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Table of Contents

2015 The Board of Directors page 5

2015 The Permanent Staff page 6

President’s Report page 7

Executive Director’s Activity Report pages 9 to 34

Treasurer’s Summary Report page 35

Audited Financial Statements (printed under separate cover)

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The BYTOWN MUSEUM Board of Directors 2015 -2016

Tom Caldwell President

Vacant Vice-President

Steve Menechian Treasurer

Margaret Caron-Vuotari Secretary

Anthony P. McGlynn Director-at-Large

Cathy Wilkinson Director-at-Large

Clark Lawlor Director-at-Large

Lara Pascali Director-at-Large

Ian Gillespie Director-at-Large

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The BYTOWN MUSEUM Permanent Staff

Robin Etherington Executive Director (2012-2016)

Sandy Trueman Revenue and Operations Manager (2012-2016)

Megan Bocking Programs Manager (2011-2015)

Grant Vogl Collections and Exhibitions Manager (2011-2016)

Jonathan Morel Programming Manager (2016)

Antionette Brind’Amour Marketing & Communications Coordinator P/T (2016)

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President’s Report

I am very pleased to report that in 2015 we continued to build on the progressive increases in attendance that we’ve witnessed over the last number of years. Visits to the Museum in 2015 increased from 63,000 in 2014 to 84,000 in 2015. In keeping with the times our social media presence has also grown, with the number of social media followers having grown from 2, 000 to a current roster of 5,600 over the same period. Greater volunteer involvement has meant that their hours have increased from 1,400 to 2,300!

The main exhibit for 2015 in the temporary exhibition was “Hidden in Plain Sight: ’s History in the Background”. The exhibit was based on scanned images from the digitization project and the ensuing research about the . In the Community Gallery we had 3 exhibits including: Views of Orleans: A Victorian Eye on the Fringes of Ottawa, a Chinese-Canadian Arts Council Visual Arts Exhibition and Semana Santa en Guatemala/Holy Week in Guatemala. The Museum continues to invite and encourage community and ethnic groups to mount their own displays to tell their stories or histories of Ottawa.

Over 2015 museum staff have been busy updating the displays in the permanent galleries including the “Canal Workers” and the “South African War” and “First World War” sections. Also, a number of artifacts in displays were rotated with items in storage.

It is gratifying to see the digitization of the Museum’s collection continue as we were able to add an additional 1,600 items in 2015. We are also in the midst of a complete rebuild of our website. This will allow much more flexibility in what we are able to present on the website and we’ll be able to do it in a more timely fashion. We hope to have this up and running by the end of June 2016.

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In November we were sad to see Megan Bocking, our former Program Manager, move on to a new position with the Federal Government. We are, however, very pleased to add Jonathan Morel as our new Programming Manager. Jonathan comes to us from the Parliamentary Library Tour Program where he was an Interpretation Officer.

Facility rentals continue to grow as the Museum becomes better known for providing an eclectic and interesting site for offsite meetings, workshops and receptions. Café and Boutique sales also grew last year helped in some part by weather but also from a continued focus on improving our offerings.

As President I would like to thank the Board of Directors for their input and hard work over the past year. In 2015 we added Margaret Caron-Vuotari and Ian Gillespie. I would like to thank departing Director Noelia Garcia.

Bytown Foundation

The Foundation met with Mayor Jim Watson in November to keep the Museum front and center in his mind for future plans for the . As a result of the Museum’s Strategic Plan review in the spring of 2015 the Bytown has broadened our mandate to cover Ottawa from 1918 to current times. We wanted to bring this to the attention of the Mayor as this change in mandate will necessitate a significant growth in the Museum’s collection. Further fundraising initiatives will be started in May. Funds collected last year were approximately $3,800.

Respectfully submitted by Tom Caldwell, President

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Executive Director’s Activity Report

On behalf of the Board of Directors and Management, I thank all of the MUSÉE BYTOWN MUSEUM’s members, stakeholders, partners, volunteers, donors and patrons. Your profound support once again contributed to the outstanding work that the Museum achieved throughout 2015.

WOW! Up front I am going to say that it truly was a remarkable year! We had 84,000 visitors, up 20,000 over 2014 and representing an overall doubling of attendance in four years. Self-earned revenue generation is up 50% over four years since 2011. A comprehensive policy manual and a new forward thinking Strategic Plan are completed and proactively guiding the Museum. New, vibrant partnerships and strong stakeholder agreements are in place as your community museum prepares for its 100th Anniversary in 2017 and to partner with the City of Ottawa, Ottawa 2017, , Canadian Heritage and all of our colleague organizations and partners to celebrate Canada’s 150th Birthday and Ottawa 2017!

The Museum is enormously indebted to The City of Ottawa for its annual operating grant and constant advice. The City’s grant allows the MUSÉE BYTOWN MUSEUM to pro- actively work for the community it serves and provide our community with extraordinary museum based events and activities. In addition to the annual operating grant, the City sponsors the online collections database, known as MINISIS (M3 online), for the Museum and the other Community to use in partnership. The City has also renewed loans to the Museum for its permanent exhibitions.

Another noteworthy funder of the Museum is the Province of . Annually the Museum applies for a “Community Museum Operational Grant (CMOG).” In order to receive the CMOG grant, the Museum has to stand out with regard to the provincial museum standards. The requirements entail policy development, best business practice in financial management and governance and ensuring heightening of museum

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activities. In turn, meeting provincial museum standards facilitates application to other government grant and corporate funding programs.

The Historical Society of Ottawa is always there with its insightful and friendly support of the Museum. Thank all of you.

