Guelph Museums has won the 2015 Museum Award of Excellence from the Ontario Historical Society (OHS).
In 1967, The Ontario Historical Society (OHS) established an awards program to recognize individuals, organizations, corporations, and authors who have contributed significantly to the preservation and promotion of Ontario’s heritage.
The Museum Award of Excellence in Community Programming recognizes a non-profit public museum in Ontario showing excellence in community involvement and programming.
Guelph Museums was nominated for this award by the Guelph Historical Society in recognition of their exceptional programming for the 100th anniversary of the poem In Flanders Fields.
Guelph Museums’ program, In Flanders Fields at 100, resonated with the local community and brought a 47 per cent increase in attendance as well as a 24% increase in museum memberships in 2015.
The community programming to commemorate the 100th anniversary was extensive, including a juried art show, the reopening of the renovated McCrae House, the placement of a new bronze statue, themed daily teas and tours, a theatre production, a traveling exhibition from the Canadian War Museum, a 1915 themed special event, a traveling road show, an outbound trip to France and Belgium following in McCrae’s footsteps, and Remembrance Day ceremonies on Nov. 11 at McCrae House and the Memorial Gardens in Guelph.
