Brandon Museum Inc. Annual Report - Daly House Museum · Brandon Museum Inc. Annual Report 2014 v. Programs and Projects The Victorian Garden: The garden was host to six weddings

BRANDON MUSEUM INC

2014 ANNUAL REPORT

Brandon Museum Inc. Annual Report 2014

Table of Contents:

I. Brandon Museum Inc. History II. 2014 Board of Directors III. 2014 Activities

i) Museum Audience ii) Exhibits iii) Staff, Volunteers and Members iv) Community Partnerships v) Programs and Projects vi) Fundraising, Grants and Other Revenue

IV. 2015-2017 Strategic Plan & Budgets V. 2014 Audited Financial Statement


i. Brandon Museum Incorporated History Brandon Museum Incorporated, a non-profit organization formed in 1976. The organization took over the original residence of Brandon’s first mayor, Thomas Mayne Daly. After two years of restorative work on the building, the Daly House Museum was opened to the public in 1978. Over the past thirty-seven years, the Museum has contributed to the community by protecting and preserving Brandon’s heritage for future generations.

Mandate, Mission and Vision Statements

Our Mandate:

The mandate of Brandon Museum Inc. is to collect and preserve artifacts and documents that stimulate an increased interest in the history and culture of Brandon with a primary but non-exclusive focus on the period of 1880 to 1920.

Our Mission:

The mission of Daly House Museum is to act as the repository of the community’s memories, a unique resource for researchers and educators and to present a living history that both entertains and stimulates learning.

Our Vision:

Inspire enthusiasm about our community’s history and culture

ii. 2014 Board of Directors

Executive: Murray Graham – President Robert Booth – 1st Vice-president

Stephanie Doerksen – 2nd Vice-president Fred Eslinger – Treasurer

Directors: Gary Palmer, Shari Dressler, Trish Buri, Alex Essery, Nikhil Kulkarni


iii. 2014 Activities i. Museum Audience

The number of paying visitors to the Museum in 2014 decreased by 0.9%. The total number of visitors to the Museum was 3040 in 2014. In the past four years there has been an overall 3% increase in the number of paying visitors to the Museum.

The majority of visitors to the Museum in 2014 were adults and children. These demographics visited the Museum primarily between the hours of 1:00p.m. to 5:00p.m. during the months of June to September.

2014 Attendance by Demographics

Adult

Senior

Child

Family

2600

2700

2800

2900

3000

3100

2014 2013 2012 2011

Museum Attendance 2011-2014


The Museum’s main audience is the residents of the City of Brandon (66%), followed by residents of Manitoba (17%), Canada (12%) and international visitors (3%). The Museum had visitors from Australia, Brazil, Belgium, Argentina, Germany, the Philippines, New Zealand, Russia, Ukraine, Mexico, Ireland and the United Kingdom in 2014.

The Museum saw the most visitors between April and September as shown in the graph below.

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

Brandon Manitoba Canada International

2014 Attendance by Region

2014

0

100

200

300

400

500

Jan-March Apr-June July-Sept Oct-Dec

2014 Quarterly Attendance

2014


ii. Exhibits : Four rotating exhibits were displayed by the Museum in 2014

Images – Rural and Northern Archives

(February – March 2014): This exhibit of twenty-eight photographs gathered from various rural Manitoba community archives, including Daly House Museum, was produced by the Rural and Northern Archives of Manitoba members. Each black and white image focused on the games and recreational activities in which roughly fifteen rural Manitoba communities participated in between the

late 1880s and early 1950s. Many of them are whimsical, revealing how people of the past had fun in spite of primitive sports facilities or lack of means. Attendance: 203 visitors

Every Citizen A Soldier (April- October 2014): Ordinary citizens of Brandon who were heroes at home during the First World War were commemorated in this exhibit. The exhibit featured many remembrances from the time, including medals, uniforms, letters written home by soldiers, and trench art. There were stories about the internment camp in Brandon, the role of nurses, and the roles of ordinary citizens supporting the enlisted men including Mrs. G.R. Coldwell offering her home (Daly House Museum) for Red Cross Society meeting s and fundraisers. Attendance: 722 visitors

