THEMUSEUM | Arena: The Hockey Exhibition (February 3 - May 6, 2012)

[Spokes]

THEMUSEUM
Formerly Waterloo Regional Children's Museum
10 King Street West, Kitchener, ON
www.TheMuseum.ca

http://levittgoodmanarchitects.com/content/chapter/projects/waterloochildrens/01.jpg (http://levittgoodmanarchitects.com/content/chapter/projects/waterloochildrens/01.jpg)

Exhibits
Discovering Chimpanzees: The Remarkable World of Jane Goodall (Jan 2008)
Dinosaurs Alive! (June 2008)
Andy Warhol's Factory (www.warholfactory2009.ca) (Jan 2009)
Our Body: The Universe Within (http://www.ourbodytheuniversewithin.com/) (Jan 2010)
Energy Unlimited (March 2010)
Cosmomania (May 1, 2010 - Mid September, 2010)
Titanic: The Artifact Exhibit (Sept. 23, 2010 to Jan. 23, 2011)
Tom Thomson: Man, Myth and Masterworks (February 3, 2011 - May 8, 2011)

[Spokes]

Children's museum scores Warhol exhibition

June 19, 2008
Colin Hunter
RECORD STAFF

It's going to be a "happening," to borrow the lingo of Andy Warhol.

In fact, an upcoming exhibition dedicated to Warhol's art and life could just be the grandest "happening" ever to hit Waterloo Region's cultural scene.

"This will be a world-class event," boasted David Marskell, chief executive officer of the Waterloo Regional Children's Museum, which is set to host a large-scale show dedicated to the late American pop-art icon.

"It's coming, and it's huge."

Warhol -- who famously quipped that everyone enjoys "15 minutes of fame" -- will get a three-month boost of fame at the exhibition, which will run from Jan. 10 until April 19, 2009.

The event will see the entire Children's Museum transformed into a present-day version of Warhol's famous Factory -- the Manhattan studio where, in the 1960s, the artist hosted the bohemian parties and concerts known as happenings.

Marskell and museum staff have spent the past eight months negotiating with The Warhol Foundation in New York City and The Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh to secure artwork and memorabilia for the show.

Although the negotiations are still underway, many pieces of Warhol's pop-culture pastiche -- revamped images of Campbell's soup cans, Marilyn Monroe, Brillo boxes -- are expected to be displayed throughout the museum.

Also on display will be toys Warhol played with as a child, and 56 black and white pictures of Warhol by photographer Stephen Shore -- a collection on loan from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland.

The bottom floor of the Children's Museum will, as Marskell envisions it, be transformed into a working studio modelled after Warhol's, where visitors will create their own silkscreen works of pop art.

It is the most ambitious project ever undertaken by the Children's Museum, which has struggled financially for much of its five-year history. "We know we can become much more than just a children's museum now," Marskell said of the decision to showcase Warhol.

"We're in a whole new arena with this . . . and it's something that will put Waterloo Region on a bigger map."

The Warhol exhibition comes on the heels of Discovering Chimpanzees, a highly successful attraction that featured a sold-out appearance by primatologist and activist Jane Goodall. Buoyed by such success, the Children's Museum is setting out to top itself with an exhibition that aims to further raise its profile and broaden its demographic.

"I'm not going to settle for a step sideways or backwards -- we have to continue the momentum," Marskell said yesterday.

"This is going to be bigger than Goodall. And I think this will be the biggest art event ever in this region."

chunter@therecord.com

http://news.therecord.com/News/CanadaWorld/article/370042 (http://news.therecord.com/News/CanadaWorld/article/370042)



$150,000 donation paves way for Warhol exhibit

August 21, 2008
Charlotte Prong Parkhill
RECORD STAFF

Two anonymous donors have stepped up with a $150,000 donation to help the Children's Museum get its Andy Warhol exhibit off the ground.

The two Kitchener entrepreneurs behind the donation are challenging other corporations to do the same.

At least 50 original pieces by the flamboyant artist and pop culture celebrity are expected to come to the museum, including paintings, photographs and films. One component of the exhibit is the pre-curated travelling show The Art of Andy Warhol for Children.

Other pieces are coming from private collectors and galleries around the world, Marskell said. The show will include a space modelled after Warhol's studio, called The Factory, where museum visitors can experiment.

The donation allows museum staff to renovate the building's fourth floor for the exhibit. The cheque will cover the cost of enclosing the area and installing an upgraded heating and ventilation system to keep humidity and temperature levels consistent. That's essential for the vulnerable, and valuable, art.

"This Warhol exhibit would not have come here without this system," said David Marskell, chief executive of the museum. "We open in five months, and I was starting to get nervous."

Marskell stresses more financial support is needed for other items that must be in place before the exhibit opens in January. Additional security and insurance, more staff, marketing and an upgraded ticketing system are expected to cost between $200,000 and $300,000. Many of these items will be used for major shows in the future.

"Either the Children's Museum stays the way it is or we dream bigger," Marskell said. "It's an international show, right here in Waterloo Region."

He said the two donors want others to follow suit. "I'm hoping some of the major corporations around here will step forward."

The Warhol exhibit will run from Jan. 10 to April 19.

cprongparkhill@therecord.com

http://news.therecord.com/News/Local/article/402507 (http://news.therecord.com/News/Local/article/402507)



Downtown gets in on Warhol exhibit

November 17, 2008
Terry Pender
RECORD STAFF

KITCHENER

With the help of $100,000 from a provincial agency, a three-month festival-like celebration of one of the most iconic pop artists of all time--Andy Warhol--will be centred on downtown.

More than two months before the unique exhibit of Warhol's work is scheduled to open at The Waterloo Regional Children's Museum, the Ontario Cultural Attractions Fund has provided a large grant to the downtown business association to help promote the event.

Mark Garner, the executive director of the Kitchener Downtown Business Association, teamed up with David Marskell, the executive director of the children's museum, to make a pitch for the $100,000 from the cultural attractions fund.

"With that contribution, we will really be able to showcase Kitchener as a destination," Garner said.

"We are really targeting Toronto, London and other large cities, and hoping to tag into Cleveland and Detroit."

The exhibit, called Andy Warhol's Factory, will run Jan. 10 to April 19. It features more than 60 of Warhol's original works, several Warhol films and a famous sequence of black-and-white photographs of The Velvet Underground, the influential band managed by Warhol.

Among the original works in the exhibit are Flowers, Marilyn, Liz Taylor, Mick Jagger and the Campbell Soup cans.

The children's museum at 10 King St. W. had to invest heavily in new climate control equipment to get original pieces from the Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, the artist's hometown, and the Warhol Foundation in New York City, where his famous studio, The Factory, was located.

The black-and-white photographs of The Velvet Underground are from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland.

"If you can attract 20,000 people to downtown Kitchener during January, February and March, then fantastic," Garner said. "For me, it is a significant coup for us to get Warhol in Kitchener."

During the successful Chimps exhibit at the children's museum, about Jane Goodall's work with chimpanzees, Marskell started thinking about what to do for a followup. "I started to surf around the internet and I landed at a children's exhibit around an introduction to art for Warhol, which was the first thread I pulled," he said.

He went to Pittsburgh, met with officials from the children's museum there and the Warhol Museum, and quickly realized an exhibit in Kitchener could include real art by Warhol. "Which is pretty cool," Marskell said.

Warhol became one of the most influential pop artists of the 20th Century. Popular culture is still mining the scene in Warhol's studio for material. In December 2006, the movie Factory Girl, a biopic of socialite Edie Sedgwick, a regular at Warhol's parties, was released.

Marskell said the Warhol exhibit and the tie-ins with downtown businesses could be a template for future festivals.

Erin Young, who owns the clothing store Inception and is with the downtown business association, said some of the money from the cultural attractions fund will be used to include the downtown businesses in the Warhol exhibit with themed window displays, parties, programs and events.

As well, the association will market packages for out-of-town visitors that include a hotel room, dinner and passes to the Warhol exhibit.

tpender@therecord.com

http://news.therecord.com/News/CanadaWorld/article/445350 (http://news.therecord.com/News/CanadaWorld/article/445350)

[Spokes]

Exhibition features more than 60 of Warhol's works

January 03, 2009
Robert Reid
RECORD STAFF

David Marskell had two goals in mind when he learned the Children's Museum of Waterloo Region would be mounting Andy Warhol's Factory 2009.

Create a transferable festival template involving the larger community.

Encourage and stimulate creativity in the larger community.

The museum's chief executive officer has accomplished both with an exhibition featuring more than 60 of the pop artist's original works.

Even before the exhibition opens next Saturday -- it continues through April 19 -- the museum was reaching out to local artists.

A total of 14 local artists created work based on Warhol for Get Your Warhol On, a weekend exhibition in early November that set the stage for Andy Warhol's Factory 2009.

"The artists were delighted to be invited and we were thrilled to show their work," he confirms.

Similarly, gallery-goers will have the opportunity to create their own Warhol-inspired art when they visit the exhibition's Underground Studio.

Marskell is confident the exhibition reflects a strategy involving community outreach that can be used to present a variety of cultural festivals across the region.

"We've developed ways of taking the exhibition into the community at large," he says.

In addition to financial donations and volunteers, initiatives have been developed that involve various partnerships.

The Waterloo Region Record is publishing the exhibition catalogue.

Athena, an art retail store located in the Conestoga Mall, is handling merchandizing for the exhibition at the museum store.

A Sunday speaker series devoted to Warhol is being held at The Wax, upstairs at Bobby O'Briens.

Schreiter's Home Furnishing is providing red leather furniture specifically selected to complement the exhibition.

Getaway packages have been arranged with some local restaurants, hotels, motels and bed and breakfast accommodations.

It's customary for schools to conduct student tours of art galleries and museums. The Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery, Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery and Homer Watson House and Gallery all conduct regular tours.

But given the Children's Museum's mandate and the nature of the exhibition, Andy Warhol's Factory 2009 could easily break attendance records for school children, both as part of class tours and accompanied by parents.

Moreover, the museum has tailored Warhol education programs designed specific grades -- Mix and Muddle Warhol for kindergarten and Grade 1, Ad or Art for Grades 2-5, Celebrity, You for Grades 6-8 and the Silver Screen for Grades 9-12.

Each program includes an interpreter-led tour and an artmaking session in The Underground Studio.

To encourage visits by the whole family, the museum is offering Half-Price Family Tuesdays.

rreid@therecord.com

David Marskell had two goals in mind when he learned the Children's Museum of Waterloo Region would be mounting Andy Warhol's Factory 2009.

Create a transferable festival template involving the larger community.

Encourage and stimulate creativity in the larger community.

The museum's chief executive officer has accomplished both with an exhibition featuring more than 60 of the pop artist's original works.

Even before the exhibition opens next Saturday -- it continues through April 19 -- the museum was reaching out to local artists.

A total of 14 local artists created work based on Warhol for Get Your Warhol On, a weekend exhibition in early November that set the stage for Andy Warhol's Factory 2009.

"The artists were delighted to be invited and we were thrilled to show their work," he confirms.

Similarly, gallery-goers will have the opportunity to create their own Warhol-inspired art when they visit the exhibition's Underground Studio.

Marskell is confident the exhibition reflects a strategy involving community outreach that can be used to present a variety of cultural festivals across the region.

"We've developed ways of taking the exhibition into the community at large," he says.

In addition to financial donations and volunteers, initiatives have been developed that involve various partnerships.

The Waterloo Region Record is publishing the exhibition catalogue.

Athena, an art retail store located in the Conestoga Mall, is handling merchandizing for the exhibition at the museum store.

A Sunday speaker series devoted to Warhol is being held at The Wax, upstairs at Bobby O'Briens.

Schreiter's Home Furnishing is providing red leather furniture specifically selected to complement the exhibition.

Getaway packages have been arranged with some local restaurants, hotels, motels and bed and breakfast accommodations.

It's customary for schools to conduct student tours of art galleries and museums. The Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery, Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery and Homer Watson House and Gallery all conduct regular tours.

But given the Children's Museum's mandate and the nature of the exhibition, Andy Warhol's Factory 2009 could easily break attendance records for school children, both as part of class tours and accompanied by parents.

Moreover, the museum has tailored Warhol education programs designed specific grades -- Mix and Muddle Warhol for kindergarten and Grade 1, Ad or Art for Grades 2-5, Celebrity, You for Grades 6-8 and the Silver Screen for Grades 9-12.

Each program includes an interpreter-led tour and an artmaking session in The Underground Studio.

To encourage visits by the whole family, the museum is offering Half-Price Family Tuesdays.

rreid@therecord.com

http://news.therecord.com/article/466512 (http://news.therecord.com/article/466512)



News that transcends the arts pages
Some 50,000 people expected to take in Warhol exhibition at downtown museum

January 03, 2009
Robert Reid
RECORD STAFF

Seven days and counting.

That's when Andy Warhol's Factory 2009, the biggest art exhibition in the history of the region, opens at the Children's Museum of Waterloo Region in downtown Kitchener.

Saturday is the first day the public is invited into the former Goudies department store, not only to see more than 60 original artworks by Andy Warhol, but to experience, however vicariously, the pop artist's famous funhouse assembly line of artmaking known as the Factory.

It's the kind of news that transcends the arts and entertainment pages.

It's the kind of event that transcends culture, with an estimated 50,000 people expected to visit the museum over three months in the bleak mid-winter from Jan. 10 to April 19.

"We have no history with this kind of thing," acknowledges museum chief executive David Marskell, adding, "it wouldn't be overly optimistic to anticipate 50,000."

The administrator, who steered the five-year-old cultural institution away from closing permanently, doesn't try to contain his excitement.

"The exhibition will put Waterloo Region on a larger cultural map," he predicts.

Presenting the Warhol exhibition on the coattails of Chimps, an exhibit about Jane Goodall's work with chimpanzees, has quickly moved the museum from the periphery to the centre of arts and culture in Waterloo Region.

Such repositioning doesn't come cheap.

In an interview in mid-December, Marskell said capital investment was approaching $250,000 for gallery renovations, including an upgraded heating and ventilation system to control temperature and humidity levels.

Similarly, operating expenses were approaching $500,000 to cover such requirements as insurance, security, transportation, promotion and staffing.

Although he keeps an attentive eye on the bottom line, Marskell insists the museum has a higher calling.

"We're not here to make money," he asserts. "We're here to raise the cultural profile of the community."

To help offset costs, the non-profit institution has received an anonymous donation of $150,000, augmented by $100,000 from the Ontario Cultural Attractions Fund.

"We have a permanent gallery," Marskell observes. "We're a real museum now."

He acknowledges the Warhol exhibition is changing the public's perception of the museum.

"We're still a children's museum at heart, but much of what we do is cross-generational."

Three of the museum's five floors are being transformed into the Factory, the famous -- or infamous -- Manhattan studio where Warhol made his artwork and, in the process, shaped international culture encompassing art, film, music, advertising, fashion and design.

The multimedia exhibition has five distinct, yet interrelated, components, making it unique in its totality.

The link between Warhol and children is established by The Art of Andy Warhol: Selected Artwork and Silkscreen Studio.

Co-organized by the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh and the Andy Warhol Museum, one of four Carnegie museums in the artist's birthplace, The Art of Andy Warhol introduces young gallery-goers to Warhol's life and work.

The exhibit features 18 original paintings from the artist's Toy Series and six prints from his Myth Series, both of which were inspired by childhood memories.

The exhibit, which includes a collection of the artist's toys, has an interactive element to appeal to children of all ages.

Andy Warhol's Factory 2009 is anchored by The Art, Inspiration and Appropriation of Andy Warhol.

Curated by Marla Wasser, a Toronto-based art consultant and unapologetic Warhol fan, the exhibit showcases more than 60 original works, including some of the artist's most iconic images -- Campbell's soup cans, Marilyn Monroe, Jackie Kennedy Onassis, Liz Taylor, Mick Jagger and Mao Zedong.

Wasser's exhibit examines the notion of appropriation, a defining element in Warhol's art, by comparing and contrasting a dozen contemporary artists who derive work directly from Warhol's work.

More than any other modern artist, Warhol championed appropriation as a legitimate creative practice.

Context for Warhol's artwork is provided by a couple of auxiliary exhibits.

The Velvet Years: 1965-67 Warhol's Factory showcases 56 black and white photographs Stephen Shore took at the height of Warhol's Manhattan studio.