Parks Canada cares for the building and site which are federal property. In order to enhance the partnership and active events on site, Parks Canada and The BYTOWN MUSEUM co-signed an Operational Agreement, in conjunction with its Licence of Occupation. This agreement affords expansion of our usable patio area, outdoor operations and visibility on site as well as greater joint activities on site including the site access to view the Casino Lac Leamy Fire Works in August 2015 and the site’s first wedding in Sept 2015. As always, we work together for Victoria Day long weekend and the opening of the Canal, Canada Day celebrations and Col. By Day in August.

The Board and Management, staff and volunteers are all extremely honoured to work for the community of Ottawa at their oldest community museum - MUSÉE BYTOWN MUSEUM. The forward thinking Women’s Canadian Historical Society of Ottawa commenced the collection in 1898. It is one of the oldest historical collections in Canada. In 1917 it became a museum with its own building. Since 1951, it has occupied the Commissariat Building on the National and UNESCO World Heritage site of the . The Museum will celebrate its 100th Birthday in 2017, when Canada commemorates the 150th Anniversary of Confederation. As noted, the Museum is partnering with the City and other colleague organizations to ensure a spectacular celebration of Ottawa as Capital of Canada over the past 150 years and of the Museum’s 100th birthday. Events such as “Red Bull Crashed Ice” that will occur on site in March 2017, will enliven the Museum, the National and UNESCO World Heritage Site and all of Ottawa, throughout 2017.

Museum staff realized exceptional exhibitions, exciting programs, new and renewed partnerships, amazing volunteer recruitment, superb marketing and communication

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successes, such as increased social media presence, several effective grant applications, model policy and procedures development to be compliant with national and provincial museum standards and federal Corporations Act requirements, enhanced financial management procedures and best business practices, augmented revenue generation, a systematic migration of 1928 collection records and photographs to a contemporary online collection management system for public access, the positive implementation of the youth led Youth Council, and another stellar increase in visitation. 2015 was truly spectacular!

The BYTOWN MUSEUM is a community museum that manages to be on the cutting edge of 21st century technology and museology. The world is dramatically changing and all museums and organizations and government services need to equally change service delivery to their clients and visitors. For the BYTOWN MUSEUM this entails digitizing the collection and making it accessible via the Internet, updating the website for accessibility on mobile devices, proactively using social media for marketing and communications, and incorporating QR codes and video monitors throughout galleries and public areas that show ongoing programming opportunities, digitized photographs and most recently a dramatic visualization of the burning of Parliament in its current exhibition. We now have over 1928 digitized images and records uploaded on to MINISIS for your access and research. In fact, the digitization initiative informed the 2015 temporary exhibition: Hidden in Plain Sight: Ottawa’s History in the Background.

Temporary Exhibitions

2015 was a remarkable year for offering exciting and unique temporary exhibitions to all of our visitors from the community and visiting Ottawa from elsewhere. In addition to the temporary gallery exhibitions, the Museum hosted community displays in the Community Gallery on the second floor. Staff also worked on updating labels and display modules of the permanent galleries. Mr. Grant Vogl, Collections and Exhibitions Manager once again did amazing professional and curatorial work on all exhibitions.

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Ottawa Answers the Call: The Capital and the Great War, April 9, 2014 (Vimy Ridge Day) to March 1, 2015. This was a unique and stellar exhibition that recounted the history of ordinary citizens through the formative years of our young nation during the First World War. The war affected all Canadians. Ottawa citizens volunteered ‘to do their part.’ From armed forces personnel to nurses, factory workers and politicians, the citizens of the played a fundamental part in the development of our national consciousness as well as our status on the World stage.

It featured exceptional artifacts and photographs, donations from military personnel’s families and interactive components. In fact, many of the donated artefacts and until now unseen artefacts are a vital part of the updated the Boer War and First World War displays in the permanent gallery.

Hidden in Plain Sight: Ottawa’s History in the Background, April 2015 to January 2016. The impetus for this exhibition was the digitization of the vast, varied and eclectic photographic collection of the BYTOWN MUSEUM. In taking often small-scale images: snapshots, cabinet cards and personal photograph albums and putting them under the microscope so to speak, new stories, new details and new aspects of each image were revealed. Highly magnified views and fantastic historic photographs allowed visitors to explore the hidden history in the background.

Forged in Fire: The Building and Burning of Parliament, January 29 to October 31, 2016. From Barrack Hill to the Nation’s Capital to the devastating fire of 1916, the history of has been one of change, intrigue and national identity. Our new temporary exhibition, explores the history of the site and the buildings that have called it home throughout its evolution. Featuring unique artefacts and photographs from the MUSÉE BYTOWN MUSEUM collection, including rare images of the construction of Parliament by early Ottawa photographer Elihu Spencer, this exhibition is not to be missed.

We thank Mr. Stephen Young, instructor, Algonquin College School of media and Design

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for his brilliant creation of the visualization of Parliament burring –on display at the exhibition’s entrance, as well as Applied Museum Studies students for their research.

The BYTOWN MUSEUM: a Century of Community, February 3, 2017-February 19, 2018 – the Museum’s celebratory exhibition for its 100th Anniversary.

Join the MUSÉE BYTOWN MUSEUM in our 100th anniversary year for an exciting new temporary exhibition, Bytown Museum: A Century of Community. Featuring 100 eclectic, unique and beautiful works from our primary artefact collection, A Century of Community will tell the story of Ottawa, its people and its evolution from lumber town to the capital of Canada. As we also celebrate Canada’s 150th birthday, we invite you to explore objects and stories that have shaped our city, discover community roots, travel the Rideau Canal, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2007, and tell us what the BYTOWN MUSEUM means to you!