Literature of Prescription: Behind the Yellow Wallpaper (October – November 2014): This exhibit included six, seven-foot panels which featured information about the short story and its author as well as artifacts and newspaper clippings that focused on the treatment of mental health in Manitoba and Canada. Visitors to the exhibit found it shocking to learn how mental health was regarded in Victorian times and thankful that we as a society have evolved in the treatment of such conditions. The exhibit was on loan from the National Library of Medicine in Bethesda, Maryland, USA. Attendance: 140 visitors

Prairie Culture Exhibition (December 2014-January 2015): Brandon University Students and Daly House Museum were proud to present "Prairie Culture". The exhibit featured the artwork of Students studying in Brandon University's Fine Arts Program. In this display of diverse media the student’s explored and interpreted the idea of prairie culture. Attendance: 60 visitors.


iii. Volunteers, Members and Staff

Volunteer Commitment: The Museum’s volunteer base has been actively involved in various events and in serving on the board of directors. The current total of active volunteers is twenty. These volunteers have put in a total of 10,000 plus hours towards the Museum. The estimated value of the work performed by our volunteers based on Statistic Canada’s figure of $19.04 for the average hourly wage in Manitoba is $190,400.00

(Right: Volunteer Sylvia Barr in costume at the 2014 Strawberry Social)

Daly House Museum Auxiliary:

We had our annual meeting in January. The executive for the coming year are: Jeanne Mustard, President; Linda Evans, Vice-president; Shirley Bleackley, Secretary; and Mavis Johnston, Treasurer. We are continuing to have sewing bees as needed by the curator, to create garment bags, sewing accession labels onto garments, etc. We are also looking at creating name tags for ourselves and other volunteers. We help with the distribution of posters for upcoming events. In the coming months, we will be buying a commercial quality garment rack for storage of the clothing that is now in the garment bags and we will be replacing the second older Christmas tree. We are also proposing to buy the hanging file system and folders needed for easier and better photo storage, as per the curator’s grant proposal requirements. One of our members will research the cost of repair/ replacement of the flooring / carpet in the children’s room, with a long term goal

of “sprucing up” that room if we can manage it. Given the financial realities of the Museum losing some of its anticipated funding from the City of Brandon, we will attempt to fill some of the needs that arise, and should the Board want to send a delegation to a City Council meeting, several members have agreed to be a part of such a delegation. In order to raise the Museum’s visibility in the community (and our own) we will look into publicizing what we do a bit more. Eileen has posted pictures of the latest sewing bee on Facebook and Twitter.

(Above: Auxiliary members creating garment bags for vintage clothing in the Museum)

Respectfully submitted,

Jeanne Mustard, President


Memberships:

The Museum currently has one hundred and thirty-nine members in our various membership categories. There is one benefactor member, 3 business members, ninety-eight family members, fifteen individual members, two patron members, nineteen senior members and one sponsor member. However the income from memberships has declined by 0.7% in 2014 from the previous year due to members choosing to purchase senior memberships rather individual or family memberships. While membership numbers over the last eight years have remained relatively stable the Museum still faces an aging membership and therefore our membership numbers in the future could decline.

Temporary Staff: Grants from Manitoba Heritage, Young Canada Works and Canada Summer Jobs enabled the Museum to hire three summer interns and a research assistant. The temporary staff were hired to produce exhibits, create a summer children’s program, add archival records to the Manitoba Archival Information Network and to research the 2015 exhibit entitled “Gowen’s Brandon Then and Now”. The interns also provided invaluable assistance with fundraisers, and by providing tours to the public. These positions give the students a chance to develop

career- building skills for their future employment while learning how non-profit organizations such as Daly House Museum operate. (Above: Summer staff member Leslie Hutchinson posing with the maid mannequin).

Full Time Staff: The Museum curator performs daily administration, curatorial duties (cataloguing and labeling artifacts), environmental monitoring, research, exhibit planning and conservation), coordinating and training volunteers and temporary staff, public relations, education and Museum tours. iv. Community Partnerships: The community uses the Museum as a resource for exhibits, education

and expertise on preserving historical artifacts and genealogical information. The Museum also partnered with the following local organizations and individuals.

