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Council


 

The Ontario Museum Association's governing body is its Council, whose 11 members are elected by the membership at the Annual General Meeting. Council gives strategic policy direction to the Secretariat. It also works to strengthen the Ontario museum community by representing the interests of members to government, the public and private sectors, the media, to public and other related institutions, and to citizens all across the province.

OMA Council 2008/2009

President: Tammy Adkin
Vice President: Kathleen Powell
Treasurer: Gilles Séguin
Councillors: David Adames, Michèle Alderton, Karen Bachmann,Clark Bernat, John Dalrymple, Katherine McCracken, Yasmine Mingay , Yves Theoret

 
TAMMY ADKIN, PRESIDENT
(FIRST YEAR OF A TWO-YEAR TERM)

Tammy is the Executive Director at the London Regional Children's Museum where she has worked for 12 years. Prior to joining the Children's Museum team, Tammy worked as a journalist and in senior communications roles within the non-profit and corporate sectors. Tammy co-chaired the 2000 OMA Conference Committee, served on the 2002 Conference Committee, and is currently the chair of the Membership Involvement Task Force. She also serves on the board of the Canadian Association of Science Centres.

"The Ontario Museum Association is such a valuable resource to the Children's Museum and to me personally. I feel very fortunate to work as part of this great community of museums in Ontario, and I hope to be able to contribute back to the Association and to the museum community through my involvement on the OMA Council."

KATHLEEN POWELL, COUNCILLOR
(FIRST YEAR OF A TWO-YEAR TERM)

Kathleen Powell has been the Manager, City of Niagara Falls Museums, managing the three City owned museums and the Niagara Falls Armoury building for the past three-and-a-half years. Prior to this she was with the Niagara Parks Commission for more than 10 years as Manager of three of their historic sites. Kathleen is a strong advocate of the value of heritage in building strong communities as well as the value of community partnerships in creating a stronger heritage community. Kathleen has a BA in History from Brock University as well as a Certificate in Museums Studies with the Ontario Museum Association.

The Ontario Museum Association provides a wealth of resources for all levels of heritage professionals and I have personally taken advantage of these for many years. I would like to be able to lend what I've learned to assist in moving the Ontario Museum Association forward in exciting and dynamic ways."

GILLES SEGUIN, TREASURER
(FIRST YEAR OF A TWO-YEAR TERM)

Gilles Séguin is with the Cultural Services Division, Community and Protective Services, City of Ottawa. His responsibilities as Manager, Heritage Development, include strategic planning, heritage community support and development, city-wide heritage events, the City museums and the City Archives program. Over the past 25 years, Gilles has worked in the archival, information management, and information technology fields.

"The City of Ottawa and its museums benefited from the great success of the City Council approved 2003 Heritage Plan and the 2005 Museum Sustainability Plan. As a heritage planner within a municipal structure, I look forward to bringing my experience to the work of the Association."

DAVID ADAMES, COUNCILLOR
(FIRST YEAR OF A SECOND TWO-YEAR TERM)

David Adames is the Executive Director of Tourism Hamilton, the tourism marketing agency for Hamilton, a position he has held for the past five years. He has also worked for the Ontario Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing. For twelve years, from 1988 to 2000, David worked for the City of Hamilton's Culture and Recreation Department, including the positions of Head Historical Interpreter at Dundurn Castle and Cultural Marketing Coordinator for the civic museums. He brings a passion for museums and an appreciation of the link between museums and tourism markets, which presents tremendous opportunities.
"The Ontario Museum Association is an important cultural organization in this province and has provided key leadership in cultural tourism by creating initiatives such as 'May is Museum Month'. I look forward to the opportunity of working with the OMA and its members to grow this initiative and look for additional ways for museums to benefit even more from the tourism industry."

MICHELE ALDERTON, COUNCILLOR
(FIRST YEAR OF A TWO-YEAR TERM)

.Michèle Alderton is Director/Curator Red Lake Heritage Centre (formerly known as the Red Lake Museum). Prior to joining the Museum, Michèle was a municipal councillor, served on the Board of Trustees of the Canadian Museum of Civilization, and sat on the Ontario Trillium Foundation Grant Review Team for Northwestern Ontario. Michèle also served on the planning committee for the 2006 OMA conference. Michèle is a well-respected museum professional, who has received awards honouring her important work with the Red Lake community and her contribution to the museum profession.


"I am thrilled to join the OMA Council."I think it’s an excellent organization and I’m honoured to be part of it. I am most impressed with the fact that the OMA reaches out to museums throughout the province, including isolated communities such as Red Lake. They recognize and promote the work we do, and make us feel connected to Ontario’s museum community."

KAREN BACHMANN
(FIRST YEAR OF A TWO-YEAR TERM)

Karen Bachmann is the Director/Curator for the Timmins Museum: National Exhibition Centre and has been with the organization for over twenty-three years. She is also co-chair, with Mayor Tom Laughren, of the 100th Anniversary Committee for Timmins and the Porcupine Gold Rush. Her volunteer activities include over ten years service with the Ontario Museum Association, serving as President of the organization in 1996; she has also chaired the Awards Committee for the Canadian Museum Association and ICOM Canada. She has been a member of the Ontario Celebrate Canada Committee for over eighteen years. She has held board positions with the Porcupine United Way, the Cochrane Temiskaming Museums and Galleries Association, Arts and Culture Timmins and committee work with the Timmins Chamber of Commerce. Karen has authored two books on the history of the Porcupine Camp and currently writes a weekly column on history and heritage issues for the Timmins Daily Press. She is presently involved in the development of an Arts and Heritage Complex for the City of Timmins.