As you can see, The Temporary Gallery exhibitions are planned for the next couple of years with sensational exhibitions that honour Ottawa’s heritage. In fact, we are negotiating with the City of Ottawa to display their very special exhibition that will show the 150th Anniversary of Confederation by exploring Ottawa’s rich history from 1867 to 2017. This moving new exhibition looks through the eyes of the community and will showcase historical events and people that shaped Ottawa. Stay tuned for 2018, as we plan to partner with the City of Ottawa to showcase its amazing exhibition on Confederation.

Community Gallery

The MUSÉE BYTOWN MUSEUM Community Gallery program affords community groups, embassies, cultural organizations and local artists the opportunity to tell their stories within our walls. The Community Gallery – a uniquely Ottawa space located in the former cooper’s workshop, is an excellent venue to showcase the stories and

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perspectives of the diverse peoples that call Ottawa home. We welcome all interested individuals, community and cultural groups, embassies and artists to fill out an application for the Program, or contact us directly for more information: http://www.bytownmuseum.com/en/com-gallery.html

“Views of Orleans: A Victorian Eye on the Fringes of Ottawa”: January 31-May 24, 2015, by local artist/photographer, Graham Iddon.

“Chinese-Canadian Arts Council Visual Arts Exhibition.” The Chinese-Canadian Arts Council of Canada in Ottawa. June 1-September 7, 2015.

“Semana Santa en Guatemala/Holy Week in Guatemala.” Guatemala Community in Ottawa and Embassy of Guatemala. September 14-December 31, 2015.

“Forged in Fire: The Building and Burning of Parliament: Programming Selfie-Booth.” January 29 – February 24, 2016.

Currently, we have: “The Life and Works of William Butler Yeats,” the Embassy of Ireland and the Irish Community in Ottawa. February 25-April 30, 2016.

Permanent Exhibitions

In 2015 updates occurred within the Permanent Galleries. They included:  The “Canal Workers” display with an important donation of canal workers’ tools and new research about Irish skilled labour.  The “South African War” and “First World War” section  Rotation of several artefacts

In 2016, Mr. Vogl is updating the Confederation and D’Arcy McGee sections, as well as the Whiskey and Wickedness display. He is mounting a new donation of a portrait of J.R Booth in the Lumber Industry section.

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Also in 2016, we will start highlighting significant artefacts on display for our 2017 exhibition to feature your community museum’s 100th Anniversary.

Research and major planning work has already started in 2017: a celebratory 100th Anniversary exhibition showing ‘100 awesome artefacts’ in the collection and ensuring the updating of the permanent gallery displays are completed. The Temporary exhibition in 2017 is so important that the Museum will use the Community Gallery space to be a critical part of the overall exhibit of 100 artefacts and accompanying programming.

Ongoing research of the artefacts on permanent display will continue throughout 2016. Much of the research to date contributed to both the information enhancement of the displays and the temporary exhibitions and public programs. In turn the research for Ottawa Answers the Call, Hidden in Plain Sight and Forged in Fire, culminating with the tremendous research for our 2017 exhibition all contribute to updates in the permanent displays, to Lost Ottawa and to our social media communications about your community.

Social Media “Exhibits”

The Museum used social media effectively to share single photograph “displays” for FaceBook. Twitter and Instagram. They announce special dates or events in history such as: International Women’s, International Museums, Canada, and Col. By Days, the Museum’s own birthday, Movember, and Winterlude to name a few. Also, the Museum contributes images from its collection to Lost Ottawa on a regular basis. Face book ‘friends’ (2700 followers) and Twitter followers (2500) dramatically increased in 2015.

Get Social with us! Please keep posted to the Museum’s website: www.bytownmuseum.ca / www.museebytown.ca , and Twitter Accounts @BytownMuseum and @Lt.ColJohnBy), FaceBook (facebook.com/bytown) and Instagram (@bytownmuseum) accounts for ongoing special information and displays throughout 2016 and beyond.

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Museum Collection

Since 1898, the collection has grown and since 1917, the Museum has cared for the astonishing artefacts of Ottawa residents. It characterizes the energetic history of Canada’s capital city, from its beginning as Bytown until today.

Collection management and research during 2015 played a notable role in all of the exhibitions’ triumph, as well as in maintaining the storage of the 10,000 artifacts and upgrading their records. The major project for 2015 was to update the records and scan the photographs, including the Topley photograph collection that was donated in 2014. The Museum digitized, organized and formatted over 3,900 images from the photograph collection. Thanks to the dedicated assistance of Erin Bernauer, numerous records have been updated. To date, over 1,928 records are uploaded on to MINISIS for public access. The modern system will allow the public, both local and global, to access the Museum’s records for research and enjoyment purposes. The MINISIS ‘M3 online database’ is a joint initiative with the City of Ottawa (Archives and Museums) and the other community museums in Ottawa. The public launch was on March 30, 2015. Over the next few years, work on the records and images will continue with the end result being public access to the entire collection online, coupled with increased image resources for exhibitions and programs. In addition to the physical work to update and upload the records, policy upgrades continue: collections management, conservation and exhibitions policies are particularly pertinent to the collection.

Please understand that this all important work is dependent on grants and donations. Feel free to donate to the BYTOWN MUSEUM and recommend local companies to sponsor your community museum’s initiative to be a leading 21st century museum.

The Museum continues to work with the Historic Society of Ottawa (HSO) and the City Archives with regard to HSO’s archival and library materials now at the City Archives.

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Mr. Vogl also worked diligently to ensure that the conservation of the collection was taken care of. The bulk of the collection is housed at the Diefenbunker Canada’s Cold War Museum. The storage area and the museum galleries are monitored regularly.