Doors Open 2014 – July 2014: In co-operation with the City of Brandon’s Heritage Department, Daly House provided free tours to the public. Over one hundred individuals toured the Museum during the two day event. During this event Vector Trains from Winnipeg ran their model trains in the Victorian Garden for visitors to enjoy.


Heritage Co-op: Daly House partnered with Heritage Co-op to sell hot dogs as a fundraiser during July 2014.

Brandon University Fine Arts Department: The Museum partnered with students from the Brandon University Fine Arts Department to produce the Prairie Culture Exhibition.

S.J. McKee Archives: The Museum partnered with Christy Henry, Archivist at the S.J. McKee Archives to produce the 2015 exhibit Gowen’s Brandon Then and Now.

Graham Street and Street Media: The Museum partnered with Graham Street, Nathan Bower and Shaun Cameron to take photographs of Brandon scenes for the 2015 exhibit “Gowen’s Brandon Then and Now”. While assisting the Museum with this project they filmed a time traveler’s documentary for MTS TV’s Stories from Home documenting the process of creating the 2015 exhibition. This film will air in March 2015.

Traveler’s Day Parade: The Museum participated in the Traveler’s Day parade.

Prairie Public History & MTS TV’s Stories from Home: Archival resources were used to create Stories from Home documentaries for MTS TV documentaries produced by Tom Mitchell looks at the Brandon in the 1930s. The documentaries can be found on MTS TV and online.

Dr. Alison Marshall, Brandon University: Dr. Alison Marshall from Brandon University’s Department of Religion used an image of three Chinese men in Chinese Opera Dress on Horseback at the 1906 Dominion Day Parade in her book In the Service of Our Friends: How Networks Made the Fabric of Chinese Prairie Canada.

Westman Gardening Club: Nineteen Westman Gardeners members volunteered their services in maintaining the Victorian Garden from May to October 2014.

Children’s Garden Planting: Students from New Era School planted the Museum’s Children’s Garden on June 6, 2014.

Fruit Share: The Museum partnered with the Fruit Share program by donating produce from the garden to the charity.

New Era Students planting the Museum’s Children’s Garden


v. Programs and Projects The Victorian Garden: The garden was host to six weddings during the 2014 season. The garden was maintained by volunteers from the Westman Gardeners. Items still to be completed in the garden include replacing the brick walkway beside the building, and installing a little free library. (Left: Westman Gardeners working in garden)

Gowen’s Brandon Then and Now (Jan-April 2015): Daly House Museum is pleased to partner with the S.J. McKee Archives (Brandon University) for our current exhibit “Gowen’s Brandon: Then and Now.” Using historical photographs taken by Frank Gowen, a professional photographer in Brandon from 1906-1914, the project will compare Brandon during a period of unprecedented development (c. 1911) to the Brandon we see today. Between 1900 and the beginning of World War I, the City of Brandon’s population more than doubled, going from approximately 5,600 residents to just under 14, 000. As a result, Brandon’s industrial, business and residential districts saw significant development in the first decade of the twentieth century. Frank Gowen, a British trained photographer known for his scenic images, arrived in Brandon at the height of this expansion. Partnering with photographer Alexander C. Davidson in 1911, Gowen produced a number of images that documented Brandon during this period of expansion. Featuring over fifty of these photographs, the exhibit will provide an overview of the city’s people, landscape, architecture and environment before World War I. With the help of local photographer Graham Street, we were able to replicate Gowen’s original images, capturing Brandon as it is in 2014. Gowen and Street’s images will be exhibited side by side to visually express the changing character of Brandon over the last century. Through the summer and fall of 2014 student assistant Morganna Malyon researched Brandon’s history and the content of the photographs. She spent the fall months compiling this information and getting the photographs reproduced and ready for display. The exhibit opened in early January 2015, and the photos will be hung concurrently at Daly House Museum and the Tommy McLeod Curve Gallery on the second floor of the library at Brandon University. A documentary about the project, co-produced by Graham Street, Nate Bower and Shaun Cameron, is set to be released by MTS Stories from Home in March 2015. We would like to take the time to thank the Manitoba Heritage Grant program for the generous grant made available to us. Without it this project would not have been possible. Daly House Museum and the S.J. McKee Archives are both very excited about this project, and are happy to have it on display for the community. The exhibit is funded by a grant from Manitoba Heritage.