On loan from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, the photos document The Velvet Underground, the influential band Warhol managed from 1965 to 1967, featuring Lou Reed and John Cale, among others.

Included is an audio account Shore recorded exclusively for the exhibit recalling the time he spent at the Factory when he was still a teenager.

Warhol was one of the first modern artists to exploit the potential of film as a fine-art medium.

Film and Screen Tests includes a dozen of the more than 500 black-and-white, 16 mm portraits Warhol made between 1964 and 1966.

Featured are Edie Sedgwick, Dennis Hopper and Reed, in addition to Marcel Duchamp and Salvador Dali, two artists who influenced Warhol.

The exhibit also includes a truncated version of Empire, an eight-plus-hour, black-and-white, silent film Warhol made in 1964 by directing a stationary camera at the Empire State Building.

Appropriating Warhol's concept and employing current technology, gallery-goers can view live streamings of two 24-7 web cams -- one pointed at the Empire State Building and one pointing from the top of the building onto the Manhattan skyline.

The exhibit is rounded out with Warhol memorabilia, including album covers he designed for The Rolling Stones, signed books and original copies of Interview, a magazine he published.

Finally, gallery-goers can experience a facsimile of the Factory's creative hothouse atmosphere in The Underground Studio by generating their own artwork utilizing both old and new technologies.

rreid@therecord.com

http://news.therecord.com/Life/article/466618



'Inspirational' Warhol exhibit ends

May 11, 2009
Chuck Howitt
RECORD STAFF

Connie Putterman strolled among the colourful prints of Marilyn Monroe, Liz Taylor, Mao Zedong and a Campbell's soup can and shook her head in amazement.

"It's great that someone would bring this exhibit here. It's inspirational."

Then she leaned forward and whispered, "Too bad they couldn't bring it to Toronto."

Putterman and her 10-year-old son travelled from Toronto to catch the Andy Warhol's Factory exhibition at the Waterloo Regional Children's Museum on its last day.

Featuring more than 60 works of art by the eccentric New York artist and interpretations of his work by other artists, the exhibition wrapped up a four-month run at the museum yesterday.

Put together exclusively by the museum, led by chief executive officer David Marskell and curator Marla Wasser of Toronto, the show drew from works at the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh and the Warhol Foundation in New York as well as from artists as far away as Europe and 1960s photos from the Rock and Roll Museum in Cleveland.

Putterman, who studied contemporary art at the University of Toronto and the University of Windsor, heard about the show on CBC radio sometime ago, but procrastination and her busy schedule conspired to prevent her from attending before yesterday.

Carolin Meissner of Waterloo had also been planning to catch the Warhol show since seeing an ad for it at the Princess Cinema a little while ago.

It's ironic that people will travel many kilometres to see tourist attractions in other cities, yet not make it out to see interesting things in their own backyard, Meissner said while browsing through the gallery.

She was blown away by many of the works in the show, which included Campbell's soup cans made out of 698 spools of thread and hundreds of Rubik's Cubes.

"He (Warhol) is so unique and such an interesting character."

"He's so inspirational," added her husband Martin Strummer while their daughter Zoe, 15, said she was impressed by all the colours in Warhol's work and those of other artists interpreting his work such as Richard Pettibone and David LaChapelle.

Reached on the phone in New York City yesterday where he was looking at ideas for future exhibits, Marskell was ecstatic about the reaction to the Warhol show over the past four months.

"We've pulled off a pretty major coup and I hope I can build on that," he said. "It was a huge success."

He estimated that 40,000 people attended the show, which topped even the heavy numbers who visited the museum last year to see the Jane Goodall exhibition.

Of that total, 23 per cent came from outside Waterloo Region, including 10 per cent from the Greater Toronto Area, Marskell noted, which illustrates the show's drawing power.

Though final figures are not in yet, revenue from the Warhol show was about $690,000, which more than covered expenses of $460,000 to mount the exhibition, though not the $350,000 in capital improvements needed to bring the museum up to standard to handle the show, he said.

But improvements to the museum will enable it to handle more major shows in the future, he added.

And the show itself generated major spinoff benefits for other businesses in the region, he said.

He pointed to a study by the Ontario Ministry of Tourism which estimated that exhibits mounted by the Children's Museum in 2008 generated $6.8 million for the local economy through hotels, restaurants, retailers and other cultural attractions.

As an example of the impact of the show in the greater artistic community, Marskell said the director of the Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh recently gave a talk in New York and devoted almost his entire talk to the Kitchener show.

chowitt@therecord.com.

http://news.therecord.com/News/Local/article/535104 (http://news.therecord.com/News/Local/article/535104)

[Spokes]

Human body exhibit 'coup' for children's museum

June 27, 2009
Liz Monteiro
RECORD STAFF

WATERLOO REGION

An international exhibition that drew runaway crowds in the United States and Europe is coming to Waterloo Region.

A display of plasticized human bodies -- Our Body: The Universe Within -- will come to the Waterloo Region Children's Museum next year.

"This is a quantum leap to the next level,'' David Marskell, museum's chief executive officer, said in an interview.

"This is not an insignificant thing. This is a coup,'' said Marskell, referring to the museum's feat in acquiring the exhibit for the region.

Marskell said negotiations went on for a year with the Baltimore, Maryland-based company. The exhibit will cost the museum "hundreds of thousands of dollars,'' said Marskell, who said the museum will make a profit.

The exhibit, the largest for the local museum, features 200 human specimens including human body parts such as feet and hands, and 20 human bodies.

The exhibit literally goes under the skin revealing the human anatomy, including the digestive, nervous and circulatory systems.

Plastination stops decomposition by emptying body tissue of its fat and water, then replacing it with plastic. The result is touchable organs and posable corpses.

The exhibition runs from Jan. 14 to April 11.

The exhibit is similar to the blockbuster Body Worlds 2: The Anatomical Exhibition of Real Human Bodies, which first debuted in California in 2004.

German scientist Dr. Gunther von Hagens created the exhibit and the preservation technique.

The Our Body exhibition has toured various American cities since 2006 and this will be its first showing in Canada.

The Body Worlds exhibit attracted some controversy from faith groups by offending some people who felt the exhibition violated the sanctity of the human body.

"It may be provocative and create debate but I believe it has a role to play,'' Marskell said.

"If people are concerned, they shouldn't come,'' he said.

Marskell said the Our Body exhibit comes on the heels of the successful Jane Goodall and Andy Warhol exhibits.

Like the successful Andy Warhol exhibit, the Our Body showcase will feature a speaker series, focusing on healthy living, kinesiology and medicine, said Marskell.

"We are becoming fashionable to corporate Waterloo Region and high school communities,'' said Marskell, referring to two high school proms that were held at the museum this week.

Marskell said the museum is looking at bringing other popular exhibits to the region including one on the Titanic and ancient artifacts from Egypt. "This community deserves this. We are half a million people,'' he said.

In other cities, the Our Body admission fees have hit $25 a person, but Marskell said he wants to make the exhibit accessible to all. General admission will be $16.75, and cheaper rates for members, seniors and students.

lmonteiro@therecord.com

http://news.therecord.com/article/560374

[Spokes]

Green project for Children's Museum

January 03, 2009
Karen Kawawada
RECORD STAFF

The Children's Museum in Kitchener has teamed up with two other museums to create an exhibit on green energy that will travel the continent.

The project, called Energy Unlimited, has received a grant from the federal government that will cover nearly half its costs.

"This is huge for us," said David Marskell, museum chief executive.

"I just can't tell you how proud I am for the museum and the region. We're going to be recognized across Canada, working with two awesome partners."

The museum first started talking about the idea of collaborating with the Musée de la nature et des sciences in Sherbrooke, Que., about two years ago, Marskell said.

The Saskatchewan Science Centre later became the third partner, but Waterloo Region's museum has taken the lead the whole way, Marskell said.

The idea was to build on one of the Children's Museum's strengths, the Kids Inspiring Change educational program on energy conservation.

With the Children's Museum's skill in curriculum-based educational programs and the Quebec museum's expertise in building travelling exhibits, it was a natural fit, Marskell said.

The bilingual exhibit, which will cover about 200 square metres, will focus on several types of renewable energy such as solar, wind, water and biomass. It will give children a hands-on chance to learn about various forms of energy and how they work.

Though the details have yet to be worked out, the exhibit will be, at least in part, powered by clean energy.

"It's so obvious it has to do that," said Marskell.

"It can't just come in here and plug into the wall."

The grant of $88,400 from the Museums Assistance Program of the Department of Canadian Heritage came through last June, but the Children's Museum decided to delay the announcement because it was busy with other things, such as the Andy Warhol exhibit opening next week.

In total, the project will cost $200,000. The remainder of the cost will be divided between the three partners, which will try to raise money through corporate sponsorships, said Marskell.

The exhibit should be finished in about a year's time, and it will go first to Saskatchewan for three months.

It will then come to Waterloo Region for three months starting in March 2010.

After that, the plan is for it to tour North America through museums, science centres and perhaps fairs paying to rent it.

"I don't think this will be a huge revenue source for us . . . but the big thing is, we're not just the little museum on the corner.

"We've got something and the federal government is acknowledging it and we can put something out with our name on it," Marskell said.

"Here we are, five years old, and we're acting just like a real museum."

kkawawada@therecord.com

http://news.therecord.com/News/Local/article/466445 (http://news.therecord.com/News/Local/article/466445)

[Spokes]

I've seen a lot of bill boards in town for the Body Works exhibit at the Ontario Science Centre, and the King Tut exhibit at the AGO. I hope the Children's Museum follows suit and starts to advertise in other markets.

We saw a huge number of people come from out of town for the Warhol exhibit, but it kind of markets itself. It'd be nice to get some really big crowds for the future exhibits. It could really help the economy of surrounding businesses too.

[YKF]

We saw a huge number of people come from out of town for the Warhol exhibit, but it kind of markets itself.
Really? That's great news! The bigger the attractions we get, the more the local economy benfits.

[Spokes]

Really? That's great news! The bigger the attractions we get, the more the local economy benfits.

That's why I think we can/should market the hell out of these upcoming events. The cost of the marketing would be recouped I'm sure. Not to mention what it would do for the Region.

[UrbanWaterloo]

There was an article floating around about a possible name change. I wonder if this is hinting it will simply be called the Waterloo Regional Museum in the new year.

Current (possible old) website being: http://www.TheChildrensMuseum.ca

http://www.thechildrensmuseum.ca/web/media/library/OB_Homepage_Flyer.jpg
http://www.thechildrensmuseum.ca/web/media/library/OB_Homepgae_banner.jpg

[Spokes]

The website listed on that poster (www.themuseum.ca) makes you wonder doesn't it.

I believe I remember reading that Marskell (director of the museum) anticipated a name change.

Do you think the Waterloo Region Museum would be the right name? I would see that being a better name for something like the new Region Historical Museum being built out at Doon.

That being said, I don't know what I'd name it.

[Spokes]

Marskell said the museum is looking at bringing other popular exhibits to the region including one on the Titanic and ancient artifacts from Egypt. "This community deserves this. We are half a million people,'' he said.

http://news.therecord.com/article/560374

In looking for the article that references the possible name change (couldn't find it) I re-read this one coming across this part that caught my eye.

If Marskell could bring these exhibitions that would be huge!! Even for what he's already done, the guy deserves an award. He's turned the Children's Museum into a destination. Somewhere that you can count on to get the latest and greatest exhibits. He should be applauded.

If he ever decides to move on, maybe after feeling he's set things up to leave to a successor, I'd love to see him go somewhere like the Conrad Centre for Performing Arts (hey, its a short move :)) and work his magic there to start getting top notch musical bookings.

[Spokes]

Found it!!


Children's museum sets the bar high
Chief executive looks for financial support to continue bringing in popular - and expensive - exhibits

July 06, 2009
Terry Pender
RECORD STAFF

KITCHENER - David Marskell is thinking about the future and running numbers.

Marskell, chief executive officer of the Waterloo Region Children's Museum, says the organization needs a sustainable budget that includes an annual grant of $500,000 from the three cities and the regional municipality.

But that kind of entrenched support from municipal coffers, if it happens, is in the future.

With the recent contribution of $260,000 from region municipalities, the museum gained time for planning next year's major exhibit --the international exhibition Our Body: The Universe Within, a display of plasticized human bodies, coming to the children's museum in January.

The museum received $10,000 from Cambridge, $25,000 from Waterloo, $50,000 from Kitchener and an additional $175,000 from the regional municipality.

"I am obviously very pleased with the support the politicians have expressed," Marskell says.

"We are in a position to better plan a future that works for us and the community."

During the summer, the museum will prepare detailed plans for a future that includes major exhibits with cross-generational appeal, perhaps a name change, movie screenings, chess tournaments and cultural events.

"Are we becoming something more than a children's museum? Yes," Marskell said. "It's exciting."

The museum's annual operating budget is $1.5 million.

That covers day-to-day expenses, the rental fees for smaller exhibits, marketing, building maintenance and salaries for 11 employees. The building is owned by the City of Kitchener and the museum pays a dollar a year in rent.

During the past five years, that base budget has come from three major sources -- earned revenue, exhibition sponsorships, fundraising and large annual pledges from foundations that were spread over several years.

Those foundation pledges, which started when the museum opened five years ago, have ended.

Total revenues for the fiscal year that ended on June 30 were slightly more than $1 million. That is $500,000 less than what the museum needs for its base budget.

Earned revenue from admissions and memberships came in at $480,000, and sponsorships and fundraising brought in another $523,000. Sublets and interest raised another $32,000.

"In previous years, we had donations in the form of annual pledges making up the final one third or about $500,000," Marskell said.

"Those have now expired and that is why we have reached out to municipalities to secure the final $500,000 annually or we would need to scale back our programming dramatically."

Scaling back is exactly what Marskell does not want to do. Since becoming executive director, he and his staff have staged three major exhibits that attracted visitors by the tens of thousands.

Marskell calls these transformative exhibits and believes the museum's future success hinges on its ability to mount more.

The first such exhibit, beginning in January 2008, was Discovering Chimpanzees: The Remarkable World of Jane Goodall. It cost the museum $43,132 to stage and brought in $246,950 in revenue. During four months, 39,509 people viewed the Goodall exhibit, generating an operating profit of $207,441.

The next, which opened in June 2008, was Dinosaurs Alive! It cost $117,811 to stage and revenues totalled $195,002. Dinosaurs brought in 39,754 visitors during a six-month run. The operating profit: $77,191.

The museum's most recent major exhibit featured the work of the famed pop artist Andy Warhol -- Warhol's Factory 2009. It cost $463,000 to create the Warhol exhibit, which brought in $690,000 in revenue. The Warhol show attracted 38,576 visitors during a four-month run, about 23 per cent of them from outside Waterloo Region.

The Warhol exhibit turned an operating profit of $227,000. Those funds were used to pay down the cost of building the permanent gallery on the museum's top floor. It's a climate-controlled space with extra security that cost $353,000 and where major exhibits will be based in the future.

Big exhibits can bring in lots of people (117,842 for the three large shows), lots of revenue and secure the museum's future, Marskell said.

After preparing detailed plans on the museum's future, he expects to be back before municipal councils this fall seeking an annual grant of $500,000.

He would like to see the base budget split three ways--$500,000 from fundraising, $500,000 from earned revenue and $500,000 from the municipal sector.

As part of the ongoing fundraising, Marskell recently sent a letter to potential donors saying the museum needs $1 million each year to continue a high level of programming. But if the municipal sector comes up with $500,000 in annual funding, that annual fundraising goal can be reduced to half a million in the future.

"The end of the story is we can't raise a million dollars every year, so we went to the cities," Marskell said.

Those major exhibits have been so popular there is little or no room on the schedule for more school groups -- a major source of revenue. About 12,000 students went through the museum during its last fiscal year, bringing in $56,000 in revenue -- or 10 per cent of all earned revenues.

"We realized there is a finite number of people we can put in here, so we have hit a ceiling on our earned revenue," Marskell said.

tpender@therecord.com

http://news.therecord.com/article/564658 (http://news.therecord.com/article/564658)

[Spokes]

New body exhibit at kids’ museum

Arts & Entertainment
Jan 06, 2010

Tickets for The Waterloo Region Children’s Museum’s featured exhibition, Our Body — The Universe Within, which opens on Monday, are now on sale.

