OMA congratulates 2004 Award of Merit winners
October 19, 2004
Gayle McIntyre
Category B: to an individual who has made a significant contribution to the museum field in Ontario during the Award year
 When Peterborough experienced flash flooding on July 15, 2004, Gayle McIntyre responded immediately to initiate recovery operations for heritage collections at Peterborough Centennial Museum and Archives, ArtSpace, Peterborough Arts Umbrella, Trent Valley Archives, University Women's Club, Peterborough Public Library, Canadian General Electric, Art Gallery of Peterborough, Hutchison House Museum, Canadian Canoe Museum as well as Trent University's Anthropology Department.
Gayle made site visits, salvaged water-damaged papers, paintings, archival documents, film, photographs and works of art. She performed emergency environmental assessments for Hutchison House and other organizations struggling with increased humidity levels. Gayle recruited teams of volunteers to assist in removing debris from the basement of the Peterborough Public Library and Anthropology Department of Trent University. Throughout the crisis, Gayle served as an advisor for the whole community, providing conservation advice to local organizations and residents on how to salvage their damaged personal collections.
Gayle's decisive and immediate response to a community in crisis went well beyond the scope of her job and her role as Program Coordinator at Sir Sandford Fleming College and is an outstanding example of a significant contribution to the museum field in Ontario in 2004.
Chatham-Kent Museum
Category A: Institution - Research
 The 2,200 year old Sulman mummy has been a local celebrity in the collections of Chatham-Kent Museum since 1943, but today "Cleo" is fully interpreted and accessible to the local community and the world, as a result of the museum's impressive research project. Working with the Department of Anthropology at the University of Western Ontario, St. Joseph's Health Care Centre, Robarts Research Institute, the National Research Council of Canada, the Drafting Clinic Canada Ltd., and sculptor Christian Cardell Corbet, a three-dimensional model of the skull was made. This enabled museum staff to present an "osteobiography" of the individual and ultimately a model of her face. The ambitious cutting-edge project began in 2001 but culminated in January of 2004, with the public unveiling of the skull, a forsensic reconstruction and an artistic recreation.
The Chatham-Kent Museum is to be congratulated for this exemplary piece of research. It is outstanding that a small community museum was able to partner so effectively with the scientific and academic worlds. Extensive media coverage has brought well-deserved attention to this project and it is an honour to recognize it with an OMA Award of Merit.
Lanark County Museums Association
Category A - Organization - Exhibition
 The Lanark County Museums Association is comprised of 13 not-for-profit museums and archives: Heritage House Museum, Innisville Heritage Museum, Matheson House, Victoria School Museum, Lanark County Archives, Lanark & District Museum, Mill of Kintail Conservation Area, Mississippi Valley Textile Museum, Middleville & District Museum, North Lanark Historical Society, Naismith Museum & Hall of Fame, Rideau Canal Museum, and the Smiths Falls Railway Museum.
The Traveling Exhibition Project was a cooperative venture that allowed these small organizations to participate in the 2003 International Plowing Match, which attracted 85,000 visitors to Carleton Place, by creating an exhibition tent that showcased the local agricultural heritage and history of the area.
What is remarkable about this project is that only five of the museums had a year-round paid staff, three had no phone or computer, and two had no indoor plumbing! Abandoning all self-interest, volunteers from each of the sites worked together to secure funding, complete the research, select the artifacts, create the exhibit, and promote the event. In addition to the exposure received at the International Plowing Match itself, each site continues to benefit from improved technological equipment, a professional exhibit display, new brochures, a higher profile in their own community and beyond, and a mutual respect amongst themselves for what they dreamed and accomplished. This network of 13 rural heritage organizations is to be commended for an outstanding achievement that exceeds current standards and serves as an excellent example for community museums throughout the province.
Strong Voice for Heritage Coalition - Ottawa, David Flemming and Michel Prévost
Category B -To an organization that has made a significant contribution to the museum field in Ontario during the Award year.
