q̓ic̓əy̓ and q̓ʷa꞉n̓ƛ̓ən̓ First Nations.
Tanya Nielson, Kamloops Arts Council
Succession Planning: Stop Cramming and Start Planning
About
- Tanya Nielsen has spent most of her life and work practicing different forms of creativity. She is a writer, painter, photographer, researcher, and curator. Tanya received her BFA in Gallery Studies and wrote a Master’s thesis on the role failure plays in the creative process of making art. She worked for 5 years in conference and event management in Newfoundland, with events in Malaysia, Colombia and Bali. She loves playing with intersectionality, crossing borders between schools of thought and finding ways to display information so it’s accessible to everyone. In 2021, she accepted the role of Executive Director of the Kamloops Arts Council, she has been incremental in rewriting their by-laws and policies, increasing their BIPOC and LGBTQIA+2S representations and is working on improving their accessibility. Tanya is currently developing a networking program for artists and arts organizations to support each other and improve resources.
Laura Carpentier, Amelia Douglas Institute for Métis Culture and Language
Métis Culture Talks: Connecting with Community in Virtual Spaces
About
- Laura Carpentier is the Program Assistant of the Amelia Douglas Institute for Métis Culture and Language. She is a settler of French, Norwegian, and British descent, born and raised in the Greater Vancouver area on the unceded and traditional territories of the kʷikʷəƛ̓əm (Kwikwetlem), Stó:lō, and Katzie First Nations. Laura has a background in history and museum interpretation, and is a learner and listener within the Métis-led space she works. Her understandings of Métis culture come directly from knowledge and perspectives of the Métis artists, Elders, and Knowledge-Carriers who offer their teachings with care, and who continuously work with profound dedication to uplift and preserve their Métis culture.
Hannah Denton, Amelia Douglas Institute for Métis Culture and Language
Métis Culture Talks: Connecting with Community in Virtual Spaces
About
- Hannah Denton is a two-spirit Métis, English, Scottish and Welsh woman from Lac Ste Anne in Treaty 6 territory, with family names of Tourangeau, Letendre, Larocque, Belcourt, Laliberte, Plante, and Gladu. She currently resides as an uninvited guest on the unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh peoples. Their previous work experience has focused largely on providing support and programming to Indigenous communities in the areas of health, mental health, harm reduction, and education. Her current position of Cultural Coordinator for the Amelia Douglas Institute is strengthened by her individual art practice of beadwork, her appreciation for community-based offerings and reciprocal relationships, and her lived experience as both an Indigenous person and a settler.
Thomas Long, Amelia Douglas Institute for Métis Culture and Language
Métis Culture Talks: Connecting with Community in Virtual Spaces
About
- Tom Long is the Manager of the Amelia Douglas Institute for Métis Culture and Language. He is a proud citizen of the Métis Nation British Columbia, and has descent from the Desmarais and Favel families who made their way to and from the Red River region and across Western Canada. His passionate pursuit has been the hidden stories of real people and places of the past and making them relevant to today. Tom has an extensive history of working with First Nations, Métis, and Maori cultural experts and entities in GLAM roles in Canada and New Zealand/Aotearoa.
Charlene Dishaw, Galiano Museum
Powerful Strategies for Volunteer Retention
About
-
Charlene Dishaw brings over 30 years of experience managing volunteer programs across sectors including Parks and Recreation, AIDS Vancouver, the Autism Society of BC, health care, and community organizations. She has led programs ranging from small teams of two volunteers to large initiatives involving more than 600. Charlene holds a Master of Arts in Leadership from Royal Roads University, a bachelor’s degree from Simon Fraser University, and is Certified in Volunteer Administration. She is currently the Executive Director of the Galiano Museum. When she isn’t working or volunteering, she enjoys the outdoors and playing her violin and piano.