Throughout 2015 the Museum seriously worked on the conservation of the collection. Such work is exemplified by the following:  Conservation framing of numerous primary prints and photographs for display with Patrick Gordon  Documentation, research, cleaning and rehousing of 21 silver artefacts with Algonquin College  Cleaning, repair and flattening of several works on paper with Ubbink Conservation  Repair of photograph album with Ubbink Conservation  Ongoing integrated pest management program  Ongoing environmental monitoring program, including deployment of new wireless dataloggers  Continuing to rehouse, remount and monitor artefacts on display and in storage  Condition reporting of all artefacts on loan and on display  Prioritizing artefacts for future conservation work

During 2015, Mr. Vogl worked with a number of thoughtful donors. I am reporting on the result, even though they were not approved by the Board until February 2016. The donated artefacts are: J.R. Booth Camp Blanket, Parliamentary lamp recovered from fire of 1916, large format E.B. Eddy photos, and a portrait of J.R. Booth.

Active collecting is a systematic and considered process due to: restricted storage space and limited resources, coupled with the transition of records and images to the updated database. However, if something of great importance is offered, the Museum follows its standard collection procedure. During the 2015 Strategic Planning process, the Board and Management approved a revitalized ‘collection mandate,’ that is, from the beginning 17

of Bytown/Ottawa to present day.

In order to address the storage issue, the Museum joined a City sponsored ‘needs assessment’ study of storage requirements for all collections in Ottawa (City and community museums and heritage organizations’ collections). The need for a City sponsored storage facility was identified. The next phase entails a feasibility study. We thank the City of Ottawa for taking the lead on the needs assessment and look forward to the next phase.

Staff responded to a large number of research or information requests about an artifact or an historical event or figure of Ottawa.

Of fabulous prominence is the work the Museum is doing by way of loans. In 2015 the Museum proactively participated in the following loans: Loans (outgoing): Numerous outgoing loans were negotiated and facilitated for exhibitions in national, international and regional institutions for both short and long terms loans. In 2015, artefacts from BYTOWN MUSEUM’s primary collection could be seen at:  The Canadian Museum of History (Ottawa) – “Rebellion and Confederation 1867” and ‘Canada’s History Hall 2017 (renewal)  The National Gallery of Canada/Library and Archives Canada (Ottawa)-“Mirrors with Memory”  The Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21 (Halifax) – “Permanent Exhibition”  The D’Arcy McGee Museum (Carlingford, Ireland) - “Permanent Exhibition”  The City of Ottawa Archives – “Taverns and Troublemakers”  The Billings Estate National Historic Site (Ottawa) – “From Settlers to Skyscrapers”  The Rideau Club (Ottawa) –“150th Anniversary Celebrations”

Loans (incoming): Numerous incoming loans were (re)negotiated and facilitated 18

for exhibitions at the BYTOWN MUSEUM in 2015 and with a view to 2016. They are from national and regional institutions, for short and long term loans. In 2015, artefacts on loan to the Museum came from”  The (Ottawa) – “Col. By’s sextant”  The City of Ottawa – archaeological items in: “Whiskey and Wickedness” display  The City of Ottawa Archives – “Invitation and Program, cornerstone ceremony of 1916”  The Canadian Museum of History –“Carved stone element, fire of 1916”  Phil White, Dominion Sculptor (Ottawa) – “Stone mason tools and sandstone fragment”

The CMH requested that the Museum provide it with a long-term loan of important artefacts for its new ‘Canada Hall’ to open in 2017. Such a loan ensures that over a million local and international visitors will see the BYTOWN MUSEUM’s name and artefacts.

In turn, the Museum renewed a long-term loan from the Canadian War Museum for the Lt. Col. John By’s sextant in the permanent gallery, as well as some archaeology artefacts from the City of Ottawa.

The collections management upgrade project is also resulting in the photographs being digitized and shared with our public. Staff systematically shares the digitized photographs with the public either on the Museum’s website or on ‘Lost Ottawa’ or by way of social media. In turn this has immensely increased the Museum’s presence and importance ‘digitally’ (the way of the future) and raised local and global interest in our collection and programs and overall interest in Ottawa’s history.

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Programming and Events

First and foremost, please join me in congratulating Ms. Megan Bocking on her new position at the Canadian Museum of Nature. Megan served as Program Manager at the BYTOWN MUSEUM for close to five years. Her work with us completely updated programming, volunteer and summer staff oversight and use of social media at your community museum. We now have another wonderful colleague with the National Museums.

I invite you to welcome Mr. Jonathan Morel, our new Programming Manager. Jonathan served as an Interpretation Officer with the Library of Parliament’s Parliamentary Tour Program for nine years. He joins our team with incredible experience and expertise.

Once again, Ms. Bocking developed and superbly delivered a busy programming schedule in 2015. Some events are popular regulars and others are new and innovative. She also renewed the popular scavenger postcards for kids of all ages to find throughout the Museum.

The Museum’s education programs were again revitalized to update curriculum links and be pertinent to the contemporary student and school programs at various age levels. The Museum also offered numerous special events and public programs based on the exhibitions and partnerships with other organizations such as Department of Canadian Heritage (CLICK! Youth Program), Rideau Downtown BIA and Canadian Heritage (Chill Factor & Winterlude, entailing ice sculptures), City of Ottawa (Doors Open), Council of Heritage Organizations of Ottawa (CHOO/COPO), the City of Ottawa and Parks Canada (Heritage Day at City Hall and Col. By Day), and Cultural Days (federal initiative that is across Canada). In addition to the ongoing school and public programs, the Museum offered free First Sunday of the Month throughout winter, extended hours and incredible free programming on Thursday evenings until 8 pm throughout the summer season. Offerings of Winterlude Programming, March Break drop-in activities, Easter Eggstravaganza Scavenger Hunt, Monday Night Movies and Let us Entertain You Free

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Thursday Evenings, themed lecture series, Thanksgiving Leaf Colouring activity , Hallowe’en Creepy Crawly Family fun and Edwardian Christmas Crafter-noons, to name a few.

