AIC's 44th Annual Meeting

Several museums in Alberta were affected by severe weather and floods in June 2013. The Government of Alberta demonstrated its commitment to supporting recovery in every affected area through its provincial recovery framework, and the Alberta Museums Association (AMA) was pleased to collaborate with Alberta Culture and Tourism to aid in the recovery of Alberta’s heritage community through the Museum Flood Funding Program. The Program was designed to provide assistance to institutions either affected by floods in Summer 2013, or at risk of future riverine flooding. Since its launch in spring 2014, the Program has worked to minimize the short and long-term effects of the floods on museum collections by providing training opportunities, project funding, and basic disaster response tools. This session will provide a case study of the projects being undertaken by recipients of Program funds. The projects range from the creation of a disaster plan, to the facilitation of a full gallery space evacuation, to the retrofitting of offsite storage facilities. The AMA aims to support museums at all stages of organizational life, and in order to best aid in the delivery of these projects, a Flood Recovery Technician was hired to provide on-site consultation services for affected institutions. By highlighting the projects occurring in museums across Alberta, this session will provide concrete examples of response methods and institutional impacts in flood disaster situations, as well as demonstrate the impact of the Museum Flood Funding Program through the lens of increasing sector sustainability. The work completed through these projects ensures Alberta’s heritage remains safeguarded and accessible for current and future generations, and the skills and knowledge gained will lead to a more resilient museum sector.