Blog & News

Climbing up into a 1950s-era logging truck in Port Alberni on Thursday, 84-year-old Hank Bakken said he could almost smell the timber at his back and feel the hillside air rushing by his face after making a life as a logging truck driver.

“Just makes my day. I almost feel like I’m 18 again. It’s quite a feeling,” Bakken told CHEK News.

Now, the Port Alberni retiree volunteers with the Western Vancouver Island Industrial Heritage Museum on 9th Avenue.

It’s a place that brings the past to life, with hands-on exhibits, storytelling and the actual logging machines that put Port Alberni on the map and made it a rich place in the 1950s, when a young Bakken was just starting out.

Read the full article here.

It was 1924 when a cultural treasure in Prince Rupert was born, finding its first home upstairs of the Canadian Bank of Commerce on 2nd Ave at 5th Street.

Fast forward to 2024, following a plethora of social, economic and technological changes, and it proudly celebrates its enduring mission to keep the art and history of the North Coast alive.

This year the Museum of Northern B.C. is celebrating its 100 years with a new reflective exhibit.

“Unlike the Museum of Northern BC, very few arts and culture institutions in B.C. have a century of unbroken service to its community,” said Susan Marsden, director of the museum.

“It seemed an ideal time to celebrate the museum with an exhibit looking back on the 100 years of the museum’s history in the context of events in the city and the province,” she added.

Read the full article here.

Photo: British Columbia Magazine

Mary Borrowman is mourning the loss of the Whale Interpretive Centre in Telegraph Cove, B.C., a popular tourism attraction that helped fuel the local economy and drew visitors from around the world.

The centre, which housed a large collection of marine mammal skeletons, was destroyed during the Dec. 31 fire that levelled parts of the Vancouver Island resort village.

 "We had probably the largest marine mammal skeleton collection hanging in Western Canada, and it is just as world renowned now," Borrowman said.

Read the full article here.

Visit the Whale Interpretive Centre's website here to learn how you can help them recover from the fire.

The sagacious steward of the Sechelt Community Archives is stepping down after almost three decades overseeing the community’s collection of historical records.  

Ann Watson, withdrawing from her duties at the age of 91, plans to travel extensively with her husband Ivor. Liberated from her customary Thursday office hours at the archival stacks on Teredo Street, Watson also intends to step up her pickleball coaching and competitive gameplay at the Sechelt Seniors Activity Centre. 

Watson began organizing Sechelt’s collections in 1997. She had just completed a relocation of archival materials from the Anglican Church’s Christ Church Cathedral to the Vancouver School of Theology. During the subsequent decade, she traveled to and from Vancouver each week, setting the cathedral records in order while instituting archival systems in Sechelt. 

“What I found out,” she said, “is that you find a job you like and you’ll never work a day in your life.” 

Read the full article here.

On this tour from the Chinese Canadian Museum in Vancouver, curator Catherine Clement will walk you through her feature exhibition commemorating the 1923 Chinese Exclusion Act. Learn more about the unique stories about various exhibition displays and the behind-the-scene work done by her team for this project.

Photo: Laura VanZant, Assistant Curator, and Cathy English, Curator, at the Revelstoke Business Excellence Awards. Cathy English won "Employee of the Year" and the Gift Shop was a runner-up in the Retail Excellence category.

Revelstoke Museum & Archives declared 2024 as their "Year of Getting Things Done." They recently posted all of their changes, projects, and achievements from the last year on their blog.

Check out what they have been up to here!

From The Sidney Museum:

"The Sidney Museum and Archives is delighted to announce the return of its annual LEGO® Brick Exhibition! Back for its 19th consecutive year, the exhibit will open to the public on December 20th and will run until March 30, 2025.

Hundreds of LEGO® creations will be displayed throughout the Museum, many of which play into this year’s subtheme, A Hidden World. Walk through the gallery to see hidden details and unique angles that highlight the attention-to-detail employed in the creation of LEGO® sets. Visitors can anticipate returning displays drawing from themes such as Architecture, Star Wars™, and Lord of the Rings™ alongside new featured sets like Notre-Dame de Paris, Jaws, plants and animals, and much more!

Also new to the exhibit is a “Community Creations” display, where visitors can enter to display their custom LEGO® creations for everyone to enjoy for one month of the exhibit. The Sidney Museum is still accepting submissions. To learn more and enter a creation visit sidneymuseum.ca/programs/lego-community-creations

Interpretation throughout the Museum will highlight the history of the hobby, how it gained its widespread popularity, and fascinating facts about specific sets on display. Popular activities such as our Museum-wide scavenger hunt and “Guess the Bricks contest” will also be returning. Whether reconnecting with an old hobby or continuing your LEGO® adventures, Sidney Museum’s exhibition is sure to delight and inspire visitors of all ages this winter!"

The Sidney Museum and Archives is located at 2423 Beacon Avenue, in the lower level of the Olde Post Office building. The Museum is open seven days a week from 10:00am - 4:00pm, except December 25-26 and January 1st. Entrance is by donation. Please visit the Museum’s website to get up-to-date details on upcoming exhibits and events.

This year, Heritage Week celebrates the many ways people have spent their leisure time throughout history, highlighting how these activities have shaped the cultural fabric of today.

From February 17 to 23, 2025, culture and heritage organizations across the province are invited to host an event in their community to celebrate Heritage Week. Attend an event, spread awareness about Heritage Week on social media using promotional tools & resources, and encourage municipalities to advocate for heritage by issuing a proclamation formalizing the week.

More information and details can be found on the Heritage BC website. 

Stunning wildlife photography, Indian chintz textiles, migration journeys of Chinese Canadians and the music of resistance and change are among new exhibits coming to the Royal British Columbia Museum in 2025.

Tracey Drake, chief executive of the Royal British Columbia Museum, says this year’s exhibits span space and time, from 13th century India to 18th century Hong Kong, and from the natural world to the supernatural realm of music superstars.

Read the full article here.

Sarah Joyce and Gordon Duggan have curated works by more than 200 artists from dozens of countries around the world during their decade at the helm of the New Media Gallery – but they are getting set to embark on a new adventure.

In May 2014, the City of New Westminster announced that Joyce and Duggan would be the new director/curator team at the gallery, which was set to focus on contemporary art that uses new media and technology, including video art, sound art, light art, robotic art, and web art. The pair are wrapping up their work at the gallery and getting set to embark on their next challenge.

Read the full article here.