In addition to the ongoing and extremely successful school, youth and public programming that the Museum offers our community and tourists, the BYTOWN MUSEUM effectively implemented a model “Youth Council (YoCo as the youth themselves call it).” In 2015, Museum staff applied for and received funding for the Youth Council from The Community Foundation of Ottawa. It is researching and applying for further funding to be able to achieve a second pilot year. The uniqueness of the Museum’s Youth Council is that it encourages the young people to communicate their research on history and community topics by way of social media and technology. The program is a model for youth engagement in museums and history. In fact, ‘YoCo’ will be featured in the upcoming Nelson Grade Eight History textbook as part of the Ontario curriculum. Megan Bocking and Robin Etherington presented YoCo at the Michaëlle Jean Foundation conference “Power of the Arts National Forum,” at Carleton University in November 2015. Our presentation was enthusiastically received. And the youth were greeted by the Minister of Canadian Heritage, the Hon. Mélanie Joly at a national museums’ event in February 2016 (see their ‘selfie’ on the front page of this report).

Mr. Morel is building on this super foundation and is planning programs, events, youth activities and partnerships for 2016 and for our birthday year - 2017. Stay tuned – Jonathan’s incredible ideas for new programs and events will entertain you anew.

Visibility and Visitation

A critical accomplishment in 2015 was the sensational increase in visitation. By way of general admission, participants in museum programming and in facility rentals and commercial ventures, the Museum had 84,000 people through its doors in 2015. This is an increase over 2014, which welcomed over 63,000; in 2013, which welcomed 58,000;

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and in 2012 welcomed 51,000 and in 2011 welcomed 42,000 visitors. In other words, in four years, the visitation at your community museum doubled. An unbelievable accomplishment!

A deliberate and energetic use of social media and enhanced marketing and proactive work with partners have definitely made your community museum more visible locally and globally. The Museum and staff are in high demand for their programs and to partner with.

Promotions

Here is a good place to introduce you to Ms. Antoinette Brind’Amour who is our new Marketing and Communications Coordinator (P/T). Antoinette has phenomenal experience with website maintenance, social media, graphic design and promotions. She has already taken the lead for the Museum’s website rejuvenation and e-Blast.

Media and social media exposure for the impressive temporary and community gallery exhibitions, programming and special events were far-reaching in 2015. In-between numerous Ottawa Tourism ‘FAM’ tours to the Museum, Ottawa’s newspapers, TV and radio outlets, Tourism representations, publications, social media (Facebook and Twitter), the website and visitors’ personal ‘blogs,’ your BYTOWN MUSEUM was definitely touted by visitors close at hand and from afar. The Museum is prepared to take advantage of the current social media and website reality and is working to take even greater advantage of technology and social media. The Museum is developing a marketing and communications plan in 2016 and a totally updated website that is compliant with mobile technology (access via smart phones). Social media and a revitalized website are part of the “2015-2020 Strategic Plan that the Museum completed in 2015.

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Membership

The BYTOWN MUSEUM held ‘member events’ in 2015, such as the Lumberjack Breakfast. The Breakfast in early December is a popular way to thank members, volunteers and stakeholders. The Museum also sends a new e-newsletter (E-Blast) to inform all Members of the activities and events of their community museum. The Museum enjoys over 56 members and welcomes all of you and your friends to become a donor and a “Member.” The Museum’s 2015-2016 Patrons are: Akben-Marchand, Charles Lawlor, Clark Burns, Judith Lewis, Penn Caron-Vuotari, Margaret Lockwood, Eugenia Duquet, Michel Menechian, Steve Garcia, Noelia Pascali, Lara Gillespie, Ian Rider, Peter Hamilton, Margaret Wilkinson, Cathy Hirsh, Dorene Etherington, Robin

Please become a Member of YOUR SUPERB Community Museum! And please donate so we can continue to serve our outstanding community of Ottawa!

Volunteers

The BYTOWN MUSEUM recruited a number of new volunteers and the volunteer body averages at 50. Our dedicated volunteers logged a total of 2,307 hours. Their projects included among many activities: the e-newsletter, social media communications, policy research, special events, gallery tours, meet and greet visitors, lemonade stand and ice cream cart sales, costumed characters, administrative tasks and various research projects for education programs and on the collection, as well as assisting preparing programming and meeting materials. We warmly thank our volunteers for all of their work at and positive promotion of your community museum.

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Please become a volunteer at this spectacular Museum!

Board of Directors and Governance

The BYTOWN MUSEUM is a federally registered charity, not-for-profit organization. The volunteer Board of Directors is a governance board with responsibility for the museum’s finances, policies, fundraising efforts and strategic planning. The Board of Directors meets monthly and for special events and activities, such as exhibition opening receptions and the AGM. A major project of the Board in 2014 was completing the articles of continuance and updated By-Laws in order to be compliant with the federal Corporations Act. In 2015, a major initiative was the “Strengthening Connections: MUSÉE BYTOWN MUSEUM,” Strategic Plan 2015-2020. It is guiding the Museum through the challenges of being a 21st century museum and cultural resource for Ottawa. Already staff is acting on the recommendations by working on a marketing plan and an updated website that is accessible on mobile devices.