Our Body is an examination of the human body as never before seen in Waterloo Region — with the use of real human body specimens. The exhibition, which features 20 polymer-preserved human bodies and more than 200 organs and partial body specimens, will take viewers through an unforgettable journey of the human body to provide an up-close look inside the skeletal, muscular, respiratory and circulatory systems clearly shows how lifestyle choices directly affect our health.

In an effort to appeal to children of all ages The Children’s Museum is also presenting other interactive components to bring awareness to different aspects of health.

It will include a traveling feature called Germs, Germs, Germs to interactive equipment contributed by area hospitals, universities and corporations in the health field to a speaker series. Tickets to see Our Body are on sale now and available online at www.themuseum.ca .


http://www.waterloochronicle.ca/arts_and_entertainment/article/198984 (http://www.waterloochronicle.ca/arts_and_entertainment/article/198984)

[Spokes]

Exhibit shows the inner workings of the human body

January 08, 2010
By Greg Cowan, Record staff

Ever wondered what your hamstring looks like? Or wanted to see how many germs are crawling around on your hands?

The Waterloo Children’s Museum will be answering those questions, and more, over the next three months during their health-themed festival.

Starting Jan. 14, the Our Body: The Universe Within exhibit will make its Canadian premier at the Children’s Museum on King Street. The exhibit will feature 20 human bodies almost perfectly preserved by replacing the body’s waters and fats with reactive plastics. Two hundred organs and partial specimens will also be on display.

People will be able to see the complicated roadway of our circulatory system, the elasticity of our muscles and the architecture of our skeletal system, all while learning about how it all works and why we should care for it.

“People will be in awe,” said David Marskell, chief executive officer of The Waterloo Children’s Museum. “They will be able to see how complicated the knee is and what smoking does to your lungs.”

A second travelling exhibition, Germs, Germs, Germs — an interactive exhibit designed for young children, will begin a week after the Our Body exhibit. Kids will be able to walk amongst giant germs and intestines, see the germs on their hands and teeth and learn the importance of hygiene.

The Museum wanted an exhibit it could run in conjunction with the Our Body exhibit if parents felt the Our Body exhibit wasn’t suitable for their children.

On one floor you can see the germs on our skin, then take the stairs and see the “universe” under our skin. Fun the whole family will enjoy, Marskell said.

The Children’s Museum has teamed up with the area’s universities, hospitals and corporations to make the next three months about more than just a couple of scientific tour stops.

There will be a speaker series featuring the chief executive officers of area hospitals. Tours and information sessions will be led by university students, and other interactive exhibits from hospitals and the University of Guelph will be on display.

“We want to awe, inspire and enlighten. This exhibit hits all three,” said Marskell. “Maybe one 12-year-old girl will be inspired and become a doctor.”

Ever wondered what a pacemaker looks like? Want to see what a doctor sees when looking at a brain aneurism?

“This community deserves these exhibits,” said Marskell. “Why should people have to drive down to Toronto. . . . they put up an exhibit, we are putting up a three month festival.”

A similar preserved-body exhibit is just wrapping up at the Ontario Science Centre.

It took some convincing by the Children’s Museum to get the Our Body exhibit to make its Canadian premier in Kitchener. The success of the proceeding Warhol exhibit made it a bit easier.

“It was like, look at the stupendous job we did. We can look back at the last time the community was on stage,” Marskell said.

The Andy Warhol’s Factory 2009 drew in over 4,000 tourists to the area said Marskell.

“We hope when they come to see the Our Body exhibit they will then go see the symphony, or the Clay and Glass Gallery. We want it to spread around,” Marskell said.

Ever wanted to see a moon rock?

Well for that you will have to wait until April for “Cosmo Mania,” the next adventure at the Children’s Museum.

“We are going from the universe within, to the universe out there,” Marskell said.

gcowan@therecord.com

http://news.therecord.com/News/Local/article/653648 (http://news.therecord.com/News/Local/article/653648)

[Spokes]

Looks like they've already got another interesting exhibit lined up for after this one. Good job!
That one should pair up nicely with Energy Unlimited


The block in front of the Children's Museum was closed yesterday afternoon, and there were a number of large trucks. I guess they were off loading many of the exhibit materials.

[Spokes]

Well there had been brief discussion about a name change. Well now here it is...


Children’s Museum asks for $600,000 a year as part of rebranding plan

January 12, 2010
By Melinda Dalton, Record staff

KITCHENER — The Children’s Museum says it will have to roll back its offerings to what it had three or four years ago if it can’t secure $600,000 a year in operational funding from the three cities and the region.

That would mean scaling back on high-profile offerings, like the recent Andy Warhol and Jane Goodall exhibits, which heightened the profile of the museum and brought in a more diverse range of visitors.

The museum is struggling to come up with the funds to cover its $2 million operating budget for this year and sustainable funding that will allow it to plan for the future.

Monday night, museum board chair, David Strucke, and CEO David Marskell, came to Kitchener council to ask for a commitment of $300,000, armed with a new strategic plan that includes rebranding the museum to appeal to a wider demographic.

The museum is readying to open a new popular travelling exhibit called “Our Body: The Universe Within,” a display of plasticized human bodies, later this week.

“As the institution has evolved with things like Our Body and Warhol, people recognized that some of the things we were doing were not for the children’s demographic, yet our name was the Children’s Museum,” Strucke told council.

“We’re in a bit of a limbo stage where we’ve got these ideas and we want to move forward, but we’re a little unsure how to do that without knowing whether we’re going to have the sustainable funding on which to exercise this plan.”

Strucke said the $600,000 a year represents only base funding they need to go forward and leaves no room for risks or mistakes as the museum looks toward new initiatives in the future.

“It’s just the base level to let us keep doing what we’re doing,” he said.

He said keeping the museum solely a children’s facility isn’t sustainable and it needs to widen its appeal if it’s going to be able to bring in revenue down the road.

The children’s portion will remain a key component, he said, but more emphasis will be placed on things like travelling exhibits as well as fashion shows and film screenings that open up the space to youth and adult visitors.

Last spring, the museum went to the councils of all three cities and the region to ask for $500,000 worth of operating funding. At that time, they had already secured $100,000 from the municipalities for 2009. Collectively, the cities and the region gave the museum an additional $260,000 in one-time funds.

The museum made up some of the difference with donations from existing benefactors, who gave money on condition that they wouldn’t be asked to fund operational costs in the future.

They still ran a deficit of $944,000.

In the past, the museum has met its base budget through earned revenue, exhibition sponsorships, fundraising and large annual pledges from foundations that were spread over several years.

Those foundation pledges, which started when the museum opened in 2003, have ended.

While there is still strong community support for the museum, most of the potential donors want their funds to go toward capital costs for things like permanent exhibits for the children’s portion of the museum and bringing in world-class temporary exhibits, Strucke said.

The museum needs $600,000 a year to cover things like day-to-day costs and salaries, but is requesting a total of $675,000 from the four councils. Besides asking Kitchener council for a commitment of $300,000 they’re also asking the region for $300,000, Waterloo for $50,000 and $25,000 from Cambridge.

Located in downtown Kitchener, the museum is still a regional facility and Mayor Carl Zehr questioned why the city was being asked to foot so much of the bill. He acknowledged that the tourism brought in by the museum is beneficial, but said they haven’t been asked to provide cash for similar regional offerings in the city.

“I could say the same thing about (Joseph) Schneider Haus,” he said. “We don’t give anything to Schneider house, but it’s a regional facility. . . I have a concern with the disproportionality that has been requested of the city of Kitchener.”

Zehr suggested that the museum try and work with its benefactors to “bridge the gap” and allow the municipalities to ramp up funding over time rather than commit to the entire request immediately.

Council asked staff to come back with some funding options for the museum at the final 2010 budget meeting next Monday.

The museum will be making similar requests to councils at Waterloo, Cambridge and the region in the weeks to come.

“We think we’ve illustrated what we can do for this community, and we just don’t want to have this tin can of sustainability tied to our ankle,” Marskell, said in an interview.

“We don’t want to have to come back every six months, every 18 months. We want to grow. We want to awe, inspire and enlighten this community and I guess we’re asking the community ‘What do we want to be?’”

mdalton@therecord.com

http://news.therecord.com/article/654946 (http://news.therecord.com/article/654946)

[UrbanWaterloo]

January 15, 2010

http://i576.photobucket.com/albums/ss203/UrbanWaterloo/Culture/Waterloo%20Regional%20Childrens%20Museum/WaterlooRegionalChildrensMuseum--2.jpg

http://i576.photobucket.com/albums/ss203/UrbanWaterloo/Culture/Waterloo%20Regional%20Childrens%20Museum/WaterlooRegionalChildrensMuseum--1.jpg

http://i576.photobucket.com/albums/ss203/UrbanWaterloo/Culture/Waterloo%20Regional%20Childrens%20Museum/WaterlooRegionalChildrensMuseum-Our.jpg

[Spokes]

A good Letter to the Editor in support of the Children's Museum. His last line encouraging people to talk to their councilors made me do just that. I'll encourage the rest of you to do the same. Get in touch with your councilor, at both municipal and regional levels.


A downtown draw

January 18, 2010

Re: Museum asks for $600,000 a year — Jan. 12

The Children’s Museum is currently presenting Our Body, another opportunity to experience a world-class exhibit.

Having been a member of The Children’s Museum for six years, I continue to be impressed with the types of exhibits and planning which have been executed under the direction of David Marskell. Museums contribute to community identity by supporting specific norms and values, but they should also evoke a mindfulness and awareness of things previously unknown. As is evident by the recent exhibits, the staff at The Children’s Museum realizes the potential and importance of introducing a variety of concepts to demonstrate science, art and technology.

We are fortunate to have such a resource within our community. Unfortunately, the value of The Museum is not appreciated by all. The City of Kitchener continues to be reluctant to commit to annual funding. What remains a mystery to me is why Kitchener council members have agreed to ceaselessly spend on upgrading the downtown core and yet fail to recognize the value of something already there. The museum attracts tourists, provides an educational resource, promotes research and innovation, offers opportunities to various sectors of the community, and provides a meeting place.

I believe the museum to be a source of pride for our local community. Let your councillors know that you appreciate the museum too. Request that they provide financial sustainability so that the fantastic team at The Children’s Museum can continue to strategize and develop ways to “awe, inspire and enlighten” us all.

Jamie Burton

Kitchener

http://news.therecord.com/Opinions/LettertotheEditor/article/657104 (http://news.therecord.com/Opinions/LettertotheEditor/article/657104)

[RangersFan]

Today I made my first visit to the Waterloo Regional Children's Museum, and I have to say I was pretty impressed. The body works exhibit is pretty interesting, the interior design of the building is also very cool. I didn't even know they had a ground level cafe.

[jay]

how much is it to see the exhibit ?

[Spokes]

From: http://www.thechildrensmuseum.ca/web/pages/planning-your-visit/admission-fees.php


ADMISSION TO OUR BODY: THE UNIVERSE WITHN (includes entire Museum)

Adult: $20
Child (10-17): $15
Child (3-9): $10
Student (with ID): $15
Senior: $15
Kids under 3: FREE

[RangersFan]

The exhbit isn't huge, but it does have alot of interesting information and human body displays. The total cost per person is $20.00 that includes the entire museum, the museum itself is $10.00 admission.

[Spokes]

What'd you think of it? Was it busy?

[RangersFan]

It was mostly school groups, if they are included then it was pretty busy, I thought the exhibit was pretty cool, it is neat to have something like that come to the region. I hope that the museum can continue to attract high profile exhibts.

[Spokes]

Definitely! I wonder what kind of numbers they've had so far.

[UrbanWaterloo]

February 5, 2010

http://i576.photobucket.com/albums/ss203/UrbanWaterloo/Culture/Waterloo%20Regional%20Childrens%20Museum/WaterlooRegionalChildrensMuseum--3.jpg

http://i576.photobucket.com/albums/ss203/UrbanWaterloo/Culture/Waterloo%20Regional%20Childrens%20Museum/WaterlooRegionalChildrensMuseum-Feb.jpg

[Spokes]

Is the Museum Cafe the same as Exhibit Cafe, or is there a second cafe inside the museum?

[UrbanWaterloo]

Children's Museum to scale back exhibits without stable funding, chief warns
February 13, 2010
By Melinda Dalton, Record staff
http://news.therecord.com/News/Local/article/670195

http://media.therecord.topscms.com/images/36/29/abeee88f409ebb023e433bcf79cb.jpeg
The Children's Museum Chief Executive Officer, David Marskell, beside an item inside the Our Body: The Universe Within exhibit at The Children's Museum.

KITCHENER — The Children's Museum will be forced to go back to making crafts “with toilet paper rolls and macaroni,” and ditch the high profile exhibits that have defined its renaissance if someone doesn't step up soon help them out of their operating cost tailspin, according to its chief executive.

David Marskell said the situation at the museum has now reached a critical point and staff and the board haven't made any plans for external programming past Labour Day because the future is so uncertain.

“We've got some tough decisions,” he said. “If people care — if they want the positive progressive museum that we were aspiring to be, they need to do something.

“If they don't, that says something too and we will be back to making things with toilet paper rolls with macaroni. That's just the reality of the economics.”

The museum has already cancelled their next touring exhibit, artifacts from the Titanic, which was slated to open in the fall.

The board is also looking at limiting hours or staying closed certain days, moves aim at capping costs.

The bottom line, according to the museum, is they need a $600,000 a year commitment from the municipalities to help with their day to day costs or they'll have to revert to the bare bones programming of years past.

“We're not going to go back to the municipalities every 16 months, cap in hand,” said Marskell. “We're not going to do it.”

The museum opened to great fanfare in 2003, but quickly started to sink below expectations due to high staff turnover, disappointing exhibits and a space that appeared half empty. Marskell was hired three and a half years ago to turn the museum around.

“I came here and my eyes were wide open,” he said. “When I saw the facility, it was my canvas if you will. I was built for this place. But, I knew the books were in trouble, they were closed to closing.”

Marskell's energy and ambition quickly netted the museum some early wins.

He brought in travelling exhibits like The Remarkable World of Jane Goodall, Dinosaurs Alive! and, the biggest success to date, the Warhol's Factory 2009 exhibit, which drew crowds from across the province and press from around the world.

The museum's latest exhibit, Our Body, runs until April and is already showing signs of success.

The museum receives just over $100,000 a year in annual grants from the region, Waterloo and Cambridge.

It also receives $100,000 worth of in-kind support for the building's upkeep from the city of Kitchener. Eight months ago, Marksell made a pitch for and additional $500,000 a year. He got half that.

This January, armed with a plan outlining the museum's new strategic direction, Marskell and board chair David Strucke made another request — $600,000 in incremental annual funding from all four councils.

Cambridge denied their $25,000 request, citing a tough financial year and the support it's giving to the new Drayton theatre.

Waterloo city staff recommends council approve a fifth of the museum's $50,000 request. The city only had $70,000 to hand out and received grant requests totaling double that, said Mayor Brenda Halloran.

The region is still considering the museum's $300,000 grant request and will make a final decision in the coming weeks, said Chair Ken Seiling.

The museum asked Kitchener for another $300,000 — overshooting their $600,000 goal in case some of the municipalities couldn't make the full commitment.

Councillors referred it back to staff to work out how much more they could afford to give the museum out of the existing arts and culture funding pot.

While it's located downtown, Kitchener shouldn't shoulder the bulk of the funding burden for the museum because it's used by residents and school groups from all the local municipalities, Mayor Carl Zehr said.

“I'm disappointed with the level of support from municipalities other than Kitchener and the region,” he said.

“We in this region have to start looking beyond our own boundaries in terms of how we support various facilities and programs.”

Marskell said he can't predict how much support the municipalities will commit to, but anticipates it won't meet their $600,000 goal.

The region's new arts enabling organization — developed by Prosperity Council, which represents 3,400 businesses in the area —is aimed at helping groups like the Children's Museum with funding, marketing, ticketing and event management.

But, they're still in the process of selecting their board and aren't in a position yet to help bail out the museum.

“It's a little premature for us to be able to intervene on that situation,” Roger Farwell of the Prosperity Council said, adding the organization is still in the process of gathering sustainable funding from the public and private sectors.