Ceramics Settling the Prairies Exhibition (October- December 2015): In nineteenth- century Canada, prairie housewives at all levels of society expected to be able to set upon their tables some form of pottery and porcelain. Dealers on the Prairies were eager to meet this demand as settlers to the Canadian West often had to travel without table-ware and quickly needed to acquire the commodity once settled in their new homes. Thanks to the innovativeness of the potter industry the Prairie house wife had a variety to choose from.

The goal of this project is to use the vast collection of pottery and porcelain wares in the Museum dating from 1790 to create an exhibit for the fall of 2015.

In order to develop these themes the Museum will hire an intern to perform a retrospective inventory of the Museum’s pottery and porcelain collections. This inventory will include documenting the techniques used to create the tableware and researching the tableware’s manufacturing. The results from the collection review will enable us to select artifacts suitable for the exhibit. This exhibit is

funded through a grant from the Manitoba Heritage Grants program.

Museum Maintenance: Daly House underwent some renovations in 2014. Thanks to the City of Brandon and Manitoba Heritage, the basement flooring that had been crumbling over the past few years has been repaired, repainted, or recovered with subflooring and linoleum. This upgrade has given the basement a new life and improved the warmth of the back area.

The city also repaired a water bubble in the ceiling of the second floor bedroom. This water bubble formed due to leaks in the roof which were rectified when the Museum’s roof was re-shingled a few years ago. The third floor also got a face lift with a fresh coat of paint. The City also installed a new energy boiler system and shelving in the basement for storage.

WCG TV Segments: Daly House Museum, the 26th Field Regimental Museum, the Brandon General Museum and Archives, the Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum and the Art Gallery of Southwestern Manitoba are partnering to produce TV spots on WCG TV highlighting each of the museums in the area.


$- $200.00 $400.00 $600.00 $800.00

$1,000.00 $1,200.00 $1,400.00 $1,600.00

Fundraising Event Revenue

vi. Fundraising, Grants and other Revenue

Fundraising: The Museum had a number of successful fundraisers in 2014 raising a total of $5,999.16 in revenue. However the amount of revenue generated through fundraising decreased by 16% from 2013. The fundraisers hosted by the Museum included Ten Lost Years theatre production, a strawberry social, and an Antiques Roadshow. The graph on the left is a breakdown of the income generated from these events.

Grants: The Museum received a total of $50,278.82 in grants from the Arts Stabilization endowment fund, the City of Brandon, Manitoba Heritage Grants, Young Canada Works and Canada Summer Jobs. This was $4,957.08 more than in 2013. The Museum received the following grants:

City of Brandon Community Grant: The City’s grant enabled the Museum to continue year round operations. Without this grant, the Museum would only be open in the summer months. The loss of a year-round Museum would limit the tourist activities available within the city and decrease the amount of funding from the government available to the organization. An increase in funding is required, as our utility bills continue to increase and we wish to increase our curator’s wages as the position is under paid for the work required. The Museum received $25000.00 from the 2014 Community Grant. This grant has been reduced by $10,000.00 for the 2015 year.

Manitoba Heritage: The Museum received $ 11,451.00 in funding from the Province of Manitoba’s Heritage Grant program. These funds were used towards various projects including hiring staff to research the 2015 exhibits “Gowen’s Brandon Then and Now” and “Ceramics Settling the Prairies”.

Young Canada Works and Canada Summer Jobs: The Museum applied for two summer interns under each of these programs and was awarded grants for three positions. The Museum received $13,683.50 in funding for the three positions. Other Revenue: Admissions: The Museum raised $5,106.07 in admissions. This is an 18% decrease from 2013 revenues. While it is difficult to know all the contributing factors to the admission decrease, one of the factors can be attributed to the extreme cold weather in the winter months. Souvenirs Souvenir sales in 2014 were $591.00 less than in 2013 totaling $674.15.


Memberships: The Museum generated $2,376.00 in membership fees. This amount is a 0.8% decrease in revenue. Donations: The Museum received $3,367.75 in donations from the public. This amount is a 10% decrease from 2013.