Interns and Summer Staff

In addition to a remarkable permanent professional staff (Grant Vogl, Megan Bocking, Jonathan Morel, Sandy Trueman and Robin Etherington), The BYTOWN MUSEUM received summer student grants, which allowed the Museum to hire amazing summer students Steve Mattiussi, Julien Lacroix, Stuart Johnson Edwards, Veronique Kenny, Courtney King, Madeleine Gomery, Catherine Roth, and Elaine Sandness. They professionally handled a record number of visitors throughout the summer of 2015, as well as made everyone feel welcome. Thank you! Julien, Steve and Stuart were hired to work P/T and for special events over the Fall and Winter.

We had three interns: Madeline Smolarz, a University of Toronto Museum Studies student who worked on a 2017 programming plan, as well as Stephanie Elliot of Carleton University and Corrie Bouskill, a Fleming College Museum Management & Curatorship student, who both conducted independent research for the 2017 exhibition.

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Contract Personnel

We received a Museum Assistance Program grant (federal) that allowed the Museum to hire a contract person for the collections management upgrade project. Erin Bernauer, Collections Database Officer, cleaned up and digitized 50% of the collection records. We received a Community Foundation of Ottawa grant to allow the Museum to further implement the Youth Council. Jocelyn Brock worked with the Youth Council January - August 2015, and returned for a short term contract as Visitor Services November 2015 - February 2016. Corrie Bouskill is presently serving as Youth Council Facilitator in 2015- 2016 on a part-time basis as we apply for additional grants and funding to keep the youth program active.

With deep gratitude for all of their hard work, we thank Gerry Harris, Tony Sistakis, and André Ouellette, who respectively provide the Museum with excellent contract bookkeeping, computer/IT and website services.

Please know that your Museum’s staff is well known and respected throughout the community. For example, Robin Etherington was nominated for the RGA’s Prix d’excellence award 2015.

And in 2016, the BYTOWN MUSEUM is nominated for an Attractions Ontario award – the Small Museum Category. Please cast your vote for your community museum –the BYTOWN MUSEUM: www.attractionsontario.ca/ontarioschoice !

Partnerships

Partnerships continue to be of the utmost importance for The BYTOWN MUSEUM. They afford opportunities to expand museum services, extend programming, enhance marketing and PR prospects, and add resources to all aspects of the operation. In 2015 the Museum partnered with the Department of Canadian Heritage for the CLICK!

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youth program and Winterlude; with CHOO/COPO, who was the lead organization for HERITAGE Day in February and Bytown Days & Col. By Day in August 2015; with the City of Ottawa for the MINISIS collection management upgrade project, the Carleton University for working with the Youth Council; with Downtown Rideau and Byward Market BIAs for joint marketing and programming, such as CHILL Factor and Summer FLING;’ Haunted Walks for special programming in October and at Christmas time, Algonquin College and its Applied Museum Studies program for conservation students to work on the collection and their students to serve as interns and summer staff, Parks Canada National Office Discovery Team and 100th Regiment for enhanced animation along the Ottawa Locks, Magnetic North Theatre and with Ottawa Museum Network for joint marketing and services and professional development initiatives. The Museum also partners with businesses such as Haunted Walks and Kichesippi Beer Co. to extend programs. We work hard to find and retain partners for specific projects and well as for long term museum services for our community.

Revenue Streams

The BYTOWN MUSEUM has a lively Boutique and Cafe area. The introduction new product lines and offering of freshly brewed coffee selections in partnership with Bytown Barista have proven successful in attracting new visitors and extending their stay. The ever popular ice cream carts and lemonade stand operated from early June into the fall with outstanding sales and repeat clientele. Ms. Trueman, Revenue and Operations Manager, is always investigating and testing new ideas and products. She continues to work with colleague museums and heritage organizations with regard to joint purchases and wholesale sales. In addition to a phenomenally active gift shop, the Museum offers facility rentals. By reputation, facility rentals are becoming an animated revenue steam. Groups and conferences want to use the Museum’s unique setting for meetings, conference breakout sessions and receptions. Please tell your friends and colleagues and places of work – we welcome facility renters! The Museum also charges a modest admission and school programming fees and has revitalized the popular living history ‘Hire-a-Character’ and costume rental programs. Last but not least, Sandy negotiated an

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agreement with the Paul’s Boat Lines to sell their tickets in 2015 and recently secured an agreement for tickets sales for both Cruises and Canal Boats in 2016 including the combo Tourist package of LockTour & Boat Cruise offering. A new agreement with Haunted Walks in 2016 shall include its new ‘student travel evening’ programming for the months of April through June and an updated agreement with Canadian Heritage to deliver their “CLICK!” Youth Program for 2016 - 2017.

The Museum has also kick-started an image reproduction service which will allow the public to purchase one-time copyright to images from the Museum’s collections for: publications, websites or personal use. This is in conjunction with the digitization project which will ultimately allow access to the thousands of unique photographs from our collection.

Donations are important, such as the donation box by the reception area, donations by Members and sponsorships of receptions and exhibitions. The Museum developed a fundraising plan in 2013 that will be put into action in 2016 and onwards. Overall fundraising efforts are important for the Museum and a great deal of work occurred in 2015 to prepare the Museum to actively fundraise. The efforts include the development of a fundraising strategy and the policy manual and financial management procedures inform potential donors of the Museum’s organizational wellbeing. We accept donations of all sizes: in the donation box at reception desk, with your membership renewal, as a sponsor for a program or operational activity. For large donations/sponsorships, the Museum offers ‘naming rights’ to galleries and programs, such as Youth Council, Let Us Entertain You Thursday, Monday Night Movies and our annual Lecture Series.