“I have been a member of the Ontario Museum Association for over twenty years. The OMA has been of great benefit to me as a museum worker; I feel that it is time to return the favour and offer my experience and service to an association that I feel stands up, not only for museum professionals, but for heritage in general in this province. I would be proud to work with others to further the cause of museums in what I think will be very interesting times for us all as heritage and cultural workers.”

CLARK BERNAT, COUNCILLOR
(FIRST YEAR OF A TWO-YEAR TERM)
Born in St. Catharines, Clark developed a great appreciation for Museums due to his many visits to cultural institutions with his grandfather and parents. Clark has a degree in History from Brock University and a Master's Degree in Museum Studies from the University of Leicester. His work at Leicester focused on cultural diversity in Museums. Clark has worked in various capacities at the St. Catharines Museum, Battlefield House Museum, Backus Heritage Village and has been the Managing Director at the Niagara Historical Society Museum in Niagara-on-the-Lake for 6 years. He has sat on the Steering Committee of the Children's Discovery Centre of Niagara and chaired Doors Open Niagara. Currently Clark is the Chair of the Museums of Niagara Association (MONA).
“I look forward to serving the Museums community of Ontario on the OMA council. As a director of a small museum I understand the diversity of needs our sector requires. I would like to provide my experience and expertise in community building, partnerships, advocacy and public relations to Council and our community.”

JOHN DALRYMPLE, COUNCILLOR
(SECOND YEAR OF A TWO-YEAR TERM)

John Dalrymple is the Director of Development for the Textile Museum of Canada. He earned a Specialized Honours B.A. in Anthropology from York University in 1998 and a Masters of Museum Studies degree from the University of Toronto in 2001. He has conducted anthropological and archaeological fieldwork in Belize, Peru and Canada and has published works on museology in a number of academic and arts based publications. For the Ontario Museum Association, John has been actively involved in May is Museum Month. He is well-regarded for his communication, development and information technology skills.

KATHERINE MCCRACKEN, COUNCILLOR
(FIRST YEAR OF A SECOND TWO-YEAR TERM)

Katherine McCracken has been working in museums since 1986. She has an Honours BA in History from Huron College, University of Western Ontario and was in the first MA Public History program at University of Waterloo. She first discovered that museum work could be a careerwhile working four summers as a student at the Historic Naval and Military Establishments in Penetanguishene. Since then she has worked at Historic Sites Service in Alberta, the Michigan Bureau of History, the R.E. Olds Transportation Museum in Lansing, Michigan, the National Heisey Glass Museum in Newark, Ohio and Joseph Schneider Haus Museum in Kitchener. Since May 2004 she has been Director of Guelph Museums.

"I have enjoyed my first year on OMA Council and the experience of acquiring some new perspectives on the Ontario museum community. I look forward to continuing in this capacity and hope that I can make a contribution to this profession which I still find to be incredibly challenging and rewarding on a daily basis."

YASMINE MINGAY
(FIRST YEAR OF A TWO-YEAR TERM)

Yasmine is the Chief, Media Relations at the Canadian Museum of Civilization Corporation where she has worked in various capacities over the past 7 years including exhibitions project manager working for both the Museum of Civilization and Canadian War Museum. Prior to this, Yasmine was based in Montreal as PolyGram Canada’s Marketing and Promotion Representative for Eastern Canada working with and promoting Canadian and international artists. Yasmine has lived in six countries and traveled extensively, she holds a B.A in Political Science and History from McGill.

“I believe in working collectively to inspire passion for our past, present and future. Museums are essential to understanding where we have been, where we are, and where we are going. I would like to share my energy and passion for history and museums to help the Ontario Museum Association move forward.”
 
YVES THEORET, COUNCILLOR
(FIRST YEAR OF A TWO-YEAR TERM)
Yves Théoret is Director of Exhibitions and Interpretation with the Portrait Gallery of Canada, a programme of Library and Archives Canada in Ottawa. His responsibilities include the establishment and launch of a new national travelling exhibitions programme to share the institution’s vast portrait collection. Over the last ten years, Yves has held several positions in museums in Canada and the United States, including a recent assignment as Chief of Marketing and Communications at the National Gallery of Canada where he was involved in the coordination of the OMA’s May is Museum Month initiative. A recent participant to the Museum Leadership Institute (2007) organized by the J. Paul Getty Foundation in Los Angeles, his areas of expertise include exhibitions development, strategic planning, as well as marketing and communications. He is looking forward to the opportunity of serving on the Council of the Ontario Museum Association and advancing the interests of its members, and most notably the interests of the next generation of museum workers. Yves Théoret is married and has two children.

 

 
   
 
     
 
 
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