 To meet a municipal 2004 operating budget shortfall of $120 million, the City of Ottawa proposed to cut most of the City's heritage programs, which would have led to the immediate closure of four City-owned museums and severe operating challenges for six community-owned museums. An informal coalition of individuals, led by David Flemming and Michel Prévost, effectively used the Internet, the media, public consultations, and a rally to encourage residents and people from across Canada to participate in the budget process and speak up in defense of local heritage. An unusually strong and articulate response locally, and from elsewhere, encouraged City Council to reverse the staff recommendation to make deep cuts to heritage, with the result that Council voted unanimously to maintain the City's level of investment in local heritage.
Without the work of the coalition and it's sustained leadership to encourage and mobilize the community to action, Council would not have been able to reject the staff recommendation to cut support for local heritage. The coalition operated in a context of situational leadership, without a formal structure, a budget or infrastructure. This grassroots movement is an excellent example of community advocacy at work and serves as an example for others to follow and is therefore most deserving of an OMA Award of Merit.
Diane Sullivan and Parkdale Collegiate - The Legacy of High Park Oral History Project
Category B -To an organization that has made a significant contribution to the museum field in Ontario during the Award year
 The Legacy of High Park Oral History Project is an excellent example of collaborative programming between schools and museums. Led by Diane Sullivan, a teacher at Parkdale Collegiate, the project focused on Toronto's High Park, which became the basis for exploring and interpreting the history of the community. The stories and reminiscences of 100 individuals were recorded and became a valuable oral history addition to the history of the park. From these stories and reminiscences, students were encouraged to explore their community and present their findings within a wide variety of expressions including creative writing, art, drama, quilting and music.
As the driving force behind the project, Diane Sullivan challenged participants to be creative and innovative. The success of the project in forging new relationships between community partners sets out a valuable framework for fostering partnerships and future initiatives in the museum field.
Kathryn Pankowski
Category D - to an individual who has made a significant contribution to the museum field during a period of ten or more years
A gifted teacher, leader and mentor, Kathryn Pankowski has enhanced the standards of exhibit design in Ontario's community museums and has been an inspiration to her many students, employees and colleagues.
Always willing to share her expertise, Kathryn, or Kathy as most of us know her by, has written extensively on exhibit design practice. As an instructor for eight years in both the Museum Management and Curatorship Program and the Collection Conservation and Management Program at Sir Sandford Fleming College in Peterborough and as the Course Director and Principal Instructor for the OMA's Exhibit Design Certificate in Museum Studies Course, Kathy guided, trained and encouraged many museum professionals in the field today often acting in the role of mentor.
Kathy's strong leadership skills were praised by the four community museums involved in the Travelling Exhibit Partnership Project in which Kathy guided, Guelph, Peterborough, Welland and West Parry Sound Museums to accomplish something that had never been done before in Ontario - the formation of a partnership to produce their own travelling exhibits.
Her nominators commented that Kathy's never ending wealth of skill, her generosity, creativity and vibrant personality made her "an energizing force in the museum field".
The OMA is pleased to recognize Kathy's significant contributions to exhibition design in Ontario museums.
Marilynn Havelka
Category E - to an individual in honour of lifetime achievement in the museum field in Ontario
 The definition of achievement reads, "the act of achieving or performing, a successful performance, an accomplishment." Anyone who knows Marilynn Havelka, or knows of her work, will agree that these are words well suited to describe her long career in the museum community.
Marilynn served the museum community since 1971, when she became Curator of Whitehern, followed by work at Dundurn Castle. Marilynn moved on to become Manager of Culture and Special Event Services for the City of Hamilton. During her tenure the number of museums operated by the City rose from three to seven plus an underwater archaeological site and an arts and multicultural programme. Upon her retirement from the City of Hamilton, Marilynn was appointed CAO of the Lower Grand River Land Trust in Cayuga.
Nominators remarked on Marilynn's advocacy skills, praising how she worked through the municipal hierarchy to get things done. The second part of the definition for achievement is, "a great or heroic deed, something accomplished by valour, boldness or a praiseworthy exertion." To borrow from one of the nominators "those of us who worked for her could only shake our heads and say 'how did she talk them into that?'"
Marilynn was known as a supporter and enthusiastic supervisor who encouraged her employees to become part of the professional heritage community. Marilynn herself served as President of the OMA from 1998-2001.
The OMA takes great pride in awarding this lifetime achievement award to Marilynn Havelka.
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