“If we had completed that task, we probably wouldn't be having this conversation. I don't think anyone who knows the Children's Museum wouldn't agree that it's a vital creative enterprise that helps to make us noteworthy . . . But, we find ourselves in a bit of a predicament of timing right now.”

[Spokes]

I hope they get the money they need. Having a museum like this really helps the Region.

Does anyone know how other museums across Canada work? Are they totally self sufficient, or do they get help from the government?

[UrbanWaterloo]

It’s time to change the museum’s name
February 19, 2010
Re: Scaling back to bare bones — Feb. 13
http://news.therecord.com/Opinions/LettertotheEditor/article/672631

I read with empathy the recent report that the Children’s Museum in Kitchener is in need of additional funding, but I couldn’t help wondering if additional funding could be generated by a small change that would broaden the marketing base for the museum.

Change its name.

As a middle-aged person, I had some interest in both the Andy Warhol exhibit and the current Our Body exhibit, but stayed away because it’s a “children’s museum.” The name conjures up an image of scampering tots screaming through the hallways while I’d be trying to enjoy the displays in relative peace.

Don’t get me wrong, children are great, but we’ve lost an opportunity to attract a substantial market of older adults to the museum. Additionally, adolescents are likely to avoid the museum as they move through the process of dissociating from childhood attachments.

I’m not suggesting renaming the facility the “Aging Codger’s Memorial Dust Factory,” but perhaps our downtown museum would attract more funding by attempting to draw from a larger demographic base. Abandon the niche marketing and move into broader market appeal. Then, by all means, give the museum a “children’s section,” or keep the interactive displays accessible throughout for children to enjoy. My goal is not to eliminate children from the museum experience.

The ROM and the Ontario Science Centre in Toronto both sustain children’s interests, but without imposing ageist limits to their marketing.

Why not take advantage of our region’s image on the technology stage and call it the “Innovation Museum?” Attendance would probably increase to offset cash shortfalls.

And yes, children will still go to the exhibits.

Craig Dinsmore, Kitchener

[RangersFan]

Its really a shame that the museum is going to have to seriously scale back the exhibits, I think the "artifacts from the Titanic" would have been a very interesting display that I would have gone to see for sure. I think that the museum is great for downtown, and you have to admire it's attempt to really up the ante bringing in these impressive exhibits. I also think a name change could benefit, the museum, and "innovation museum" is actually quite good.

[Spokes]

Ya thats really too bad. I was pretty pumped about the Titanic exhibit.

Im also in favour of a name change.

[UrbanWaterloo]

Museum takes over café
Profit from business to help fund museum's operations
By Melinda Dalton, Record staff - March 2, 2010
http://news.therecord.com/News/Local/article/678213

KITCHENER – By day, it will offer local and organic fare tailored to the casual lunch crowd and little fingers. By night, it could be transformed into a licensed lounge with nibblers to hit the spot and hometown brews to quench the thirst.

The Museum Café, located at the street entrance to the Children's Museum, has been open for two months, but it's still in the process of finding its footing.

Its new sign hasn't arrived yet, so the one of the café that came before still hangs on the street. Other things, like liquor licences and patio permits, are still being worked out.

But, when all that work is done, the café, now owned and operated by the museum itself, will act as an extension of the larger space that occupies the King Street building.

“We've made it sort of hipster or cutting edge,” Chris Farley, the café's new manager, said pointing to a large-screen TV on the wall that will show digital media pieces as well as space where other works will soon hang. “We've also made it more of a place you could frequent on a more regular basis because we have more products that are much more grab-and-go. We're trying to respond better to the market place.”

The museum is struggling to come up with $2 million to fund its operations. The hope is the café and the in-house catering it could accommodate will have an impact on the amount of revenue the facility can earn.

The museum took over the small eatery that fronts onto King Street in December after the lease was up on the Exhibit Café, which occupied the space before.

Originally, the area was used as a museum store, but a flood from the floor above wiped out much of the merchandise. It was then used as a space for the artist in residence, but museum chief executive officer David Marskell said he saw that as a wasted opportunity in a valuable space.

The new Museum Café will keep up many of the expectations established by Exhibit. Much of the staff remains and it is still heavily focused on local and organic offerings.

But Farley, a well-known figure in the local food service industry and former manager of Peter Martin's 20 King, is taking it one step further. He's partnering with other local businesses to bring unique foods and local products to café customers. That includes a selection of frozen treats from Waterloo's Whole Lot-A Gelata, breads from King Street's Golden Hearth Bakery, coffee from the market's EcoCafe and produce and cheeses brought in through a local farm coordinator.

“We're trying to make sure we highlight who our producers are so we have the Healthy Butcher breakfast. We have Pfenning's organic salad,” Farley said.

For now, the café will keep its early morning and lunchtime hours. But as the museum tries to branch out to an older audience with its Museum After Dark programming, including movie screenings and fashion shows, the café could be transitioned into a sleeker evening lounge.

When the liquor licence comes through, they plan to maintain the overall philosophy of the café by serving only local or organic wines and beer. And when the weather is warm enough, and if the city consents, they'll spill the café out onto the street with a large sidewalk patio.

Farley points out that most modern museums offer food service and having something reliable that the organization can draw on can only help the bottom line.

“It just adds to the overall idea of what the museum is trying to do and now we're a part of that.”


The Museum delighted with new Café initiatives
Waterloo’s Whole Lot-A Gelata among new partners to launch at Café
http://www.kitchenerdowntown.com/media_releases/
http://www.kitchenerdowntown.com/sites/kdba/files/new_cafe.doc

Kitchener, ON – The yellow walls aren’t the only big change the café has seen at The Museum lately. With the start of the new year came new initiatives for the organic restaurant located in downtown Kitchener, including new food and new partners.

The Museum Café, its namesake being its location on The Museum’s first level, is introducing a new menu, new management and new collaborations with local companies and can now offer visitors more options than ever before. The Museum Café will continue to be a downtown option for organic, locally grown meals, re-created in part by Red Seal Chef, Tim Farley, in addition to other new tasty treats.

With the guidance and local restaurateur, Chris Farley, The Museum Café has secured a lineup of new partners. Whole Lot-A Gelata – a unique gelato parlour in Uptown Waterloo – has agreed to collaborate to open its first remote location on site at The Museum Café. The Museum Café will begin offering seven flavours of the locally made dessert later this month.

This partnership is just one of the new projects The Museum Café is working on and is in keeping with The Museum’s attempts to showcase exhibits by Waterloo Regional Innovators such as Christie Digital, Com Dev and ATS.

The Museum Café will continue the tradition of supporting farmers through a new relationship with EcoCafé – a local company currently operating at the Kitchener Market. This partnership allows guests to enjoy a fine organic cup of coffee or the option to have the quicker service of ready brewed.

In addition, The Golden Hearth Bakery, another local supplier located downtown, will provide The Museum Café with fresh breads to complement the new menu.

“The Museum experience doesn’t have to start or finish at our front doors. Brunch before your visit or a coffee to reflect on the exhibits is just another way for people to spend their day with us downtown,” explains David Marskell, CEO. “We are just so pleased to be working with so many community partners in order to continue to offer the high quality service and food people have come to expect here.”

Come warmer weather patrons of The Museum Café will be able to enjoy an outdoor beverage or serving of Whole Lot-A Gelata and watch the world pass by on their soon to be licensed patio.

The Museum Café is located at 10 King St. West in Downtown Kitchener, inside The Museum. To view the new menu and hours of operation, log on to www.TheMuseum.ca or call 519-749-9387 ext. 242.

[Spokes]

I had seen things about this and their license in council meetings but was never sure what the Museum Cafe was as I didn't know Exhibit was gone. Makes sense now.

Should be really good. Especially once they get their liquor license, could be a nice loungey place for downtown Kitchener, and could help the museum out too. Looking forward to this. Using local products is also a nice touch.

Also, I wonder when they said they will go with organic wines and beers, if they meant local wines and beers. Off the top of my head the only organic beer that I know of (that is openly marketed this way) is Mill Street Brewery's Organic Lager. I'd much rather see them go local then organic. Have a number of Brick and Wellington beers on tap.

[UrbanWaterloo]

The name change is official then? Haven't seen any official media release from The Museum.

Region boosts funding for arts
By Terry Pender, Record staff
March 16, 2010 - http://news.therecord.com/News/Local/article/685447
...
The executive director at The Museum in downtown Kitchener, formerly known as the Waterloo Regional Children’s Museum, hopes that message from Kovacs and other researchers, such as Richard Florida, is getting heard at City Hall.
The Museum needs a total of $600,000 in annual funding from the municipal sector to become financially sustainable. With the region’s recent allocation of $300,000 it is now looking for city councillors in Kitchener and Waterloo to combine their resources and come up with another $300,000 in annual funding.
A few years ago the museum was getting $45,000 from the region. That is now up to $300,000.
“So I very much applaud them,” David Marskell, the museum’s executive director, said.
“It is wonderful the region recognizes and acknowledges our efforts, it is a huge step in making us sustainable,” he said.
In the past few years the museum has become one of the biggest draws to downtown Kitchener.
...

[UrbanWaterloo]

Ongoing/Upcoming Events

http://photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs500.snc3/27281_357538899947_156017069947_4869627_2856799_n. jpg http://photos-e.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs489.ash1/26718_353131364947_156017069947_4855974_150070_n.j pg

Madhatter Tea Party - March 27th: http://www.thechildrensmuseum.ca/web/media/mad_hatter_web.pdf
http://www.thechildrensmuseum.ca/web/media/mad_hatter_banner.jpg

http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs219.snc3/22678_285198689947_156017069947_4573108_410634_n.j pg http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs421.snc3/24318_365837094947_156017069947_4902455_2933003_n. jpg

http://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs088.snc3/15543_234001014947_156017069947_4282066_1294609_n. jpg

[Spokes]

I hadn't heard anything official about a name change either, nor does it look like the building has changed its name. That being said, they're marketing has shown the name change for quite a while now.

[UrbanWaterloo]

Funds allow museum to look ahead
By Melinda Dalton, Record staff; With files from Jeff Outhit
March 23, 2010 - http://news.therecord.com/News/Local/article/687306

KITCHENER — It isn’t the $600,000 they were looking for, but The Museum now has enough “breathing room” to start planning for its future.

Kitchener councillors approved $120,000 in operating funds for the former Children’s Museum, recently rebranded simply The Museum, Monday night.

Along with the contributions from the region and Cambridge, The Museum now has $423,500 to fill a gap in its $2 million operating budget.

“We’ve got the breathing room now,” museum CEO, David Marskell, said in an interview. “We’re still in a process and we’ll work with that.”

Waterloo councillors considered a $10,000 grant to the museum Monday night as well, but it was sent back to staff after the museum lobbied for more.

“I think we’ve proven (the museum) can be a relevant institution,” museum president David Strucke said, in asking Waterloo for more cash.

In an interview, Strucke pointed out the other two municipalities have increased their museum funding over two years. Kitchener and the region committed about twice what they did in 2009.

Last year, Waterloo gave the struggling museum almost $50,000. In 2008, council granted the museum $15,000.

According to Marskell, earned revenue has doubled at the museum in the last few years and they brought in $100,000 during March break alone. But an increase in ticket sales isn’t enough to cover the operating shortfall.

In January, Marskell and Strucke made pleas to all four councils, asking for $600,000 a year and cautioning that without sustainable funding, the museum would have to scale back its offerings. That was a “bare bones” amount that would leave no room for error, he said.

Marskell said they’re grateful for the funds already committed, but said it’s clear the municipalities aren’t ready to cover their full request.

“We’ll have to make some cuts and still have to be prudent and strategic as we plan to move forward,” he said.

The funds were approved by all Kitchener councillors except for Coun. John Gazzola, who said Kitchener taxpayers are already contributing significantly to the museum through their regional taxes and a $105,000 a year in kind donation from the city that covers the King Street building, its maintenance and parking.

Kitchener’s operating contribution is one-time funding — pulled from an arts and culture capacity sustainability fund — intended to fill the gap between the museum’s needs this year and the start up of the Prosperity Council’s recently formed Creative Enterprise Enabling Organization.

Councillors also approved $40,000 each for the K-W Symphony and the Kitchener Waterloo Art Gallery and $20,000 for emergency requests.

The Museum is an independent, not-for-profit organization. Donors and foundations have supported its exhibits and some of its operations in the past, but Marskell said it’s clear they don’t want to be tapped to pay the bills going forward.

Because of its unstable financial future, the museum was forced to cancel a scheduled touring exhibit of Titanic artifacts slated for fall.

Marskell said the funding already committed will allow them, for the first time in five months, to start making plans beyond the summer and look into securing new exhibits.

The Museum board will meet this Wednesday and will take a look at where to go from here and ways to fill the remaining operating gap, he said.

The funding issue is scheduled to come back to Waterloo council on April 12.

[Spokes]

Get the Titanic Exhibit back!!!

[jay]

I'm going to the Madhatter Tea Party event at The Museum tonight. The dance studio my girlfriend works for (Impact) is performing tonight. I'll try to take some pictures to post.

http://www.thechildrensmuseum.ca/web/media/mad_hatter_web.pdf

[DHLawrence]

Get the Titanic Exhibit back!!!

I hope they were able to keep the Egypt exhibit at least. Egypt will probably get way more people in than Titanic, even with the Titanic's pop culture status taken into account.

[Spokes]

I hope they were able to keep the Egypt exhibit at least. Egypt will probably get way more people in than Titanic, even with the Titanic's pop culture status taken into account.

Ya you could be right, although people might have gotten their Egypt fill with the recent King Tut exhibit at the AGO (which was great by the way)

[DHLawrence]

I doubt it--if anything it just re-lit the flame. Someone from the marketing department at the ROM spoke to my marketing class and said that the marketers would be ecstatic if their major temporary exhibits were only dinosaurs and Egypt back to back--the money wouldn't stop rolling in. It might not get tourists from the GTA, but it would certainly get tourists from Brantford, Guelph, and areas west of us who can't get to Toronto as easily.

I wonder how much of the construction costs the AGO was able to pay off because of this exhibit. The fees to the British Museum must have been insane, but I'm sure the AGO was able to get a nice return.

[jay]

The Mad Hatter Event was pretty cool. Apparently they sold around 110 tickets. The place was decked out.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4071/4470034897_88fa64aba0.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2759/4470040267_4c260e1915_m.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4071/4470833768_c165cf742b_m.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4016/4470058871_08059a7531_m.jpg

[UrbanWaterloo]

The Museum Board adds “stellar” group of community individuals
Posted March 31 , 2010 - http://www.exchangemagazine.com/morningpost/2010/week13/Wednesday/033102.htm

Kitchener – The Museum in downtown Kitchener is delighted to announce the addition of five members to its Board of Directors.

New members include the University of Waterloo’s Vice President of External Relations, Meg Beckel, Georgia Bolger, Vice President of S.G. Cunningham, KPMG Regional Managing Partner, Frank Boutzis, Murray Gamble, President of The C3 Group and Avvey Peters, the Vice President of Operations for Communitech. All five new Directors bring unique business experience and expertise to The Museum as it begins planning for its future again.

Upon recently learning that the Region of Waterloo and City of Kitchener would support Museum operations with funding amounting to almost $435,000 this year, Board President David Strucke said he “applauds the leadership shown for the arts and culture by Chair Ken Seiling and Mayor Carl Zehr”. Strucke went on to say “what the funding does is allows us to not only plan six to twelve months out but also to begin discussions of what we might be in five years. This group of strategic thinkers represents a diverse cross section of the business community and the individuals can assist staff take The Museum to the next level.”

The Museum had requested $600,000 in funding and while the organization is honoured by the municipalities’ recognition in receiving a large portion of that amount, especially in these tough economic times, the Board must now respond strategically by making decisions for the short and long term viability of The Museum.

David Marskell, the Chief Executive Officer, says he’s “delighted and proud to be serving under such a stellar group of individuals. Their range of expertise is impressive and I know each one will prove to be an asset for The Museum’s growth and the growth of its staff.”

The new Board members will join existing members David Strucke, Keith Ainsworth, Dr. Maria Cantalini-Williams, Glen Drummond, John Durdan, Joan Euler and Kent MacFarlane leaving up to four additional spots which can be filled at The Museum’s Annual General Meeting in November of 2010.

