Letter to the editor - The Guardian - July 17, 2007
EARLE LOCKERBY
Darnley
Editor:
Opposition Leader Pat Binns' remarks of regret concerning an artifactory in Murray River ("Decision to pull plug on artifactory 'terribly disappointing': Binns", The Guardian, July 3) confirm what has been transparently obvious all along: the facility was first and foremost a vehicle for "greatly enhancing a rural P.E.I. region", namely his own riding. The benefit to the provincial artifact collection was secondary.
His expressed fear that a provincial museum will threaten the locally-owned community museums throughout the province is both disturbing and indicative of a lack of understanding of the role and purpose of a provincial museum.
Has he ever had a close look at the provincial museums in our neighbouring provinces of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick?
Binns is quoted as stating "in my mind the provincial museum exists through the seven current provincial sites around the province." These facilities, though valuable, in no way constitute a provincial museum. They portray several particular and limited heritage themes, namely shipbuilding, the railway on the Island, the fishery, agriculture, a pioneer community and Acadian culture.
In which provincial facility may one view a portrayal of the Island's musical heritage? Its aviation history? The history of communications with the mainland? The geological and other natural history of the Island? Our aboriginal history and culture? The list goes on and on.
A provincial museum will comprehensively showcase the full spectrum of the Island's rich heritage and culture, utilizing artifacts from the provincial collection, much of which resides in a warehouse known as the artifactory. I believe it is feasible to integrate the existing provincial sites into a proper provincial museum framework such that they play a complementary role to a large centralized facility.
I do not agree with Pat Binns' view that a provincial museum will be a threat to the small, community museums. I happen to be on the board of directors of such a museum, the Keir Memorial Museum at Malpeque, and I can assure him that I do not see our museum as being in any way threatened.
On the contrary, I would expect my fellow directors would welcome a new provincial museum, as I believe would be the case for heritage-minded and culturally-minded Islanders in general.
For the most part, the community museums seek to portray the history of their own immediate areas, not that relating to the Island as a whole
That the Binns government could have been so out of touch with the museological needs of the province is a measure of its failure to consult broadly with Islanders, and in particular with the heritage and culture community.
During the weeks and months following the announcement of a new artifactory at Murray River, several writers of letters to the editor of The Guardian urged the Binns government to take a step back, and to enter into consultations with the heritage and culture community with a view to developing a broad strategic plan for a provincial museum system which would well serve the Island as a whole over the coming decades. This plea fell on deaf ears, as the government was hell-bent on locating a new artifact storage facility at Murray River.
It is to be hoped that Premier Robter Ghiz and Cultural Affairs Minister Carolyn Bertram will begin the process of delivering a Provincial Museum and new artifactory in an integrated fashion, by obtaining the views of Islanders on what is required - and not just the views of the board of directors of Museum and Heritage P.E.I., an organization which happens to be a provincial Crown corporation.
Earle Lockerby has been a director of the Keir Memorial Museum in Malpeque for several years.
Showing posts with label Earle Lockerby. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Earle Lockerby. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
Ghiz must keep promise on museum
Letter to the editor - The Guardian - July 4, 2007
EARLE LOCKERBY
Darnley
Editor:
I applaud the provincial government’s decision to rescind the plans of the Binns government to build a new artifactory at Murray River.
That being said, there remains a critical need for a new storage facility to house and safeguard, for future generations of Islanders, the province’s valuable collection of artifacts which constitute an important part of our heritage. Further ‘patching up’ of the existing facility, which has survived for many years on ‘patch-ups’ and was never designed to provide an adequate environment for the artifacts, can be only a very short-term, temporary measure.
A new artifactory needs to be planned for, and realized, in conjunction with a new provincial museum, and in my view, both should be located in the Charlottetown area and as close together as reasonably possible.
Premier Ghiz has recently made much of the fact that our province is the only one without a passport office. It is also the only province without a provincial museum. True, we do have a number of small, ‘theme’ museums scattered across the Island. Like the spokes and rim of a wheel, these facilities perform a useful service, but what is missing is the hub — a provincial museum. Adequately storing our artifacts is important, but equally important is showcasing them to Islanders and to visitors to our province. Currently, the vast majority of the provincial collection never, or rarely, sees the light of day because we have inadequate facilities in which to display the artifacts and in which to comprehensively interpret the Island’s rich heritage and culture.
A major new display facility — a centrally located provincial museum — along with an integrated new artifactory, are sorely needed in this province. During the recent election campaign, Premier Ghiz promised Islanders a new provincial museum. Islanders expect him to keep his promise.
EARLE LOCKERBY
Darnley
Editor:
I applaud the provincial government’s decision to rescind the plans of the Binns government to build a new artifactory at Murray River.
That being said, there remains a critical need for a new storage facility to house and safeguard, for future generations of Islanders, the province’s valuable collection of artifacts which constitute an important part of our heritage. Further ‘patching up’ of the existing facility, which has survived for many years on ‘patch-ups’ and was never designed to provide an adequate environment for the artifacts, can be only a very short-term, temporary measure.
A new artifactory needs to be planned for, and realized, in conjunction with a new provincial museum, and in my view, both should be located in the Charlottetown area and as close together as reasonably possible.