VI. STRATEGIC GOALS & ACTION PLANS These strategic focuses are for a three year period. They are based on certain assumptions and cannot be achieved without additional funding. Strategic Focus #1: To increase the Museum’s visibility within the community Goal: Increase the Museum’s profile Strategy: Increase our relevance to the community, increase our volunteers, memberships, brand recognition. Action Steps:

1. Attend the Winter Fair, Summer Fair, Folk Fest, Music in the Park, Cruise Nights in

costumes with permission

2. Add to agenda a section regarding Profile Activities

3. Distribute brochures throughout the City and province (popular tourist locations, border

crossings)

4. Market the Museum to the demographics that are interested in attending museums.

5. Differentiate from and leverage connection to other museums in the community.

6. Increase awareness of the location of Daly House with enhanced signage on Trans-

Canada Highway (Signature Museum signage)

7. Increase awareness of the Museum through the website and social media avenues

8. Develop community partnerships

a) Explore partnerships with:

Brandon Economic Development

Brandon Municipal Heritage Advisory Committee

Chamber of Commerce

Schools

Service clubs

Arts, heritage and archival organizations.

Westman Immigrant Services

Strategic Focus #2: Diversify revenue streams Goal: The board will look for other ways besides fundraising events to diversify the Museum’s revenue stream Action Steps:


1. Create business partnerships by asking businesses to support upcoming exhibits as

sponsors

2. Work with other local Museums to develop both combination and joint ticket

opportunities for visitors

3. Develop curriculum-based programs for Museum School audiences (see Strategic Focus

#3)

4. Distribute our brochure throughout the City and province

5. Diversify souvenirs and sell at Global Market on Rosser Avenue, Folk Fest, Shopper’s

Mall and online.

Victorian jewelry and other wearable jewelry

Increase souvenir sales by 10% each year over the next three years 2015-2018

6. Continue with grantmanship

7. Develop and encourage philanthropy in the community

8. Increase membership sales

9. Increase archives sales

Strategic Focus #3: Increase Museum visitation 10% Goal: Take specific actions that will result in increased visitation from a variety of audiences Strategy: Find out who our visitors are and who they are not; find out what they want and develop a plan to attract more visitors to the Museum and its programs. Action Steps:

1. Visitor assessments

a) Periodic visitor surveys

b) Website comment box

c) Front desk comment box/visitor book

d) Periodic feedback from staff and volunteers

2. Marketing: develop, write and implement a marketing plan

3. Develop strategies to differentiate from and leverage connection to other museums in

the community

4. Develop a diverse calendar of programs and events that meet our users’ needs and

interests

a) Offer K-12 school programs that are responsive to teachers’ needs and curriculum

demands

i. Expand relationships with school decision-makers (principals,

superintendents, school boards etc.) to explore areas for growth

ii. Expand involvement of K-12 teachers in lesson plan development,

implementation, and evaluation

iii. Expand volunteer program to include training on education programs

iv. Assess need and feasibility of home school parent program


b) Develop a stronger relationship with university students

c) Deliver quality special events that are enjoyable and accessible

d) In collaboration with community partners, build and strengthen our adult and senior

audiences with new programs

e) Develop programs for English as a second language audiences

f) Be the premier destination in Brandon for families

5. Establish an Annual Program Plan

a) Assess effectiveness of current programs

b) Design new programs

c) Pilot and evaluate

6. Develop audio tours of exhibits, explore iPod and cellphone audio tours as well as QSRs

7. Develop written tours in French and other languages

Strategic Focus #4: To increase access to the Museum’s resources Goal: Improve access to collections and continue to acquire new collections as part of the Museum’s long-range plans Action Steps:

1. Preservation: the Museum will strive to preserve our existing collection in accordance with museum and archival standards as well as possible.