We want to thank Kichesippi Beer Co. for donating beer to exhibition openings and for offering to partner even further in 2016 and beyond. A special ‘Bytown Museum’ beer for 2017! We want to thank Downtown Rideau BIA for its sponsorship of the ice carving demonstration and family programming during Chill Factor - DRBIA has sponsored it for

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three years now at $1,500 a year. DRBIA also co-sponsored the new Col. By uniform- $1,500. We thank CHOO/COPO for also co-sponsoring the new Col. By uniform-$1,000. Thank you to Bytown Barista for sponsoring coffee and drinks during the Lumberjack Breakfast in December. Thank you to RBC Dominion Securities Inc. for its $500.00 donations in 2014 and 2015. A special thank you for all of our donors throughout 2015!

Grants are critical for the Museum. In addition to the two main operating grants (City of Ottawa and Province of Ontario), the Museum applied for a number of project based grants from the city, province and federal government. In 2015, staff wrote four grants for summer students (Young Canada Works from CMA, Heritage Canada, The National Trust and Conseil de la coopération de l’Ontario, and Canada Summer Jobs) and participated in the St Lawrence College Summer Job Service student employment initiative. Project grants such as Museum Assistance Program, OMN Translation, DRBIA Chill Factor, the Community Foundation of Ottawa, and Trillium Capital grants were applied for. They allow staff to complete critical projects for the Museum and its visitors: collection management upgrades, youth programming, events, French training for staff and French translation of PR materials and new audio tour equipment. Staff and Management will continue to research and write grants in 2016 to facilitate further work on upgrading the facility, exhibitions and programs. In addition to the ones noted above, staff will apply to corporations funding programs and new government grant program programs. As you know, grant research and writing takes a great deal of time, effort and skill.

Operations

A major priority in 2015 was to maintain the comprehensive ‘policy manual.’ In 2015 staff wrote health and safety policies including emergency measures for ‘lock-down’ situations, such as the one that was experienced in October 2014. In 2016, we are researching a ‘social media plan’ and continually updating HR relevant policies and procedures. Please know that this is a decisive task and accomplishment. In addition, financial management procedures are constantly reviewed. In 2016, the

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Museum has a new Bookkeeper, Wendi Mosher Bookkeeping who will assist with the continued good financial management practices.

Another all important component of operations entails professional development for staff. Staff attends webinars, conferences and workshops, including First Aid, CPR and AED training.

Facility Management

In house, staff is responsible for the cleaning and minor maintenance of the building. However, Parks Canada is responsible for the overall and specific maintenance of the building and site. In 2015 a number of maintenance issues or projects were addressed to ensure that the building is maintained and safe. These included new entrance doors and lock mechanisms, replacement of the third floor office windows and a new kitchen floor. Both the Museum Management and Parks Canada take Occupational Health and Safety very seriously.

Landlord and Tenant

As noted, the building is owned and maintained by Parks Canada (federal government). The Museum is a tenant. However, The BYTOWN MUSEUM and Parks Canada benefit from a good working relationship. We partner on a number of initiatives and projects to enhance both the building and visitor experiences, such as the accessible washroom and on site programming. The Parks Canada ‘license of occupation’ for The BYTOWN MUSEUM as a tenant in one of its properties, is a five year agreement to December of 2018. In 2015, the Museum negotiated ‘Operations Agreement’ with Parks Canada for use of the site, for such purposes as ice cream and lemonade sales. The Agreement is to be renewed for the 2016 summer season with additional of animated programming and guided tours of the Canal permitted along the Ottawa Locks site. In addition, Parks Canada and the Museum will partner in finding access solutions to the

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site during NAC’s construction at the top of the hill during 2016 and 2017.

Much work needs to occur to maintain and upgrade the building for contemporary museum use, as well as maintaining it to the UNESCO heritage standards of a World Heritage Site. Museum Management will work hand in hand with Parks Canada throughout 2016 and 2017 to enhance services on site and ensure such extraordinary events as the ‘Red Bull Crashed Ice’ will be successful for all participants.

Looking Ahead

2015 was a proactive and dynamically active year on all fronts: exceptional programming and exhibitions, collection management, conservation, policy implementation, partnership development and community outreach. Throughout the year, the Museum was famously hectic and well-reviewed by several media outlets. The Museum attracted new volunteers and partners, augmented revenue generation in a stellar fashion and experienced a dramatic increase of visitors to 84,000. It gave you notable new programs, mounted terrific exhibitions at all levels, designed original marketing tactics and achieved far reaching projects for the public access to the collections and youth programming.

However, Museum Management and the Board of Directors have identified a number of priority areas and initiatives for 2016. They include:

 Collections Management: The BYTOWN MUSEUM will complete the upgrade of its collections management system, including digitizing the images and records. Such work will afford local and global access to the records.  Build on the success of the ‘Youth Council.’  A new website to improve public access to museum information and services.  New audio-visual tour equipment to offer audio tours in six languages.  Physical upgrades to the building to be ready for 2017: kitchen, bathroom, painting floors and walls 30

 Implement the 2015-2020 Strategic Plan.

Strategic planning and policy development afford a sensational opportunity to guide the museum into its future and ensure that all processes and procedures are compliant with regulations and current provincial and federal museum standards, as well as the new federal Corporations Act. A comprehensive and model policy manual is completed, along with updated governance documents, a fundraising plan and a future oriented Strategic Plan that speaks to the vibrant future of BYTOWN MUSEUM. However, the Museum will continue to update its policy manual to address new federal and provincial requirements. Implementing the new strategic plan will challenge all concerned, as it will require funding, resources and political will at all levels, including funders, stakeholders and the organization itself.

Fundraising efforts is a priority for the Board of Directors, the Bytown Museum Foundation and Museum’s Management. Although the Museum receives operational funding from the City of Ottawa and the Province of Ontario, as well as it has been tremendously successful with receiving project grants; it needs additional funding for capital projects such as an upgraded computer system, an updated website, an upgraded staff room / kitchen for our staff and volunteers to have a healthy place to eat. In addition, the Museum over the next ten to fifteen years needs to systematically update its permanent exhibitions – that requires substantial funds.