New Board Members quick bio:

Meg Beckel - Vice-President of External Relations for the University of Waterloo and a member of the University’s executive council, Meg brings a history of working in cultural organizations including the National Ballet, Vancouver Symphony Society and serving as Chief Operating Officer for the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM).

Georgia Bolger - Vice-President of S.G. Cunningham located in Waterloo. Georgia also served on the Board of Directors at the King Street Theatre Centre and was on The Museum’s planning Committee for the successful Gala - BMO Studio 54.

Frank Boutzis - Regional Managing Partner for KPMG Frank brings financial expertise and a history of serving the communities where he has lived including United Way Hamilton, Hamilton-Wentworth Family Services, YMCA-YWCA Okanagan, Kelowna BC Strong Kids Campaign, Okanagan Science & Technology Council, was a member of the Founding Executive of the Waterloo Girls Minor Hockey Association, and is currently on the Board of Canada’s Technology Triangle.

Murray Gamble - President of The C3 Group of Companies. Murray was Co-Chair of the Vision Task Force for the Prosperity Council’s Creative Enterprise
Initiative and was one of the key players involved in the formation of the new Arts Enabling Organization. Murray serves on numerous Boards within the community, including The Centre in the Square, The Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery and he currently acts as Chair of the Advisory Council for the Centre for Business Entrepreneurship and Technology at the University of Waterloo.

Avvey Peters - Vice President of Operations for Communitech, Avvey was previously Associate Director, Communications & Marketing then Sr. Director, Government Relations & Development at University of Waterloo. Avvey brings more than 10 years of strategic experience in public relations, communications and Government Relations to The Museum.

[Urbanomicon]

Museum brings on new board members

April 01, 2010
Melinda Dalton, Record staff
http://news.therecord.com/News/Local/article/691660

KITCHENER — The Museum is marking its first big move since coming close to the brink with five new board members.

The new members, drawn from the top of the local business and academic communities, were announced yesterday as the museum moves forward with new money and new plans for its future.

“When the funding became critical and an issue, we kind of paused everything,” said museum CEO David Marskell.

“After a huge March Break, we know we’re relevant to the community and we’ve been acknowledged by the region and the city of Kitchener. They think we’re relevant.

“I’m just delighted that we’re relevant to the group of people who are coming on our board.”

Three of the five board new board members were added at the museum’s annual general meeting last November. They include Avvey Peters, vice president of operations for Communitech, Murray Gamble, president of The C3 Group of Companies and a key player in the establishment of the region’s new arts enabling organization, and Georgia Bolger, vice president of the Waterloo general contracting firm S.G. Cunningham.

Two more were added after the museum secured $435,000 in operational funding this year from the region, Kitchener and Cambridge.

Also joining the 12 member board is Meg Beckel, vice-president of external relations at the University of Waterloo and former chief operating officer at the Royal Ontario Museum, and financial expert Frank Boutzis, regional managing partner for KPMG.

Formerly known as The Children’s Museum, The Museum rebranded earlier this year in an effort to attract a more diverse crowd. In the past three years, its large travelling exhibits have generated buzz and ticket sales, but the museum struggled to pay its bills without sustainable operating funding.

Museum officials asked all four regional municipalities for a total of $600,000 in sustainable funding so they could move forward with plans to bring in more exhibits to draw in larger crowds and expand its programming beyond that exclusively for children.

So far, Kitchener, Waterloo and Cambridge have each committed to funding, though only the region gave the museum the full amount it asked for. Councillors in Waterloo will make a decision on how much to give the museum later this month after board president David Strucke pushed for more than the $10,000 recommended by city staff.

Even if they get the full $50,000 they’re requesting from Waterloo, the museum will fall short of its goal and will need to make some strategic decisions going forward, Marskell said.

However, with the funds already committed, the board and the museum staff can start looking at what the redefined museum will be months and years down the road.

“We’re looking at two years out again, looking at some of the bigger stuff we can do,” Marskell said.

“It’s back to an exciting time with the ability to plan and we’ve got breathing room to keep going ... With the new folks around the table, they’ll guide us and they’ll help staff take it to the next level, so it’s very, very exciting."

mdalton@therecord.com

[Spokes]

Museum show about to set new attendance record

April 02, 2010
By Terry Pender, Record staff

KITCHENER — The Museum in downtown Kitchener is about to set a new attendance record with its current exhibit that is being extended until April 25.

By then more than 39,000 people will have seen Our Body: The Universe Within, David Marskell, The Museum’s executive director, said Thursday.

“We are going to have more people for Our Body than we did for Warhol,” Marskell said.

Warhol’s Factory 2009 attracted 38,579 people during a four month run, mostly from this region, but also from Toronto, Hamilton, London and Windsor. That set a record for The Museum. During the all-important March Break the Warhol show attracted 5,122 people and pulled in $50,500 in revenues for that week.

But the numbers are way up for the current exhibit.

During March Break the Our Body exhibit pulled in 8,114 people and about 27 per cent live outside Waterloo Region. Revenues for that one week period totalled $101,934. So far Our Body: The Universe Within attracted nearly 39,000 people.

“We are going to surpass Warhol this weekend,” Marskell said.

The numbers could not come at a better time in the short history of The Museum, which was originally called the Waterloo Region Children’s Museum. The name on the front of the building at 10 King St. West will be changed in the next couple of months.

During the past nine months Marskell and The Museum’s supporters lobbied the municipal councils in this area to increase annual funding. The result: $420,000 a year in operating funds, mostly from Waterloo Region and the City of Kitchener.

“We are delighted that Regional Chair Ken Seiling and Kitchener Mayor Carl Zehr, and their councils, acknowledged we are relevant by giving us the funding we needed,” Marskell said. “These exhibit numbers tell us we are also relevant with the whole community.”

The Museum’s brand is inspired by The New Museum on the Bowery in New York City and 21c Museum Hotel in Louisville, Kentucky. Both are contemporary and boundary-pushing spaces that defy the traditional idea of a museum.

“The word museum has evolved and it’s no longer a place where there is a collection of old things,” Marskell said.

The Museum recently took over management and operation of The Exhibit Café and expects to have a large patio along King Street in operation within weeks.

With increasing revenues, attendance and operating funds The Museum restarted negotiations to secure an exhibit of the artifacts from the Titanic. If those talks are successful the Titanic would come here this fall. Preliminary talks have also started on holding a major exhibit Tom Thomson’s work sometime next year in collaboration with the National Gallery of Canada, the Art Gallery of Ontario and the Tom Thomson Art Gallery in Owen Sound.

tpender@therecord.com

http://news.therecord.com/News/Local/article/692796

Lots of great news coming out of this article. First, that the exhibit was such a success it was expanded! Awesome! And the revenue it generated. Seems like lots of people are coming in from outside of town to see it which is another great factor. And that the new branding will be up soon. And the cafe will have a patio on King. And that the Titanic is still a possibility. And a Tom Thomson exhibit which would be huge given the connections with the National Gallery and AGO. Wow. Lots of great things happening

[DHLawrence]

Glad to hear they recovered from their woes earlier on this year. Let's hope they keep it up!

[panamaniac]

I managed to get into the Museum on the weekend (first time in the building since Goudies closed). The building is impressive and the Body exhibit was fascinating (if sobering at times). The other, permanent exhibits still need a lot of work as there is not much for kids to see. I also had lunch at the cafe downstairs and it was quite nice.

[Spokes]

President of The Museum will go before Waterloo Council Monday, asking for funding

April 16, 2010
By Melinda Dalton, Record staff

WATERLOO REGION — The Museum’s president will make one last plea to Waterloo councillors Monday to up the city’s contribution to the organization, despite a staff recommendation not to increase its grant.

The Museum, formerly the Children’s Museum, is trying to make up for a $600,000 shortfall in its $2 million operating budget through support from the municipalities.

The not-for-profit organization asked Waterloo for $50,000 in sustainable funds, an amount just over what the city gave in grants and emergency funding in 2009.

The city’s peer review granting committee recommend giving The Museum $10,000. After an appeal by museum president David Strucke at a meeting last month, council asked staff to look at that amount again.

“We did do that and we did consult with the volunteers who drafted the original recommendation,” said Betty Anne Keller, the city’s arts and culture manager.

In a report going to council Monday night, city staff recommend keeping Waterloo’s grant at $10,000, citing The Museum’s focus on blockbuster exhibits and lack of permanent collection, which, the report reads, would make it unlikely to qualify for museum funding offered by other levels of government.

The Museum’s grant application and presentation to council showed “no clear mission or mandate to describe the organization's ongoing community purpose, nor was there a well defined business plan to address (its) long-term sustainability,” according to the report.

Four other organizations — Pat the Dog Playwright Theatre, the Waterloo Concert Band, the World Religions Conference and the Social Planning Council – also appealed their grant allocation.

Staff recommended making extra cash available for one – the Social Planning Council.

After struggling with sustainable funding after founding grants ran out, The Museum shifted directions earlier this year, rebranding and looking at ways to expand its demographics. Museum CEO David Marskell said, while the touring exhibits are an exciting aspect of The Museum’s new direction, the large amount of school groups that pass through and new initiatives like Museum After Dark all contribute to The Museum’s new vision and sustainability.

Kitchener and the Region have already committed to $420,000 — both increasing their contributions over last year. Cambridge has committed $3,500 this year.

Marskell said 13. 7 per cent of the school groups that come through The Museum are from Waterloo, as well as 13 per cent who came to see the Our Body exhibit.

Staff recommended the city receive no grant last year and the city ended up contributing $23,000 plus another $25,000 in emergency funds, he said.

“The councillors that I know, in my heart, I know they get it,” Marskell said. “I do remain optimistic that they will override the staff’s recommendation because we’re doing good stuff for Waterloo and for Cambridge and for Kitchener . . . It doesn’t get us to the $600,000, but it gives us a chance to plan again and start thinking about the future.”

[UrbanWaterloo]

Out of this world exhibit to open at Kitchener museum
570 News Apr 21, 2010 3:43:50 AM
http://www.570news.com/news/local/article/47070--out-of-this-world-exhibit-to-open-at-kitchener-museum

http://media.greenradio.topscms.com/images/be/3f/00f9c5c24bea9f42b614648960b2.jpeg

The Museum in downtown Kitchener has landed an exhibit that truly is "out of this world."
Cosmomania opens May 1st and runs through the summer.
It's an interactive display spotlighting our universe.
Among other things, you can see firsthand an actual rock plucked from the moon's surface during the Apollo 15 mission.
There are also many other interesting features to this exhibit, including a model lunar rover on loan from Ontario Drive and Gear.
The exhibit is a partnership of several groups, including the Canadian Space Agency, NASA, the Royal Ontario Museum, the Perimeter Institute and the University of Waterloo.

[Spokes]

Moon rock at The Museum

April 21, 2010
By Melinda Dalton, Record staff

KITCHENER — For billions of years, it lay on the moon’s surface.

Now, one of NASA’s famous moon rocks, hand-picked by an astronaut on the Apollo 15 mission, will take centre stage in The Museum’s new summer exhibit, Cosmomania.

The rock, a sample of the moon’s surface brought back to Earth by the 1971 mission, as well as other space memorabilia including an astronaut helmet, a glove, samples of astronaut food and a tile from a shuttle, will be on loan from NASA for the duration of the exhibit.

“We have a photo of this rock actually on the moon and now it’s coming to downtown Kitchener,” said David Marskell, chief executive of The Museum. “I think that is just awesome.”

Bringing NASA’s precious sample to Waterloo Region was no small task.

Marskell, who nicknamed the pickup his “Maxwell Smart” mission after the secret agent in the Get Smart TV show, had to travel to Johnston Space Centre in Houston to pick up a suitcase containing the rock, with strict instructions that it was not to leave his side. Armed with documents from NASA instructing airport security not to X-ray the case, Marskell was to keep the rock with him on the flight, drive directly to the Museum and call them as soon as it was in the locked case.

“It is really exciting,” he said with a grin before leaving for the pickup earlier this week.

The Cosmomania exhibit, which examines the “out of this world,” follows The Museum’s most successful exhibit to date — a detailed look at the human interior called Our Body: The Universe Within.

The museum expects more than 45,000 people will have seen Our Body by the time the exhibit wraps up on April 25. That’s a 20 per cent increase over their previous attendance record-breaking exhibit, Warhol’s Factory 2009.

The NASA artifacts are only one component of Cosmomania which starts May 1. The rest of the exhibit will be filled with HD films of space, history of Canadian adventures and achievements in space and other extraterrestrial items that crash-landed on earth.

Ontario Drive and Gear, a New Hamburg-based gear and transmission manufacturer, is lending the museum a replica the firm built of a lunar rover. Com Dev, a Cambridge-based company that manufactures components for communication satellites, is behind the museum’s new Star Lab planetarium as well as several interactive pieces it manufactured for Cosmomania that explore the science behind space travel.

The Royal Ontario Museum is lending an iron-nickel meteorite that was discovered in Australia in 1931. It’s believed to be made out of the same material that constitutes the Earth’s core.

“I held it, it’s about the size of a football,” said Marskell. “It’s heavy and I think it’s neat that people can touch it and realize it’s made out of metal. You can put a magnet to it and it’s a very, very strong attraction.”

The ROM is also lending another chunk of the moon. However this one was chipped off by a surface impact and it fell to Earth.

The Museum will be bringing in some real-life experience to complement a portion of the exhibit detailing the history of the Canadian Space Agency. Canadian astronaut Bjarni Tryggvason, who served as a payload specialist on a 12-day shuttle mission in 1997, will be there for half a day for a presentation and a meet-and-greet. No date has been set for that event yet.

The museum’s mandate is to present science, art and technology in an engaging way and this exhibit hits on all three of those targets, Marskell said.

The artwork comes in the form of colourful and detailed astrophotography captured by star gazers from across Southern Ontario. The photos, collected by KW Telescope, were taken using a telescope and a camera that move together in extreme precision. As the picture is being taken, a second camera monitors the area of the sky that will be captured and corrects the position of the primary camera.

“For the most part, the exposure part of these photos is measured in hours instead of thousandths of a second,” said Brady Johnson who owns KW Telescope along with Brian Dernesch. “When you get into ones that require extra long exposures, which you need because the objects are so dim, there’s a bit of learning curve for sure.

“But more and more and more people are doing it and probably 60 per cent of the people that come in these days are interested in photography.”

KW Telescope will be adding to the Cosmomania collection in June when it passes on the winners of its second annual astrophotography contest, open to amateur astronomers across North America.

“These things are truly awesome,” Marskell said of the images captured. “I love that whole intersection of art and science coming together because a kid may not be into the science of everything here, they may be inspired to recreate it in an artistic way.”

Cosmomania opens on May 1 and runs until mid-September.

mdalton@therecord.com

http://news.therecord.com/News/Local/article/699852

[panamaniac]

You really have to give credit to Marskell for trying to make something of the Museum. I wish them well and hope this exhibit is another success.

[Spokes]

You really have to give credit to Marskell for trying to make something of the Museum. I wish them well and hope this exhibit is another success.

Absolutely, all of the success the Museum has had is because of him.

[UrbanWaterloo]

Liquor Licence Application - The Museum Café - 10 King Street West
REPORT TO: Councillor B. Vrbanovic, Chair and Members of the Finance and Corporate Services Committee
DATE OF REPORT: May 3, 2010 | DATE OF MEETING: May 10, 2010
SUBMITTED BY: Liquor Licensing Review Committee
PREPARED BY: Patricia Harris, Manager of Licensing
REPORT NO.: CRPS-10-062 (http://www.kitchener.ca/Files/Item/item18987_crps-0-062_-_liquor_licence_application_-_the_museum_cafe_-_10_king_street_west.pdf)

RECOMMENDATION: That Condition #4 of the liquor licensing agreement entered into by The City of Kitchener and 1327236 Ontario Inc. (o/a The Museum Café) be waived for the period June 9-19, 2010 to allow the Museum Café to sell and serve liquor until 2:00 a.m. during the Magnetic North Festival.

