(Winnipeg, MB: May 31, 2022) Having recently celebrated its 50th anniversary and on the heels of the Bringing Our Stories Forward Gallery Renewal Project, the Manitoba Museum invites Manitobans to help define its purpose in the years ahead. The Manitoba Museum wants to better understand how it can serve all communities as it develops a dynamic multi-year Strategic Plan.
“The Manitoba Museum is our museum, all of ours; it exists to help bring us into closer and more meaningful relationships with one another, balance with nature, and appreciation of natural sciences, space, and the skies. We are here to amplify, celebrate, and honour every story,” explains Museum CEO Dorota Blumczyńska. “Beginning with a province-wide listening tour launched earlier this month, the ideas and guidance of community members is needed to help steer the Museum’s work into a future of continued impact, relevance, and success. As a provincial cornerstone institution, the Manitoba Museum contributes to our shared existence, one that must be evermore inclusive and just, and one which is co-created with and in service of our communities.”
The “listening tour” will gather input from the public, both those who visit the Museum and those who do not, or have not, for some time. Headquartered at the ManitobaMuseumTomorrow.ca website, part of the listening tour takes the form of a brief survey everyone can participate in. Additional information and perspectives will also be gathered in interviews and focus groups, where various stakeholders who bring a unique perspective will contribute their voices.
All who participate in the survey or focus groups before July 31, 2022 will have a chance to win one of three amazing stay-cation packages and monthly draws for a Family Membership. Thanks to the generosity of The Inn at the Forks, Smith restaurant, The Forks Market, and an anonymous supporter, contestants might win a night at the luxury hotel plus tickets to a Jets game, dinner, or a shopping spree.
Although the Museum feels familiar, it hasn’t been a static place. It is constantly changing and reinventing itself as we learn more through technology, science, field research, and new interpretations of the past. “We’re also being transformed by the communities we serve, who call on the Museum to lend its knowledge towards telling the stories of systemically excluded communities. Manitobans trust the Museum to amplify the voices of those whose histories have been silenced. We want their guidance as we plan to transform from our core, who we are, what we do, and why we exist,” adds Blumczyńska.
Many Manitobans have walked through the Museum’s Galleries, soared through the night sky in the Planetarium, and enjoyed hands-on learning in the Science Gallery. They have taken pictures of themselves in front of the iconic bison hunt or on the Nonsuch. They have honoured the Museum with their enduring support. Thanks to this, the Museum has always been—and is committed to continuing to be—a much-loved place where visitors can step into history, discover nature, and explore science. A place to be mesmerized by the wonders of the world and learn so we can make critical changes today.
“We invite every Manitoban to take this journey with us. Your participation in the 2022 Listening Tour and information gathered from other community members and various stakeholders will be used to help shape our strategic plan as we move forward. We want clarity about what our purpose is in the minds of Manitobans so we can set our priorities knowing where to lean in and where to step out. The Manitoba Museum is your museum; together, we can shape its future,” affirms Blumczyńska.
MEDIA ARE INVITED TO TALK WITH CEO DOROTA BLUMCZYNSKA about the accomplishments of Museum and how community engagement will shape its future.
For more information or to arrange interviews with CEO Dorota Blumczyńska, please contact:
Jody Tresoor
Manager of Marketing & Communications
E: [email protected]
T: 204-988-0614 • C: 204-228-2374