Robin Folvik, Port Hardy Museum, Archives & Information Centre
The Personal is Political: Webs of Relation and Care in Small Community Museums
About
-
Originally from Mi’kma’ki/Nova Scotia, and of settler heritage, Robin currently serves as the Director and Curator of the Port Hardy Museum, Archives, Information Centre & Giftshop, located on Kwakiutl territory. Part of the team that won the Governor-General’s Award for their work at the Cumberland Museum & Archives, Robin has spent the last eighteen years immersed in various historical projects spanning film productions, public history events, choirs, workshops, curriculum development, walking tours, museum exhibits, and public history installations. Robin is also a founding member of the Graphic History Collective, a collective that has collaborated with nearly a 100 different artists to create comics addressing a diverse array of often lesser-known historical themes. Their work shows that you don’t need a cape and pair of tights
to change the world!
Ashley Cadwallader, Port Hardy Museum, Archives & Information Centre
The Personal is Political: Webs of Relation and Care in Small Community Museums
About
-
I was raised in Port Hardy. I have worked in tourism since 2017, and heritage since 2024. I am the Visitor Services Manager at the Port Hardy Visitor Centre, and the Curatorial and Projects Assistant at the Port Hardy Museum and Archives, which is run by the Port Hardy Heritage Society. I have recently completed a continuing studies course through UVic in Cultural and Indigenous Stewardship. I am passionate about decolonial radical practices, and can often be found exploring my new hyper fixation (whatever that may be by the time you are reading this).
Brie Watson, Port Hardy Museum, Archives & Information Centre
The Personal is Political: Webs of Relation and Care in Small Community Museums
About
-
Brie Watson is a queer, settler, heritage worker and artist from Kwakiutl territory in Port Hardy, BC. Brie is passionate about rural heritage and focuses on community-centred practices. Brie holds a BFA from Emily Carr University of Art and Design in Critical and Cultural Practices, with a minor in Social and Community Engagement. Brie previously served as the Associate Curator at the Port Hardy Museum and Archives and continues to contribute in a part-time role. They are currently a MA student in the UVIC history
department. Their research examines methods of reading against the imperial archive,
concentrating on queer and trans histories, the colonial archive, and radical community
resistance in rural British Columbia. Brie is also a fibre artist, knitter, weaver and natural dyer. They spend their free time gardening, reading, knitting sweaters, cooking, and spinning alpaca fibre.
Lightning Talks
Dennis Chen, Vancouver Botanical Gardens Association
Building Connections Between Nature and Culture
About
- Dennis Chen is the Senior Manager of Community Engagement at VanDusen Garden and Bloedel Conservatory with the Vancouver Botanical Gardens Association (VBGA). In this role, he oversees the management of exhibits, the library, Learning Garden, and educational programming for families and community groups. He previously worked in programming roles at the BC Sports Hall of Fame and Museum and the Vancouver Maritime Museum.
Lorraine Bell, Qualicum Beach Museum
Charter, Checklist, Action! 15 slides about the Decent Work in Museums Initiative
About
- Lorraine Bell is the Director of the Qualicum Beach Museum. She holds a PhD in Leadership Studies from the University of Victoria. Her research explored small museums on Vancouver Island as agents of change.
Barbara Hilden, Simon Fraser University
Rethinking Partnerships: Tsleil-Waututh Nation and the Museum of Archaeology
About
- Barbara Hilden has lived, worked, and studied in five countries on four continents. Since 2023, she has been the director of the Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology at Simon Fraser University (Vancouver). Her practice centres the visitor in the museum, where she works to dismantle and disrupt colonial affectations.
Evan Hardy, Tsleil-Waututh Nation
Rethinking Partnerships: Tsleil-Waututh Nation and the Museum of Archaeology
About
- Evan Hardy is the Senior Repatriation and Collection Specialist at Tsleil-Waututh Nation where he has worked to establish slew̓ənew̓txʷ, the səl̓ilwətaɬ archaeological repository, a community exhibit space, and conduct several repatriations. Hardy represents Tsleil-Waututh at the Repository Roundtable, a collective advocacy group working to change legislation related to archaeological repositories and the on-going storage of archaeological material in the province.