BACKGROUND: On January 18, 2010 a recommendation was approved by Council that they would take no action to oppose the application for a liquor license for ‘The Museum Café’ located at 10 King Street West applied for by 1327236 Ontario Inc. The Museum Café entered into an agreement with the City whereby they agreed to abide by several conditions. These conditions were also added to their liquor licence by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario. (AGCO). Condition #4 of the agreement requires the Museum Café to stop serving alcohol by 12:01 a.m. daily in the first year of holding the liquor licence and thereafter to stop serving alcohol by 2:00 a.m. daily. This is a standard condition for any business that has no experience in the sale and serving of alcohol.

REPORT: The City has received correspondence from David Marskell, CEO of The Museum requesting that Condition #4 of the agreement be waived for the period of June 9-19. They have been contracted by the Magnetic North Festival, which is a premier festival of new Canadian theatre, to cater several events over the course of the festival. Mr. Marskell has indicated that the serving of alcohol until 12:01 a.m. is detrimental to the type of events that the museum will be hosting. The Alcohol and Gaming Control Commission (AGCO) has requested a letter from the City advising that the City has no concerns with this condition being waived during the festival. The Liquor Licensing Review Committee (LLARC) have no concerns with this request provided the condition is waived only for the dates of the festival. There have been no complaints with this operation regarding the sale and serving of alcohol.

[Spokes]

Looking forward to seeing what kind of events they're going to be hosting. Could be fun.

[CompassRose]

They're hosting the nightly post-show bar during Magnetic North, for starters.

[UrbanWaterloo]

Patio - May 21, 2010

http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa262/AndrewEH/Culture/TheMuseumPatio-May212010-1b.jpg

[panamaniac]

Patio - May 21, 2010

http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa262/AndrewEH/Culture/TheMuseumPatio-May212010-1b.jpg

Great to see. Now, if only the new outdoor spaces on King can get some good word of mouth and an article in the Record that's postitive and not about the street life bothering patrons or whatever.... :rolleyes:

[Spokes]

Excellent. I haven't been to the new Cafe yet since they've rebranded it, but I want to soon.

[taylortbb]

Looks like the Titanic exhibit is back on:

http://www.570news.com/news/local/article/69790--titanic-sailing-into-waterloo-region



Titanic sailing into Waterloo Region
570 News Jun 23, 2010 16:57:26 PM

The Museum in downtown Kitchener has announced that "Titanic -- The Artifact Exhibition" will open in September.

It will be here until January 23, 2011.

The exhibit showcases more than 150 legendary artifacts recovered from the ship.

More than 22-million people have attended the exhibit worldwide.


I'm looking forward to attending. Good thing they managed to get this back on.

[Spokes]

Looks like the Titanic exhibit is back on:

http://www.570news.com/news/local/article/69790--titanic-sailing-into-waterloo-region

Amazing news!! I can see this drawing HUGE crowds, especially with the marketing campaigns they've done for past exhibits.

[DHLawrence]

I've been doing some work for the exhibit for them. Don't know much of what will be on offer, but it should be quite the hit!

[Shawn]

I've been doing some work for the exhibit for them. Don't know much of what will be on offer, but it should be quite the hit!

Do you know where they're getting most of these exhibits from? There's a permanent exhibit in the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic (http://museum.gov.ns.ca/mmanew/en/home/default.aspx) in Halifax. Are these items different from what is on display there?

In any case, I'm going! :cool:

[DHLawrence]

I think it's part of the touring group that visited the Ontario Science Centre a year or two ago; the company that got the salvage rights to the wreck is touring them around. It's in Quebec City right now.

[panamaniac]

I have said it before, but I am really very impressed by how they have turned the Museum around and how well they have been doing with such limited resources. The overall space still lacks a real focus, I find, but bringing in these interesting exhibits is good for them and for Downtown.

[Spokes]

Im not sure it'll ever have that "real" focus in terms of a specific set of exhibits but that's what makes it cool. They do however need to market the fact that this is no longer the children's museum and do that in a big way, people still refer to it as that, and while that's happening, it'll struggle to draw everyday people from within the Region

Has anyone been to see the Astronomy exhibit yet?

[Spokes]

The Museum lands major Titanic exhibit

June 24, 2010
By Terry Pender, Record staff

http://media.therecord.topscms.com/images/b2/2e/099d34734a439d2756448526a91a.jpeg

KITCHENER — More than 150 artifacts from the world’s most famous shipwreck are coming to town for a four-month show.

Titanic: The Artifact Exhibit will run at The Museum, 10 King St. W., from Sept. 23 to Jan. 23.

“When I looked inside the cases at some of the artifacts it truly is — it really makes you stop,” David Marskell, the museum’s executive director, said in an interview Wednesday. “It is an amazing story that has endured for a hundred years.”

This will be the largest exhibit yet staged at The Museum and it expects to set a new attendance record.

RMS Titanic Inc. salvaged more than 5,500 artifacts from the wreckage during seven recovery expeditions to the North Atlantic from 1987 to 2004.

The company’s small submarines gathered a bewildering array of artifacts, ranging from a 17-ton section of the hull to a child’s small marble. Using the artifacts and recreating many of the ship’s rooms, the exhibit tells the story of the ship from its conception and construction to its fateful voyage and its demise on April 14-15, 1912.

Marskell toured the exhibit at the Science Centre in Louisville, Ky., and knew right away he wanted it for The Museum.

“You see a perfume bottle or a pair of shoes or plates that didn’t shatter, it is tough to comprehend what happened, that it was under the ocean so many miles down and now they are coming to Kitchener,” Marskell said.

During the past 15 years, more than 22 million people have toured Titanic exhibits in Toronto, Paris, London (England), Melbourne, Quebec City, Dublin, Las Vegas, Stockholm, Tokyo and many other centres.

“It is kind of a chronological setup,” Marskell said of the exhibit. “You go through the ship yards and how it was built. It takes you through different aspects and ultimately to the night of the sinking and the experience of being able to touch the iceberg. Then you see the wall and all of the names of the people who survived.”

The Titanic carried about 2,227 passengers and crew. It struck an iceberg at about 11:40 p.m. on April 14, 1912. It sank at about 2:20 a.m. the next morning, killing 1,522 people.

Marskell said he has a reproduction of a New York Times page with an account of how “a man’s daughter survived and he did not. And while she was on the life boat she found an infant child under one of the seats, a little baby girl. And she lost her father and gained this child.

“That’s the other aspect of why it is so compelling. There are hundreds, thousands of stories of people being separated and these images of people leaving their loved ones knowing it was the last time — forever.”

The story of technological hubris and human tragedy has proved infinitely more enduring than the great ship itself.

“It is a huge brand,” Marskell said. “It’s this story about how men created this unbelievable, huge ship and nature bested it.”

As a testament to the story’s enduring popularity, the 1997 movie Titanic was, until recently, the top grossing film of all time. The film made the careers of Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet.

Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition is the fourth major show to be staged at The Museum under Marskell’s leadership, pulling in thousands of visitors and creating a multimillion-dollar impact.

The last big show, Our Body: The Universe Within, attracted 41,600 visitors — 27 per cent of whom came from outside Waterloo Region.

Warhol! brought in 40,000 people. Many of them — about 23 per cent — came from outside the region. Chimps and Dinosaurs each pulled in more than 39,000 people.

The Museum sent attendance figures and postal codes to the Ontario Ministry of Tourism, which calculates the economic impact of cultural tourism for institutions.

During 2008, the latest year for which the ministry did the calculations, The Museum’s visitors generated $6.8 million in economic activity.

That’s one reason why the Ontario Cultural Attractions Fund is providing $75,000 to the museum for advertising the Titanic exhibit. The major sponsor is Sun Life.

The Museum used to be called the Waterloo Region Children’s Museum. The Titanic exhibit fits well with the change in direction.

“People are now more familiar with us and realize we are not just for kids. They are more willing to see our advertising and understand: ‘This could be for me, it’s not just for kids,’ ” Marskell.

tpender@rtherecord.com

[Spokes]

Im THRILLED to see that they got funding (75,000) specifically for advertising!

Hopefully that'll draw a lot of people from outside the city, in, and with the new street scaping it'll cause them to stay and shop and/or eat.

[UrbanWaterloo]

http://www.thechildrensmuseum.ca/web/media/SFT_banner.jpg

Announcement of Major Exhibit on Tom Thomson Makes The Museum Epicenter for Collaboration
July 9, 2010 | http://www.thechildrensmuseum.ca/web/pages/posts/museum-mounts-exhibition-on-tom-thomson81.php

The Museum in downtown Kitchener is proud to announce its next major collaborative exhibition; SEARCHING FOR TOM | Tom Thomson: Man, Myth and Masterworks to open in February 2011.

The exhibition, which is primarily based on the famous Canadian painter Tom Thomson, will explore his life, his work and the mysteries around his death at a time that a young Canada was searching for its own identity. It is being jointly created by The Museum and award winning curator Virginia Eichhorn. Eichhorn is the Director and Curator at the Tom Thomson Art Gallery in Owen Sound and was formerly the Curator at the Canadian Clay & Glass Gallery.

In preparation for the show, The Museum has begun literally 'searching for Tom'. The core of the exhibition is comprised of artworks by Thomson, artifacts related to him, and other related historic and contemporary artworks from the permanent collection of the Tom Thomson Art Gallery. Having reached out to a number of organizations to augment the exhibition's presentation, galleries including the Art Gallery of Ontario, National Gallery, the Art Gallery of Grimsby and the McMichael Canadian Art Collection are all contributing to the show. In addition, some private collectors are on board to lend work and will help expose the public to rarely seen pieces by Thomson and members of the Group of Seven.

In addition to 'searching' for artwork, The Museum is also searching for partners, sponsors and volunteers to round out the Festival Strategy. David Marskell, The Museum's CEO, explains that, "like hockey, Thomson has become a part of the Canadian psyche and Canadians are still searching for Tom almost 100 years after his mysterious death. He ultimately changed and defined the way Canadians view our nation which has resulted in numerous interpretations through multi-media art." Marskell goes on to say that, "it is our desire to bring awareness of Thomson to new generations and to new Canadians."

Festival Strategy Attracts First Ever Gamble Family Award

As part of Searching for Tom there will be an official call to artists, which launches July 8th, 93 years after Thomson's body was found at Canoe Lake. Artists will be prompted to answer and interpret a question related to Thomson and submit proposals to produce an original work in their media of choice. The winning artist, chosen by jury, will be granted the first ever Gamble Family Award, an honourarium of $10,000 and inclusion of their piece in Searching for Tom at The Museum in 2011.

This piece, along with other contemporary, cross-disciplinary art to be featured in the show, will help demonstrate how profoundly Thomson still resonates with Canadians today and that there are artists across the country that continue to be influenced by Thomson and his work.

To complement the exhibition, The Museum is also searching for other creative interpretations in media ranging from graffiti art to sculpture to digital installations to performance art to film, fashion and music.

Virginia Eichhorn is enthusiastic about returning to the area to curate this show. "It is wonderful to be working with The Museum again; especially for the opportunity for The Museum and the Tom Thomson Art Gallery to work together in this collaborative way," she explains. "The exhibition is such a great opportunity to get the story of Tom Thomson out there in a way it hasn't been told before - through the work of not only Thomson, but also through contemporary, multidisciplinary artists to illustrate the scope and scale of Thomson's influence."

Almost 100 years after his death, Canadians are still 'Searching for Tom'. This winter, The Museum invites the Region to join the search and discover this iconic Canadian artist. For more information about The Museum or to become involved with SEARCHING FOR TOM | Tom Thomson: Man, Myth and Masterworks, please call 519-749-9387 x. 221, visit www.TheMuseum.ca or write to Tom@TheMuseum.ca.


Museum Launches Call to Artists
July 9, 2010 | http://www.thechildrensmuseum.ca/web/pages/posts/museum-launches-call-to-artists80.php

To complement their winter exhibition, SEARCHING FOR TOM | Tom Thomson: Man, Myth and Masterworks, The Museum in downtown Kitchener is launching an official call to artists to submit proposals for inclusion in the show. The first ever Gamble Family Award will be granted at the end of the summer for the project with the strongest proposal.

The Searching for Tom exhibition, which is primarily based on the famous Canadian painter Tom Thomson, will explore his life, his work and the mysteries around his death at a time that a young Canada was searching for its own identity. It is being jointly created by The Museum and award winning curator Virginia Eichhorn. Eichhorn is the current Director and Curator at the Tom Thomson Art Gallery in Owen Sound.

Among many works by Thomson and members of the Group of Seven, part of the show will include works by contemporary, multi-disciplined artists to help demonstrate how Thomson's iconic status and influence still resonates with Canadian artists after almost one hundred years. Due to the generosity of Museum Board Member Murray Gamble and his family, one artist will also win the first ever Gamble Family Award which includes an honourarium of $10,000 and inclusion of their piece in Searching for Tom, which opens early in February 2011.

"It's exciting to be involved with such a unique project," said Murray Gamble. "The vision for this award was to offer an opportunity for artists to take some creative risks and produce truly exceptional art, while at the same time supporting the Museum and the much anticipated Thomson show. We are really looking forward to seeing what kind of ideas and work come through in this experience."

The Museum is looking for a unique proposal with a digital media component which creatively interprets, through a contemporary Canadian lens, an aspect of Tom Thomson: Man, Myth and Masterworks. The jury, made up of Museum and community representatives, will consider works from Canadian artists in all media including sculpture, performance, video, audio, installation, photography, painting and drawing. The work is required to have some digital media component and interactivity will be considered an asset.

"This is the first such project for The Museum," explains David Marskell, Museum CEO, "and we are so proud to be able to offer an opportunity for artists to get creative. We're also very grateful to the Gamble Family who recognized our efforts in trying to establish a festival strategy and made this a possibility for us. It's the perfect way to augment an already wonderful show and the fact that we'll have artists out there working around Thomson is a testament to the show's mission."

Gamble Family Award: http://www.thechildrensmuseum.ca/web/media/The%20Gamble%20Family%20Award.pdf

[Spokes]

Another one!!! David Marskell is a god!

In all seriousness, they've set up a string of high quality exhibits from now until early 2011. Doing it that far in advance is amazing! Allows you to market the hell out of them

[Spokes]

UW digital media lab moving to The Museum
July 20, 2010 | By Scott Nowoselski, Record Staff | http://news.therecord.com/News/Local/article/748049

A lot of people in Waterloo Region are part of a cult and they don’t even know it.

“We live in a technoculture, a ‘cult’ [or] culture of the new,” University of Waterloo English professor Marcel O’Gorman said over an online computer chat. “We are always developing new ways to overcome our human limitations, transcend space and time and the limits of the human body. But we have no time to stop and think about what we’re doing.

“I think we’ve reached a crisis point — again — in our culture of unthoughtful consumption. And we need places where people can be thoughtful.”

Starting next month, a group of students and researchers at the UW Critical Media Lab will bring some analysis of that culture to downtown Kitchener, setting up shop inside a new laboratory at The Museum on King Street East.

The lab will analyze digital media to see the impact it has had on society in Kitchener and around the globe, considering things like the way Twitter has affected people’s ability to communicate.

The lab’s analysis is far-reaching, however, defining digital media as any information that is created and shared virtually rather than physically. After being founded by O’Gorman and UW’s English department in 2008, the lab has continued to explore the impact of technology on the human condition through the lens of the social sciences.

Over the past year, students and researchers have worked on a myriad of projects, featuring everything from cows that have had their lactation cycles tweeted to digital tabletop games that took traditional board games and turned them into digitalized versions of themselves.

The lab then takes its projects and tries them out, seeing how people react. In that sense, moving the lab from the university to the heart of downtown Kitchener should only help improve the centre’s research, according to UW English professor and acting lab director Neil Randall.

“It makes sense to have people playing with our projects, especially when we’re working on something like a game,” he said.

And while the university’s lab will bring a digital media hot spot to the downtown core, they aren’t the only ones focused on digital media in and around Waterloo Region.

Aiming for an October opening, The Communitech Hub: Digital Media and Mobile Accelerator will begin playing host to local digital media startups and more established businesses when they set up in the Tannery building at Victoria and Joseph streets.

The Hub will be working to grow digital media businesses in the region.

“By having more established companies in the same building as the early-stage companies, we just hope it will increase the collaboration, and really help accelerate some of the early-stage companies’ growth,” said the Hub’s Steve Currie.

The Critical Media Lab, by contrast, is interested less in the marketability of digital media than the impact it has on society. For O’Gorman, it’s that reason which makes the move downtown especially exciting.