2. Review and annually update the Museum conservation plan to guide the care of the collection

3. Design and construct museum-quality storage for all areas of the collection 4. Provide access to collections on our website, Manitoba Archival Information Network

and through finding aids at the Museum

Strategic Focus #5: Staffing resources Goal: Provide adequate staffing, both paid and unpaid for Museum programs Action Steps:

1. Gather information from Museum staff on strengths and weaknesses of existing staff resources, paid and unpaid.

2. Determine priority needs and develop staffing plan to address needs (documentation to include required skill sets, detailed position descriptions and salary ranges for paid positions)

3. Engage staff in priority order as funding/personnel become available Strategic Focus #6: Rotating exhibition program improvement Goal: To drive an increase in attendance through dynamic exhibition programming by implementing and maintaining an integrated, multi-year schedule of special exhibitions, and permanent collections exhibitions. Action Steps:

1. Review and update the Museum’s exhibition policy and criteria for exhibitions annually


2. Develop a rotating schedule of outside exhibitions over a two year cycle 3. Research funding for outside exhibitions 4. Develop and implement pre- and post- exhibition criteria and process for exhibit

evaluation 5. Work with outside curators and community groups to

a) Identify possible outside exhibitions b) Develop new installations for the collections and exhibitions c) Include special loans of objects to supplement exhibitions.

REVIEW MECHANISM This is a three-year Strategic Management Plan, which will be reviewed annually. During the year, key objectives that require interim review will be the subject of a six-month review. All reviews will take the form of meetings between the curator and the board of directors. Progress and problems will be discussed against each objective, using the Strategic Management Plan as a guide. Within the time span of the Strategic Plan, the Museum will be working toward annual implementation of the Strategic Plan by breaking down the action steps for the year into a series of tasks including date targets and other significant factors. This implementation plan contains its own internal review mechanisms 2015-2017 Budgets


Revenue 2015 2016 2017

Fundraising 7,500.00$ 7,600.00$ 7,700.00$

Grants 40,000.00$ 40,100.00$ 40,200.00$

Admissions 5,200.00$ 5,300.00$ 5,400.00$

Memberships 2,100.00$ 2,200.00$ 2,300.00$

Souvenirs 675.00$ 700.00$ 725.00$

Archives 250.00$ 300.00$ 325.00$

Donations 2,500.00$ 2,550.00$ 2,600.00$

Shared Expenses 3,100.00$ 3,150.00$ 3,200.00$

Interest 1,600.00$ 1,700.00$ 1,800.00$

Rental Income 1,200.00$ 1,300.00$ 1,400.00$

Miscellaneous 100.00$ 100.00$ 100.00$

Victorian Garden 1,500.00$ 1,500.00$ 1,500.00$

Transfer from Reserve 5,025.00 4,900.00$ 4,850.00$

Total Revenue 70,750.00$ 71,400.00$ 72,100.00$

Expenses

Fundraising 1,200.00$ 1,250.00$ 1,300.00$

Advertising 500.00$ 550.00$ 600.00$

Office Expenses 2,100.00$ 2,150.00$ 2,200.00$

Contract Labour -$ -$ -$

Employees 48,900.00$ 48,950.00$ 49,000.00$

Insurance 2,850.00$ 2,900.00$ 3,000.00$

Special Events 250.00$ 300.00$ 350.00$

Utilities

Gas 5,000.00$ 5,050.00$ 5,100.00$

Hydro 2,400.00$ 2,450.00$ 2,500.00$

Water 900.00$ 950.00$ 1,000.00$

Security 550.00$ 600.00$ 650.00$

Phone/Internet 950.00$ 1,000.00$ 1,050.00$

Professional Memberships 400.00$ 400.00$ 400.00$

Conservation/Maintenance 1,300.00$ 1,350.00$ 1,400.00$

Cost of Sales 300.00$ 350.00$ 400.00$

Training/Seminars 300.00$ 300.00$ 300.00$

Professional Services 350.00$ 350.00$ 350.00$

Newsletter 500.00$ 500.00$ 500.00$

Miscellaneous 100.00$ 100.00$ 100.00$

Equipment 500.00$ 500.00$ 500.00$

Exhibit Expenses 1,400.00$ 1,400.00$ 1,400.00$

Equipment Reserve -$ -$ -$

Victorian Garden -$ -$ -$

Total Expenses 70,750.00$ 71,400.00$ 72,100.00$

Income/Expenses -$ -$ -$

Documents

Brandon Museum Inc. Annual Report - Daly House Museum · Brandon Museum Inc. Annual Report 2014 v. Programs and Projects The Victorian Garden: The garden was host to six weddings