Workshops & Walking Tours
Emma Wilton, Sooke Region Museum
Collaboration and Engagement of Collections with Small Museums, Local First Nations, and Communities
About
- I am a settler of Danish and Ukrainian descent. I was born on Treaty 6 territory in Rocky Mountain House, AB, and grew up on Chawathil territory (Hope, BC), and Syilx territory (Vernon, BC). I recently obtained my MA in anthropology, with a focus on Indigenous archiving. My passion in the museum field surrounds developing, maintaining, and strengthening connections between Belongings, Indigenous Nations and Peoples, and museums. I currently work at the Sooke Region Museum, where I am the Collections and Exhibits Manager. I strive to ensure stories and histories are accurately and truthfully told, and work to develop relationships amongst Belongings, people, and stories.
Michelle Richard, Sooke Region Museum
Collaboration and Engagement of Collections with Small Museums, Local First Nations, and Communities
About
- I obtained a BA in History and Fine Art and a Diploma in Cultural Resource Management, as well as completing post-secondary courses in Educational Sciences. With over 20 years experience in the cultural sector, I have worked in areas of community arts and heritage, collaborating with diverse communities and groups to achieve common goals. Prior to joining the Sooke Region Museum & Visitor Centre in 2024, I established the North Shore Culture Compass, an online culture map that brings together history, art, and place.
Dr. Andrea Walsh, UVIC Anthropology
Collaboration and Engagement of Collections with Small Museums, Local First Nations, and Communities
About
- Hello! My past and present projects focus on curatorial projects with contemporary Salish artists, and the repatriation of children’s art to Survivors from Indian Residential and Day Schools. I work with Survivors, their families, and communities, to co-create exhibitions and education opportunities with their returned childhood artworks. I have had the privilege to work in collaboration district and civic museums in B.C. and the Canadian Museum of History in Hull, Que. to share stories and artworks around repatriation as a form of reconciliation. Our work includes families from the Osoyoos Indian Band over 24 years focusing on artworks by children who attended the Inkameep Day School during the WWII era, and since 2012 I’ve collaborated with Survivors of the Alberni Indian Residential School, who were at the school during the early 1960s.
Katherine Taylor-Hood, UVIC Anthropology
Collaboration and Engagement of Collections with Small Museums, Local First Nations, and Communities
About
- I am a settler Canadian of English, Welsh, and Scottish descent and grew up on the ancestral homelands and territories of the Beothuk and Mi’Kmaq Peoples in Ktaqmkuk (Newfoundland). I am pursuing my MA in Anthropology at UVic under the supervision of Dr. Andrea Walsh and Dr. Tommy Happynook. As an autistic student, my research interests focus on neurodivergent research methods in archival work as a bridge between anthropology and psychology.
Thierry Hadid, Museum of Vancouver
Harnessing the Power of Power Apps – Strategies for Using the Digital Tools You Already Have to Work Smarter, Not Harder
About
- Thierry joined the Museum of Vancouver in October 2024. Coming from the private sector, he has extensive experience in senior finance and accounting roles in industries as varied as property management, private equity, consulting, and trades. He also brings with him a wealth of experience in the areas of task automation and process streamlining and digitization.
Ryan Hunt, Museum of Vancouver
Harnessing the Power of Power Apps – Strategies for Using the Digital Tools You Already Have to Work Smarter, Not Harder
About
- Coming Soon.
Sylvia Gropp, Alberni Valley Museum
Mining the Gap: Innovating and Working with Scarcity in the Heritage and Cultural Sector
About
- Sylvia Gropp is a historian and museum educator from Kamloops, British Columbia, with academic training in archaeology, geology, and a Master of Museum Education. She co-authored and published Kamloops: From Trading Post to Tournament Capital, documenting her hometown’s evolution from Indigenous roots to a modern centre for sports and tourism. After 14 years at the Kamloops Museum and Archives, developing exhibits and educational programs, she became Education Curator at the Alberni Valley Museum. There, she advances educational programming and visitor engagement while championing culturally relevant learning that reflects diverse histories, perspectives, and connections between local and global heritage.