“This is why the lab is not hidden behind a door with a plaque on it, somewhere behind the moat of UWaterloo,” he said. “We want to engage the public. We want to get involved in public dialogue and public education.”

[Spokes]

Another positive thing of this move is that it frees up the Public Utilities Building. I'd love to get a permanent tennant in there asap

[Spokes]

Grabbed a coffee at Coffee Culture this morning and they had a bunch of brochures for The Museum's Cosmic Mania exhibit, and on the back is a 2 for 1 admission coupon. Just a heads up for anyone wanting to go.

[Spokes]

I checked out the CosmoMania exhibit today and it was really good. They have a star dome that they do a presentation in, we were the only ones there which made it a lot of fun. Lots of other cool stuff to see, definitely worth checking out if you haven't done so already.

It was my first time in the museum actually so it was cool to wander around. The place looks awesome. It is still VERY child oriented though. Other than the CosmoMania, there wasn't a whole lot that interested us. I get the impression that the top floor is for the temporary exhibits and the rest is for permanent exhibits which is cool. They really need to work on getting better permanent exhibits though if they're going to really expand their horizons and target population.. The branding still says "Children's Museum" everywhere, and it showed because just about everyone in there had young kids.

[KevinL]

Are they really making the full rebranding as simply 'The Museum'? Because that strikes me as very dull and uninspired; call it the 'family museum' or 'contemporary museum' or even 'museum of fun'.

But give us an adjective or verb, please; otherwise we're left hanging.

[taylortbb]

Are they really making the full rebranding as simply 'The Museum'?

Afraid so. Given that we also have the Waterloo Region Museum we're going to be in for a lot of confusion.

[jay]

Not to mention the sign still says "Waterloo Children's Museum"

[Spokes]

Yup, and they said it'll take a few months to get all the rebranding done, but like you said, the sign out front still says that, the website does too, but they advertise themuseum.com

it just sounds vague..."Im going to The Museum today"

IMO, THIS should have been the Waterloo Region Museum, and the one in Doon should have been the Waterloo Region Historical Museum. Ball dropped.

[Spokes]

Ticket sale begins for Titanic exhibit at Museum
August 13, 2010
By Melinda Dalton, Record staff

KITCHENER— If you’re anxious to get a peek at the Titanic relics that will be making their way to The Museum this fall, you can now buy your tickets.

The exhibit, which features 150 artifacts recovered from the ill-fated ship, opens on Sept. 23 and runs four months. Tickets went on sale Friday.

Artifacts include dishes, currency and tools, as well as personal effects from passengers and crew.

The Titanic sank in the icy Atlantic off the coast of Newfoundland on April 15, 1912. It carried 1,316 passengers and 885 crew.

Only 706 people survived.

The wreck was discovered in 1985 by a joint US- French expedition. Salvage rights Rights were awarded to RMS Titanic Inc., the company that provides artifacts for the touring exhibits, in 1993.

On Friday, that company won a lengthy court battle for a salvage award related to more than 3,000 artifacts — worth an estimated $110 million — it has collected over several expeditions to the site since 1993.

The court has yet to determine whether company will be paid with the proceeds of a judicial sale of the artifacts, or if it will receive title to the items, according to a press release from Premier Exhibits Inc., the parent company of RMS Titanic Inc.

That award comes in addition to the 1,800 artifacts, worth $35 million, it already has title to from a 1987 expedition.

RMS Titanic Inc. has recovered more 5,000 artifacts from the wreck.

Those salvage missions have been met with opposition from several Titanic historical societies and Robert Ballard, the man who first discovered the wreck in the 1980s, who likened the wreck to “a sacred grave” in an article he penned for National Geographic.

RMS Titanic Inc. is bankrolling another expedition slated for this month, but it won’t be salvaging any new artifacts.

The research voyage to the ship set to launch from Newfoundland on Aug. 22. The 20-day expedition will capture 3-D images and video to create a comprehensive map of the rapidly deteriorating site.

“This is the first time that we’re going to be taking the world with us to the wreck site,” said Cheryl Mure, vice-president of RMS Titanic Inc.

“It’s a wonderful opportunity for us to access all the new technology and social media that will allow us to stay connected to the people interested in Titanic and our museum partners all over the world.”

Up to date details of the expedition’s progress will be posted on a website, www.expeditiontitanic.com, on Facebook, www.facebook.com/rmstitanicinc, and on Twitter @RMS_Titanic_Inc.

Tickets for The Museum’s exhibit are $20 for adults, $15 for seniors and students, and $10 for children. Museum members get a discounted rate. Tickets are available online at www.thechildrensmuseum.ca/titanic/ and at The Museum.

[DHLawrence]

Anyone want to take bets on how long it takes for the first 'grave-robbing' letter to appear in The Record?

[UrbanWaterloo]

New Logo
September 9, 2010

http://www.wonderfulwaterloo.com/wdrive/Culture/The%20Museum/TheMuseum%2810KingStreetWest%2CKitchener%29-September9%2C2010-1Resized.JPG

http://www.wonderfulwaterloo.com/wdrive/Culture/The%20Museum/TheMuseum%2810KingStreetWest%2CKitchener%29-September9%2C2010-2Resized.JPG

[Spokes]

Not just for children – museum gets a new name
September 09, 2010 | By Brent Davis, Record staff | http://news.therecord.com/News/Local/article/773759

KITCHENER — The museum at 10 King St. W. has overcome the identity crisis it’s endured for the seven years it’s operated.

The doors originally opened to the Waterloo Regional Children’s Museum in September, 2003. Since then, words have been dropping from the moniker.

It’s been known simply as The Children’s Museum, and more casually as The Museum. Temporary re-brandings for the Andy Warhol’s Factory and Our Body: The Universe Within exhibits have come and gone.

Well, now it’s official. Welcome to THEMUSEUM.

The single-word, all-capitals name will be the official title, although a large, distinctive M will take the lead as the principal logo. New banners began going up on the building Thursday as the old signs came down.

“It’ll distinguish us from the many other awesome cultural museums in this neighbourhood, and it’ll distinguish us in Toronto,” said the museum’s chief executive officer, David Marskell.

Shortly after Marskell arrived here about three and a half years ago, he said he came to the realization that the facility wouldn’t be sustainable if it was just marketed to young families.

He said they needed to change their programming to appeal to a broader demographic and as a result the original name would eventually have to go.

Calling Children’s Museum founder Rosemary Aicher “a true visionary,” Marskell said the museum will always be a place for young people. But that hasn’t been the museum’s sole purpose for some time now.

“We changed our product, we changed who we are,” he said.

The museum should be a place where ideas transcend objects, Marskell said — a collection of cultural experiences rather than simply a home for old things.

The attraction began floating the name The Museum a while ago. “And then the baby was born before the pregnancy was announced, and people were calling us The Museum, and it got a little bit out of our control,” he said.

But it allowed Marskell to get feedback, most of which was positive, he said. He worked with the museum’s board over the summer to finalize the brand.

The cost for such things as new exterior signs, a new website and stationary is estimated at $35,000 to $40,000, although Marskell said some of that represents costs for advertising they were going to do anyway.

The museum’s next major exhibit — Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition — opens Sept. 23, and will be followed in February by Searching for Tom — Tom Thomson: Man, Myth and Masterworks.

[Spokes]

Signage out front looks amazing!!!

The website still needs redone though.

[KevinL]

Reminds me of the old Muchmusic logo. Yet, very bold and distinctive as far as it goes.

Still no fan of the non-specific name.

[UrbanWaterloo]

Here it is with the Titanic wrap.

September 15, 2010

http://www.wonderfulwaterloo.com/wdrive/Culture/The%20Museum/THEMUSEUM%20-%20September%2015%2C%202010%20Resized.JPG

[fin2limb]

I think it looks great! And I like the new name. This is one exhibit that I will probably check out.

[Spokes]

Wow! Looks amazing! I hope they're marketing this a lot outside of town.

I really hope they get rid of all the kids stuff on the main floor. It really sets the tone for the rest of the museum.

[Newgrad]

Their marketing strategy has been really pathetic up until now. They still haven't re-done their website. It was a terrible website even when it was called the Children's Museum. They really really need to re-design it and get the proper branding if they want to attract more people. Additionally, they need a new domain name.

I wouldn't be surprised if the website scares alot of potential people away..especially out of towners who might be doing research.

[Spokes]

Their marketing strategy has been really pathetic up until now. They still haven't re-done their website. It was a terrible website even when it was called the Children's Museum. They really really need to re-design it and get the proper branding if they want to attract more people. Additionally, they need a new domain name.

I wouldn't be surprised if the website scares alot of potential people away..especially out of towners who might be doing research.

I've thought that too. I would have launched the new website when the new branding was launched.

I think I saw on their twitter feed that the new website is right around the corner though

[UrbanWaterloo]

September 26, 2010 - NEWSIGN

http://www.wonderfulwaterloo.com/wdrive/Culture/The%20Museum/THEMUSEUM%20-%20September%2026%2C%202010%20-%201%20Resized.JPG

[David]

Has anyone been to the Titanic exhibit yet? If so, how is it?

I was always fascinated by the Titanic sinking growing up. I did projects on it, went back into old newspapers (Gotta love KPL!) from the period following the sinking. It all started with me just wanting to explore the whole event.

[Shawn]

I bet this exhibition will be a BIG HIT during Oktoberfest! No better way to treat a hangover than being in a quiet and dimly lit museum. But seriously, with the HUGE (some might even say Titantic) banner on the front of the building, I think the Oktoberfest visitors will flock to this exhibit!

It's on my "to-do" list.

[Shawn]

The Museum has a nice light feature to it's sign at night.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXQjyLPNBiA

[DHLawrence]

Not bad; reminds me of the CN Tower illumination.

[Newgrad]

I don't get it. They are putting money into superfluous things like that but they apparently can't find any funds to change that really sad website. How long has it been since they changed their name? They still haven't bothered to change their website. I am still really puzzled by that.

[Spokes]

The Museum has a nice light feature to it's sign at night.

That's awesome! Something we haven't seen yet downtown.

[DHLawrence]

If memory serves, the website is hosted off-site. Only one or two people on staff have access to the website and can only change the content, not the template. Rebuilding it would be a rather large job.

[Waterloo II]

Ive been to the exhibition when it was being hosted at the Ontario Science Centre a few years back. Well worth the money.

You transition from third class to first class and are given a passenger name prior to embarking on your "journey" and find out whether your passenger survived the sinking or not.

Top highlights: Actual life boat davit recovered from the ocean floor, perfume that still smells today, the Canadian currency connection, and the fine china that remarkably is intact.

YMMV on what exhibits they have at the KW museum as it is a much smaller space than the Ontario Science Centre, but nevertheless a great in your face history account of romance and tragedies of oceanic crossings.


The 100th anniversary is coming up and I know a cruise is being set to go out and visit the actual location.

[Spokes]

The Museum has updated it's website. Worth taking a look at...http://www.themuseum.ca/

[Shawn]

Evening with an Oscar Winner
- a nice tie in with the current Titanic Exhibit

http://themuseum.ca/An-Evening-With-Jon-Landau.htm

Join us for one of the most exciting events of the year as THEMUSEUM (http://themuseum.ca/main.cfm) hosts Jon Landau, Academy Award winning producer of James Cameron's Titanic and Avatar. As producer of the two highest grossing films of all time, he will engage the audience in a discussion around his experiences on these two films and the future of digital cinema.

Presented by Christie Digital Systems Canada, Inc., An Evening with Jon Landau will take place at THEMUSEUM on Thursday December 9th, 2010 and feature the Oscar winner presenting for the first 15 minutes and engaging the audience in an interactive question and answer segment for 75 minutes.

Tickets to An Evening with Jon Landau are $20 and can be purchased online or at the front desk. Tickets will include admission to Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition for the day of the event (December 9, 2010).

The evening begins at 5:30pm where THEMUSEUM will open the doors to allow ticket holders to view Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition before Jon Landau's presentation. Mr. Landau will then take the stage at 6:30pm.

[benjaminbach]

Evening with an Oscar Winner
- a nice tie in with the current Titanic Exhibit

http://themuseum.ca/An-Evening-With-Jon-Landau.htm

Join us for one of the most exciting events of the year as THEMUSEUM (http://themuseum.ca/main.cfm) hosts Jon Landau, Academy Award winning producer of James Cameron's Titanic and Avatar. As producer of the two highest grossing films of all time, he will engage the audience in a discussion around his experiences on these two films and the future of digital cinema.

Presented by Christie Digital Systems Canada, Inc., An Evening with Jon Landau will take place at THEMUSEUM on Thursday December 9th, 2010 and feature the Oscar winner presenting for the first 15 minutes and engaging the audience in an interactive question and answer segment for 75 minutes.

Tickets to An Evening with Jon Landau are $20 and can be purchased online or at the front desk. Tickets will include admission to Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition for the day of the event (December 9, 2010).

The evening begins at 5:30pm where THEMUSEUM will open the doors to allow ticket holders to view Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition before Jon Landau's presentation. Mr. Landau will then take the stage at 6:30pm.

Tickets are *really* limited to this event - register now

[Newgrad]

I have a ticket for my wife and I. Is anyone else planning on attending?

[Spokes]

Seeing the possibilities – Jon Landau at THEMUSEUM
December 17, 2010 | By Kristie Paterson

I’m sure that I will be one of many to write about Jon Landau‘s talk at THEMUSEUM last night, and for good reason. The man did work on Avatar and Titanic and is on a “Jim” basis with James Cameron. Pretty impressive stuff. So expecting him to be personable and approachable with us mere mortals seemed to be a stretch.

Covering everything from how to massage and develop technology to work for you, to how to gain buy-in and raise morale, the talk and Jon were inspiring and refreshing. I and my fellow tweeters, spurred on by a tweet wall, had a hard time keeping up with his neatly packaged phrases. He wasn’t slick, or overly enthusiastic, he just shared pieces of his journey through the making of his two biggest films and elements of his career development.

Kudos to David Marskell, digital media man Derek Weidl and THEMUSEUM for continuing to bring world class experiences to KW. I thought that I would have to travel to Toronto for something like this. A fantastic evening that fuelled my motivation and belief in the potential and the wonderful reality of KW.

On another note, I’ve now seen the Titanic exhibit twice and have a membership (a steal at $60 for two adults and only $30 for students). Support THEMUSEUM and the continuation of cherry like experiences by visiting their exhibitions and becoming a Member – you will be much cooler if you do.

[panamaniac]

I was pleased enough with my two visits this year that I recently became a member of the President's Circle - felt kind of nice to think I was doing something good for Downtown! :RpS_thumbup:

[benjaminbach]

Kristie you forgot to mention that Jon passed around his Oscar (Titanic, Best Picture) for all to enjoy :RpS_biggrin:

Great seeing you there, and I 2nd your recommendation that everyone should go see the exhibit

[Spokes]

Titanic drawing to a close
January 13, 2011 | John Thompson, Wonderful Waterloo Staff

If you have not yet seen Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition or want to see it again, time is running out.

The successful exhibition about the famous ship will come to a close January 23.

It is an exhibition that David Marskell, CEO of THEMUSEUM worked very hard to get and as a result of that has seen very positive results.

“We’re trying really hard and are taking risks for this community” said Marskell. “If we’re going to do something, we’re going to do it well.”

And do it well they have. Traffic at the exhibit has steadily increased over the four month run to a point where there were at times over one thousand visitors a day according to Marskell, including a 1200 person sell out on a recent Friday night. “We predicted eight or nine months ago that the numbers would not peak until mid-winter.” That prediction has come true.

As a result of the rising demand for the exhibition, THEMUSEUM will stay open through the night on January 21 to allow more people to see Titanic. The event named “Titanic Overnight” will open at 10 a.m. on January 21 and close at 10 p.m. the following day.

Marskell is optimistic that the total volume of Titanic can meet or exceed the 40,000 visitor mark, a mark set by past exhibitions, Our Body: The Universe Within and Andy Warhol's Factory.

In addition to drawing thousands of people into THEMUSEUM, Titanic has also allowed THEMUSEUM to do things not previously done before.