In 2012 the Board of Directors established a ‘Bytown Museum’ Foundation to fundraise and to oversee donations and sponsorships to the BYTOWN MUSEUM. A great deal of work will take place throughout 2016 to make the Foundation an asset for the Museum. In 2016, the Foundation received the following donations: Margaret Hamilton - $100; Cathy Wilkinson - $500; and Tom Caldwell - $3,178.

Although the Museum is robust and well managed, it is experiencing a critical need for donations and corporate foundations’ funding. This is becoming more important as

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Parks Canada experienced budget cuts and the Museum is assuming greater operational costs. Such expenses add circa $35,000 to the annual budget. Also Parks Canada is putting in place a business model for the site and all of their proprieties by which they plan to generate revenue for Parks Canada. In addition, the Museum needs funding for its digitization and Youth Council initiatives. The future of your community museum focuses on technologies and our young people.

MUSÉE BYTOWN MUSEUM continues with its excellent school and public programming that are both educational and fun. School programming is being offered to schools and groups in Quebec and the Catholic School Board, as well as Ontario’s schools.

Interns are important to The BYTOWN MUSEUM. They work on specific projects to gain experience and they also provide new ideas and uses of technology to the operations of the Museum. The Museum works with the community and further afield colleges and universities to ensure a superb working relationship and a good internship and training program for the students. In 2015, the Museum hosted three interns and in 2016 will host one intern. The Executive Director sits on the advisory committee for the Applied Museum Studies Program at Algonquin College and on the Community Advisory Committee for the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México in Gatineau, Quebec and has been guest lecturer at several colleges and universities. Ms. Vogl partners with the Applied Museum Studies students and the Media and Design Department of Algonquin College to facilitate exhibitions and conservation work. The Museum also has summer students to assist with the very busy tourist season from May through August. They gain professional experience at the Museum as their careers progress.

The Museum continues to develop and give you first-rate temporary exhibitions. From January to October 2016 you can see “Forged in Fire” which speaks to the history of Parliament Hill, including the infamous fire in 1916. In the Community Gallery, we had a special ‘selfie booth’ for Winterlude, and the Irish and Slovenia Communities’ displays are planned. The Community Gallery is booked a year in advance by community groups and individual artists.

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It is important to plan not only for the current year’s activities but also for one to five years out. Planning for 2016 through 2020 main temporary exhibtions and programming is taking place. They will be based on major events that affected Ottawa and its citizens – in 2016, 100th Anniversary of the Parliament Builidng fire (“The Building and Burning of Parliament”); in 2017 with the 150th Anniversary of Ottawa as Capital of Canada and the 100th Anniversary of ‘your BYTOWN MUSEUM (“The BYTOWN MUSEUM: A Century of Community”). In 2018 and 2019 the Museum plans exhibitions in partnership with the City of Ottawa, as well as on Ottawa Street Names and Brawling Ottawa (themes asked for by community people).

In addition, museum staff is systematically researching and updating labels in the permanent gallery as well as incorporating new artefacts in a couple of the exhibit areas: Rideau Canal workers and the Boer and First World Wars, Whiskey & Wickedness, Confederation & D’Arcy McGee sections, and Lumber Industry. In 2013, staff updated the First Nations display in consultation with Chief Whiteduck and the Canadian Museum of History. National and now International Museums are requesting loans of the Museum’s artefacts for their exhibitions (e.g. CMH, Rideau Club, and a museum in Ireland). These loans will further increase the Museum’s reputation.

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In Conclusion

I enjoy the utmost honour and delight of serving you and the Ottawa community as Executive Director of one of the most vigorous and future oriented community museums in Canada: MUSÉE BYTOWN MUSEUM. Staff, volunteers, the Board Directors, stakeholders and partners of the Museum all keenly contribute to making the BYTOWN MUSEUM a vital cultural resource for our diverse community and the City of Ottawa. It is a provincially and internationally recognized cultural boon for its exhibitions and collections access, for terrific programs such as the Youth Council and summer evening events. It is a favourite cultural tourism destination noted in the list of the top 20 UNESCO World Heritage Sites. It is a community museum situated on a UNESCO World Heritage Site, as well as in a city that actively supports its culture. Wow, you can’t get any better than that!

I personally welcome you to your community museum throughout 2016 and beyond, as we proactively prepare to celebrate your Museum’s 100th and Canada’s 150th Birthdays in 2017!

Please COME and ENJOY YOUR COMMUNITY MUSEUM – as a VISITOR, and a VOLUNTEER and a MEMBER and a DONOR!

Respectfully submitted by Robin Etherington, Executive Director

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Treasurer’s Summary Report

I am pleased to report that MUSEE BYTOWN MUSEUM exceeded our budget goals in 2015. While anticipating a deficit of $23,000, we came in with a deficit of only $20,250.

This was achieved as certain anticipated expenses did not materialize and we experienced higher revenues from the Boutique and Café as well as facility rental fees which have been steadily increasing over the past three years.

We expect another budgeted deficit in 2016 in order to meet our organizational needs. As we prepare for the 2017 celebrations in the nation’s capital, we expect to incur higher expenses than usual in order to be well prepared. We will continue to work hard to find new sources of revenue through increased memberships, the solicitation of donations, an increase in facility rentals, and continuing to upgrade our gift shop.

I am pleased to say that, provided we continue to get much needed financial support for our operations from the municipal and provincial governments, our organization continue to be in a healthy financial shape.

Respectfully submitted by Steve Menechian, Treasurer

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OTTAWA BEGINS HERE | OTTAWA COMMENCE ICI

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