Jackie Chambers, Beaty Biodiversity Museum
Making Connections: Co Creating Learning Experiences that Move Kind Words to Brave Action
About
- Jackie Chambers Teaching & Learning Manager, Beaty Biodiversity Museum. Holds academic qualifications in both science and museum education. Experience designing collaborative, collections based learning initiatives that connect museums, communities, and post secondary education.
Gid yahk’ii, Sean Young, Saahlinda Naay Saving Things House (Haida Gwaii Museum)
Making Connections: Co Creating Learning Experiences that Move Kind Words to Brave Action
About
- Gid yahk’ii, Sean Young, Manager/Curator of Collections and Archaeology at Saahlinda Naay Saving Things House (Haida Gwaii Museum) at Kay Llnagaay. Proud member of the Haida Nation from the Gaag’yals Kii’Gawaay, Raven clan of K’uuna Llnagaay (Skedans). Educated and trained archaeologist.
Dr. Bridgette Clarkston, University of British Columbia, Beaty Biodiversity Museum
Making Connections: Co Creating Learning Experiences that Move Kind Words to Brave Action
About
- Dr. Bridgette Clarkston, Associate Professor of Teaching, University of British Columbia, Department of Botany, Honorary Associate in Undergraduate Education, Beaty Biodiversity Museum. Experience and expertise in developing curriculum for the UBC Biology Program that utilizes the natural history collections of the Beaty Biodiversity Museum. Passion for community engagement and making science accessible for all learners.
Dr. Melissa Lee, Chinese Canadian Museum
Walking the Layers of Nanaimo’s Chinatown: Memory, Migration, and Public History;
A Seat at the Table: Local Adaptations of Chinese Canadian History in Community Museums (Moderator)
About
- Melissa Karmen Lee is the Chief Executive Officer of the Chinese Canadian Museum in Vancouver. A museum leader and scholar of the Chinese diaspora, she previously held senior roles at major cultural institutions in Canada and internationally. Under her leadership, the Chinese Canadian Museum has developed nationally recognized exhibitions and public programs that explore migration, identity, and cultural memory. Lee’s work focuses on expanding how museums engage with diaspora communities, public storytelling, and contemporary cultural practice.
Dr. Imogene Lim
Walking the Layers of Nanaimo’s Chinatown: Memory, Migration, and Public History
About
- A descendant of Cumberland and Vancouver’s Chinatowns (two head-tax payers) and anthropologist by training, Dr. Lim’s expertise in Chinese Canadian communities, especially on Vancouver Island, spans well over two decades. Her work has included collaborations with local museums. She is a founding member of the Chinese Canadian Historical Society of BC and worked with the BC Legacy Initiatives Advisory Council on the Historic Sites and Celebration book projects. She co-developed the exhibit, 150 Years and Counting: Fighting for Justice on the Coast (UVic & VIU 2017), served as an exhibition advisory committee member for A Seat at the Table (MOV, UBC INSTRRC & CCM 2020), including the writing of panel texts, and co-curated the pop-up exhibit, Dishing Up Memories: Eating Chinese in BC (CCM 2022).Dr. Lim was a 2020 Province of BC Medal for Good Citizenship recipient and 2025 recipient of the King Charles III Coronation Medal. She received a Ruth Masters Hero Spoon, in 2002, for her work in preserving Cumberland’s Coal Creek Historic Park.
Christine Meutzner
Downtown Nanaimo Walking Tour
About
- Christine Meutzner, retired Nanaimo archivist, will conduct the tour. Christine worked for almost 30 years as the City’s archivist and has written over 175 Statements of Significance of buildings and cultural landscapes for Duncan, Ladysmith, Nanaimo and Qualicum Beach.