Premier Ghiz has recently made much of the fact that our province is the only one without a passport office. It is also the only province without a provincial museum. True, we do have a number of small, ‘theme’ museums scattered across the Island. Like the spokes and rim of a wheel, these facilities perform a useful service, but what is missing is the hub — a provincial museum. Adequately storing our artifacts is important, but equally important is showcasing them to Islanders and to visitors to our province. Currently, the vast majority of the provincial collection never, or rarely, sees the light of day because we have inadequate facilities in which to display the artifacts and in which to comprehensively interpret the Island’s rich heritage and culture.
A major new display facility — a centrally located provincial museum — along with an integrated new artifactory, are sorely needed in this province. During the recent election campaign, Premier Ghiz promised Islanders a new provincial museum. Islanders expect him to keep his promise.
Friday, March 16, 2007
We Need a Major Museum for the Display of Heritage
All provinces, except P.E.I., have such a facility and these are generally located in the capitals
as published in The Guardian Sept 23, 2006
by Earle Lockerby
Editor:
An article in your newspaper reports that plans are afoot to relocate the provincial artifactory from Charlottetown to Murray River - within the riding of Premier Binns (Provincial artifactory may go to Murray River to boost area, The Guardian, Sept.19, 2006).
The article indicates that the relocation will result in a "major boom" in the Murray River region, will help bring people to the area and may provide a "destination attraction."
The current artifactory in Charlottetown is simply a warehouse for over 80,000 artifacts and is not open to the general public. While one would hope that any new storage facility would provide a much better environment for the long-term preservation of these artifacts than the existing artifactory, a new storage facility, by its very nature, will simply be a large, dimly-lit building which employs less than half a dozen people and is ill-suited (indeed not intended) to receive the public.
What this province sorely lacks is a comprehensive museum in which to publicly display and showcase a substantial fraction of those 80,000 plus artifacts. Instead of a major, centralized museum on P.E.I., we have seven provincially-owned, decentralized, little 'theme' museums scattered across the Island. These serve a useful purpose, but are no substitute for a major, or principal, museum which would be frequented by the public faciility and these are generally located in the capitals and which should be located in the province's capital city, Charlottetown.
All provinces, except P.E.I., have such a facility; and these are generally located in the respective capitals of the provinces, New Brunswick being an exception there the main provincial museum is located not in Fredericton, but in an even larger city, Saint John. While an artifact storage building need not be close to the museum it serves, proximity certainly makes for easier artifact management.
The notion of Murray River being the location of an artifactory which later gets turned into the provincial museum is ludicrous. It smacks of crass political manipulation. Would serious consideration have been given to locating the province's major health facility, the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, in Tignish?
What is required is a more thoughtful and comprehensive approach which focuses on a provincial museum. A new artifact storage facility is needed, but it should serve the museum, not vice versa. A major museum should be built in Charlottetown. Ideally, it should be of sufficient size to provide for storage of artifacts which are not on display in the museum at any given time.
Earle Lockerby of Darnley is on the board of directors of Keir Memorial Museum, Malpeque. He is also on the board of directors of the Lucy Maud Montgomery Society of Ontario, which operates the Leaskdale Manse National Historic Site Museum in Leaskdale, Ont.
as published in The Guardian Sept 23, 2006
by Earle Lockerby
Editor:
An article in your newspaper reports that plans are afoot to relocate the provincial artifactory from Charlottetown to Murray River - within the riding of Premier Binns (Provincial artifactory may go to Murray River to boost area, The Guardian, Sept.19, 2006).
The article indicates that the relocation will result in a "major boom" in the Murray River region, will help bring people to the area and may provide a "destination attraction."
The current artifactory in Charlottetown is simply a warehouse for over 80,000 artifacts and is not open to the general public. While one would hope that any new storage facility would provide a much better environment for the long-term preservation of these artifacts than the existing artifactory, a new storage facility, by its very nature, will simply be a large, dimly-lit building which employs less than half a dozen people and is ill-suited (indeed not intended) to receive the public.
What this province sorely lacks is a comprehensive museum in which to publicly display and showcase a substantial fraction of those 80,000 plus artifacts. Instead of a major, centralized museum on P.E.I., we have seven provincially-owned, decentralized, little 'theme' museums scattered across the Island. These serve a useful purpose, but are no substitute for a major, or principal, museum which would be frequented by the public faciility and these are generally located in the capitals and which should be located in the province's capital city, Charlottetown.
All provinces, except P.E.I., have such a facility; and these are generally located in the respective capitals of the provinces, New Brunswick being an exception there the main provincial museum is located not in Fredericton, but in an even larger city, Saint John. While an artifact storage building need not be close to the museum it serves, proximity certainly makes for easier artifact management.
The notion of Murray River being the location of an artifactory which later gets turned into the provincial museum is ludicrous. It smacks of crass political manipulation. Would serious consideration have been given to locating the province's major health facility, the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, in Tignish?
What is required is a more thoughtful and comprehensive approach which focuses on a provincial museum. A new artifact storage facility is needed, but it should serve the museum, not vice versa. A major museum should be built in Charlottetown. Ideally, it should be of sufficient size to provide for storage of artifacts which are not on display in the museum at any given time.
Earle Lockerby of Darnley is on the board of directors of Keir Memorial Museum, Malpeque. He is also on the board of directors of the Lucy Maud Montgomery Society of Ontario, which operates the Leaskdale Manse National Historic Site Museum in Leaskdale, Ont.
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