Prior to this exhibition, the thought of pre-selling tickets online was merely a dream. Titanic allowed that dream to come true. “We have never been able to do advance sales before” said Marskell, “Titanic has allowed us to do that.” Selling tickets in advance allows customers the comfort of knowing that they’ll have access to everything they want when they arrive. Selling tickets online is a practice that Marskell says will continue with future exhibitions.

In order to allow people to get access to the exhibition, THEMUSEUM has extended their hours through to the day Titanic closes. Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays will all now be open until 8pm through to the 23rd.

[UrbanWaterloo]

As a result of the rising demand for the exhibition, THEMUSEUM will stay open through the night on January 21 to allow more people to see Titanic. The event named “Titanic Overnight” will open at 10 a.m. on January 21 and close at 10 p.m. the following day.

Awesome, I love 24 hour cities! :RpS_cool:

[Spokes]

Awesome, I love 24 hour cities! :RpS_cool:

Ya I think this has got to be a first (or close to it) for Waterloo Region, there's not a ton of all night events. Now if only THEMUSEUM could get some neighbouring restaurants to stay open all night or at least extra late too.

[jerryhung]

Even better, only $10 between 10PM-10AM this (last) weekend

OPEN 36 HOURS STRAIGHT!
10AM Fri to 10PM Sat
Only $10 between:
10PM and 10AM

[RangersFan]

I really enjoyed the Titanic exhibit and I really hope the Museum continues bring in high quality attractions.
I found the section that detailed the construction of the Titanic to be the most fascinating.

In all honesty though both times that I have went to the Museum, I found that beyond the advertised exhibit there is not much else to see for the teenage to adult crowd.

[Spokes]

Don't forget, this weekend is your last chance to see Titanic: The Artifact Exhibit. It closes on Sunday. And tonight THEMUSEUM will be open through the night to give you plenty of time to see it.

So, other than me, who's going?

[Urbanomicon]

So, other than me, who's going?

I may be going, depending on what the wife feels like doing.

[taylortbb]

I'm planning to be there tonight.

[Spokes]

I've heard people saying there were line ups at THEMUSEUM past 2am to get into Titanic on Friday night/Saturday morning. Great show!!

[Spokes]

Titanic officially closes
January 26, 2011 | John Thompson, Wonderful Waterloo Staff

http://www.themuseum.ca/userfiles/thumbs/DSC02262(1)_400x267.jpg
Source: Derek Weidl, THEMUSEUM

After four months, tens of thousands of viewers through the doors at THEMUSEUM, Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition officially closed on Sunday.

THEMUSEUM capped things off with a 36-hour viewing of the popular exhibition.

The overnight event was a huge success at times having a line of people just waiting to get into the exhibition. At 11 p.m. Friday for example there were over 50 people waiting in line. That line lasted until 2 a.m. showing the exhibition’s popularity.

“We've never really done anything like this [we had] no idea how it [was] going to go” said Derek Weidl, digital media and marketing coordinator for THEMUSEUM.

Weidl blogged nearly every hour throughout the night.

“This night is flying by right now! It's a testiment to how busy it is out there. Line-ups are still insane, the Cafe is bumpin'” Weidl wrote at midnight. “It’s really is a great turnout and has been really fun thus far!”

When the clock struck 4 a.m. Weidl was surprised to see that there were still 15 people in the exhibition. He later commented that “we never had less than 10 people in the exhibit the whole night. That's pretty incredible.”

Because of the popularity of the exhibition many of the hour long blocks became sold out well before they were set to begin. Prior to the overnight experience starting, the 10 pm, 11 pm, 12 a.m., 1 a.m., 8 a.m., 9 a.m., and 10 a.m. blocks were sold out. Most of these tickets were sold online, a new process driven by Titanic’s popularity. “We have never been able to do advance sales before” said David Marskell, CEO of THEMUSEUM “Titanic has allowed us to do that.”

When the last people left THEMUSEUM at 5pm on Sunday they were the last people to see Titanic in Waterloo Region. By mid-afternoon Monday almost the entire Titanic exhibition was dismantled and packed up.

The next stop for Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition is the MTS Centre in Winnipeg where it will open on February 12.

[Spokes]

Thomson ready to open at THEMUSEUM
January 28, 2011 | John Thompson, Wonderful Waterloo Staff

David Marskell, CEO of THEMUSEUM smiles as he talks and looks at a grade eleven student's rendition of Tom Thomson. “It’s going to be a killer show” he says with a smile.

THEMUSEUM is preparing to open Searching for Tom: Tom Thomson: Man, Myth and Masterworks, an exhibition with over 100 pieces of art work. 65 of them will be pieces by Thomson himself while 35 will be by his contemporaries including the Group of Seven and “contemporary artists interpreting him, searching for Tom almost 100 years after his death.”

The 6,000 square foot exhibition with so many pieces of art is a great achievement for THEMUSEUM and the Region of Waterloo. “For a Regional museum, this is new territory” says Marskell.

In addition to the art work, the exhibition will offer many other attractions to the general public. There will be a film series as well as a lecture series including speakers like Matthew Teitelbaum, the director and CEO of the Art Gallery of Ontario and various authors who have written about Thomson over the past year. In addition to that, over the course of the three month exhibition a 24-foot canoe will be built that community members can help build.

This exhibition is particularly special to Marskell and the rest of THEMUSEUM staff as it is an exhibition that they created on their own. While many exhibitions are created externally and set up in house, this one was created in house working with Virginia Eichhorn, the director and curator at the Tom Thomson Art Gallery in Owen Sound. For Marskell, exhibitions created at home are always alluring. “We always get drawn back to what we can create.”

An exhibition about Tom Thomson fit well with what Marskell is trying to create at THEMUSEUM, a balance between art, science and technology. The art in the Thomson exhibition balances well with the science and technology of past exhibitions like Cosmomania and Our Bodies: The Universe Within.

Searching for Tom: Tom Thomson: Man, Myth and Masterworks will launch on February 3 and run until May 8.

[Shawn]

The Museum looks "naked" without the Titanic poster draped on the outside of the building.


January 28th, 2011

http://i1018.photobucket.com/albums/af306/shawnwm/TheMuseum-January282011.jpg

[Spokes]

Great picture! But you're right. I almost forgot about all that glass back there.

I wonder if they'll do anything for the Tom exhibition.

[Spokes]

Thomson exhibition opens at THEMUSEUM
February 3, 2011 | John Thomson, Wonderful Waterloo Staff
A showcase of one of Canada Canada’s most famous and iconic artists is opening its doors in Kitchener.

Searching for Tom: Tom Thomson: Man, Myth and Masterworks opens today at THEMUSEUM.

“Like hockey, Thomson has become a part of the Canadian psyche and Canadians are still searching for Tom almost 100 years after his mysterious death” said David Marskell, CEO of THEMUSEUM. “He ultimately changed and defined the way Canadians view our nation which has resulted in numerous interpretations through multi-media art,”

The exhibition that has over 100 pieces is one that THEMUSEUM created on it’s own with the help of Virginia Eichhorn, the director and curator at the Tom Thomson Art Gallery in Owen Sound.

Many of the pieces of art have come directly from the Tom Thomson Art Gallery, but there are seven other contributing galleries including the McMichael Canadian Art Collection, the National Gallery of Canada, the Art Gallery of Ontario and locally, the Homer Watson House and Gallery.

It has been a bit of a home coming for Eichhorn who used to curate the Clay and Glass Gallery in Waterloo. “It is wonderful to be working with THEMUSEUM again and especially the opportunity for THEMUSEUM and the Tom Thomson Art Gallery to work together in this collaborative way,” Eichhorn explains. “This exhibition is such a great opportunity to get the story of Tom Thomson out there in a way it hasn’t been told before – through the work of not only Thomson, but also through contemporary, multidisciplinary artists to illustrate the scope and scale of Thomson’s influence.”

THEMUSEUM announced last week that Sun Life Financial has become the presenting sponsor of the exhibition.

“THEMUSEUM is thankful for the continued support Sun Life Financial is extending” explains Marskell. “For many years they’ve supported THEMUSEUM through the Sun Life Financial Accessibility Pass allowing thousands of visitors to attend who may not have been able to otherwise due to financial, physical and social limitations.”

“We are proud to work with them in bringing the works of the legendary Tom Thomson to the Region of Waterloo” said Linda MacKenzie, Director, Philanthropy at Sun Life Financial.

Searching for Tom: Tom Thomson: Man, Myth and Masterworks runs from February 3 until May 8.

[Spokes]

The Searching for Tom Speaker Series kicks off this weekend with a chat from Robert Reid, Arts Reporter, Waterloo Region Record with a talk called Searching for Tom in the Canadian Cultural Landscape. It'll be Sunday February 13 @ 1:30pm

You don't want to miss it!

Details here: http://www.themuseum.ca/Searching-For-Tom-Tom-Thomson-Speaker-Series.htm

[Spokes]

Studio 54 to descend on Kitchener again
February 9, 2011 | Wonderful Waterloo

Dust off your sailor suits! Even though the Titanic exhibition has sailed away, the high seas have not left THEMUSEUM.

On February 26, THEMUSEUM will host its annual fundraiser, Studio 54.

This year’s event has a nautical theme to it, but for many that means naughty-cal.

“It allows you to loose all your inhibitions and have some fun in a naughty way” says THEMUSEUM CEO David Marskell.

The concept of Studio 54 at THEMUSEUM dates back to 2009 when Marskell was looking for a fundraising event to put on.

At the time THEMUSEUM (then the Waterloo Region Children’s Museum) was hosting the exhibition, Andy Warhol’s Factory, and for Marskell, that’s when it clicked. “Studio 54 in Manhattan in the 70’s and Warhol went together.” And that’s when Studio 54 in Kitchener was born.

Given the concept of the party, combined with the Warhol exhibition, it seemed natural that the theme of the party would be Warhol as well. But for Marskell, that’s when things changed. “People started showing up in costumes. 70 percent of the 400 guests were dressed up. On their own accord. And I mean over the top dressed up.” Since then, dressing up has become common practice at Studio 54.

The themes, as well as the costumes, change on a yearly basis. The nautical theme fits with the fun nature of the event.

The event is one of the biggest fundraising events of the year for THEMUSEUM. Tickets are $150, which includes a tax receipt. Marskell and his team pull out all the stops to make the evening something special. “It’s something you’ll remember forever and want to go to the next one. It’s a killer event."

[Spokes]

Awesome event coming up at THEMUSEUM next weekend!! Here are the details from Hilary @ RQ Magazine (http://www.rqmagazine.com/):


RQ PRESENTS “THE EFF WINTER PARTY” @ THE MUSEUM AFTER DARK
featuring : VACUITY & LITTLE MUSHROOM CATERING

ON FRIDAY FEBRUARY 18
8pm -Midnight
$4 to get in.
$4 beers / $5 wine
You can check out the new Searching for Tom exhibit from 7pm -8pm for a discounted rate of $12/person.

This Canadian Weather sucks right now.
So you know, FUCK WINTER.
Let’s do something good on a Friday night!

Come out, have some beers and not care that we’ll need to chug it home in minus-75-degree-face-numbing-tear-inducing-frost-biting-winter-weather, many hours later ;)

http://www.rqmagazine.com/2011/02/09/eff-winter-party/

[Urbanomicon]

Definetely interesting language for an advertisement.

[Spokes]

Definetely interesting language for an advertisement.

That's part of Hillary's charm :)

The funny part is that it's supposed to be 9 degrees friday!

[DHLawrence]

The results are in:


TITANIC HUGE SUCCESS FOR THEMUSEUM (http://www.exchangemagazine.com/morningpost/2011/week7/Tuesday/021516.htm#anchor)

Following four months of hosting Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition, THEMUSEUM is pleased to share its many successes....

...Most telling of the exhibition’s success was the demand in the final weeks as online timed tickets consistently began selling out. To accommodate the demand THEMUSEUM held an incredible 36 hour Titanic Marathon from January 21st at 10am until January 22nd at 10pm. Each hour from 9pm through 2am sold out and the exhibition was never empty from 3am until 7am when it sold out by the hour again. In total more than 5000 people visited THEMUSEUM in 36 hours, with an additional 2000 on the final Sunday....

...In total, THEMUSEUM hosted 44, 351 visitors through its doors during Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition, with 30% from outside of Waterloo Region. Many day- trippers and some who stayed overnight were visible in neighbouring restaurants, hotels and gas stations....

[stormysky_dw]

Hi all,

My name is Derek and I work at THEMUSEUM as the Digital Media and Marketing Coordinator. I just wanted to introduce myself to the group and say how I think this is a truly incredible community online here and I look forward to participating!

Cheers,
Derek

[Waterlooer]

Hey Derek, thanks for that and welcome to Wonderful Waterloo!! :RpS_biggrin:

[stormysky_dw]

Thanks for the warm welcome!

[DHLawrence]

Hi Derek,

Tell Angela that David the intern says hi. I helped out there in 2008.

[stormysky_dw]

Will do! I'll see them tomorrow at Studio 54. I'm actually building an "Intern Army" myself. I've got 4 Conestoga interns descending on us next week and I can't wait to get them to help me building some cool online content. I have a whole stack of videos I want to do. Should be really fun!!

And speaking of Studio 54, I witnessed some of the set up today and man this is going to be a fantastic party!!! There seriously were almost as many crates loaded in as there were for Titanic. I even saw one of the acrobatic performers practicing - really cool. It will be my first Studio 54 and I'm really pumped!

[stormysky_dw]

Hey all, I thought this would be something that is very relevant to the group here. I hope you can make it out:

A CULTURAL EXCHANGE RETURNS TO THEMUSEUM
Local Federal Candidates Invited to an Exchange on Arts and Culture
In Association with 570NEWS

KITCHENER, ON – On April 27th, THEMUSEUM will host A Cultural Exchange 2.0 with Federal Candidates from Kitchener – Centre, Kitchener-Waterloo and Kitchener-Conestoga for an informal discussion of arts and culture in Waterloo Region.

Each candidate will be randomly chosen to share their position on arts and culture for three and a half minutes before taking part in a four minute discussion with visitors at their table. Candidates will then rotate to another table and the next candidate will be selected.

THEMUSEUM hosted Cultural Exchange 1 during last fall’s Municipal Election and the informal gathering which takes place in a pub like, licensed setting is fun and informative

David Marskell, CEO of THEMUSEUM will host the event with Mike Farwell, 570 News, acting as moderator for the evening to facilitate a discussion with the candidates and the general public.

Confirmed candidates include:
Kitchener-Center: Karen Redman, Peter Thurley and Byron Williston
Kitchener-Conestoga: Albert Ashley, Robert Roseheart
Kitchener-Waterloo: Cathy MacLellan

This “Cultural Exchange” is meant to raise awareness and encourage an exchange, not a debate, about the importance of arts and culture prior to the approaching federal election.

A Cultural Exchange 2.0 will begin at 6pm sharp but doors will open at 4pm for those wishing to enjoy a meal at THEMUSEUM Café or experience SEARCHING FROM TOM l Man, Myth and Masterworks prior to the exchange.

THEMUSEUM will also have a projected Twitter wall and live blogging allowing one to follow along and post comments at http://www.themuseum.ca/cultural-exchange.htm If tweeting please use the hashtag #culturalexchange2.

Admission to the A Cultural Exchange 2.0 is FREE with a suggested donation of $5 to THEMUSEUM or $10 to experience SEARCHING FROM TOM l Man, Myth and Masterworks. These donations will help fund THEMUSEUM operations.

[stormysky_dw]

Me again!

You might have noticed that THEMUSEUM announced the Fall Exhibition called RAM | Rethinking Art & Machine. We've released a pretty amazing website dedicated to the exhibit with a great teaser video to go along. You can find both here: www.THEMUSEUM.ca/RAM (http://www.THEMUSEUM.ca/RAM)

[panamaniac]

I am looking forward to this one.

[UrbanWaterloo]

Minister Moore Makes Announcement In Support of the Arts in Southwestern Ontario
Link (http://www.pch.gc.ca/pc-ch/minstr/moore/cdm-mc/am-ma-eng.cfm?action=doc&DocIDCd=AM110498)

The Honourable James Moore, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages, will make an announcement in support of the arts in Southwestern Ontario on Wednesday.

This advisory is subject to change without notice.

The details are as follows:

Date: Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Time: 9:30 a.m. EDT

Place: THEMUSEUM
10 King Street West
Kitchener, ON