A Photo Journal of the

Cedar Weaving Weekend Workshop

June 16th and 17th, 2012

This past weekend we were honored to have Jessica Casey back for another fantastic cedar weaving workshop. This time, she brought participants through the process from beginning to end -  from harvesting the bark, to splitting and preparing it, to weaving this incredible material into a beautiful and functional basket.  

Day 1: Robert is about to pull a strip off the cedar tree. He is careful to ensure the strip is not more than two hands wide so that the tree can properly heal.

Day 1: Laura tries her hand at harvesting the cedar bark.

Day 1: Participants seperate the outer bark from the inner bark before leaving the forest.

Day 1: The inner bark is bundled and brought back to the museum for the next day's basket weaving.

Day 1: The group head back to the Museum and spend the rest of the afternoon splitting the cedar bark into strips. In this photo, Chris, Etienne, & Robert use a leather stipper to save time (and hands) from the laborious process of cutting uniform strips.

Day 2: After a night of soaking in water, the cedar strips and twine are ready to be used for weaving.

Day 2: Renate begins the process by laying out the warp and weft.

Day 2: The base is finished and she is starting to twine around the edge.

Day 2: Kate has finished the base of her basket.

Day 2: Kjerstin is focused on the steps involved in weaving both the weft and the twine. It's harder than it looks!

Day 2: Kate's basket has started to emerge!

Day 2: Beth's completed basket - it's beautiful!

Day 2: Group photo of  happy cedar weavers with their baskets.
Top L to R: Etienne, Kjerstin, Jessica, Renate, Chris, and Robert.
Bottom L to R: Paula, Mila, Kate, and Beth.

Museum School Documentary

Beyond The Classroom: The Open Minds Concept in Action

Check out this awesome short documentary on our Museum School program. This past school year has been our fifth year running the program! Thanks to Gillian Kydd for implementing the program here and for her continued support. Thanks also to teacher Ann Chow - she's brought a class every year since participating in the pilot program back in 2008.

Museum School is a week-long immersion program where a classroom comes to the Museum for hands-on interactive lessons that place emphasis on object-based learning, journal writing, drawing, and slow, meaningful contemplation. Museum School is modeled on the Open Minds program which began in Calgary 15 years ago.

The program gives teachers the opportunity to move their classrooms into the community and use the existing rich resources for their teaching. The foundation of learning comes through the process of slowing down and taking the time to really look at objects. The students are at the museum for five full days, so that gives them time to focus on, and take in, their surroundings. Writing and drawing are key strategies in the process of contemplation and deep learning. Open-ended visual and written expression allows students a way to express their ideas and to consolidate their learning experiences in their minds.

Big thanks to Ivy Miller, Gillian Kidd and the Marigold Foundation for making this video a reality.



For more information go to http://btcn.ca/ or contact the museum at 604-886-8232.

SCMA's Time Travel Sunshine Coast awarded grant

In exciting news, the Sunshine Coast Community Foundation has awarded the SCMA a grant for their project:  Time Travel Sunshine Coast: A Heritage Smart Phone Application.

This project will allow users to explore the fascinating histories of the Sunshine Coast through video, audio and archival photographs at site-specific locations. By downloading the free smart phone application from www.timetravelBC.com, the user will have instantaneous access to a myriad of provincial heritage resources.

The amazing aspect of this type of heritage interpretation is that the user gains access to museum content such as oral histories or archival photographs while they are physically at the location of interest.

Imagine standing on the wharf in Gibsons and hearing a story about the Union Steamships told by a man who used to work as a crew hand. Or standing at Gospel Rock and persuing archival photographs of the biblical quotes that were once painted on the rock face and gave the location its name.

In this way, the user becomes connected with the history of their surroundings, leading to deeper engagement and understanding of Sunshine Coast heritage. And for that, we are excited!

The SC Community Foundation grant will help pay for production costs to develop professional quality audio and video content for the app. Tamar Kozlov from Coast Cable television will be filming videos of Stonehurst, the Heritage Playhouse, the Robert's Creek wharf and Gospel Rock, while audio producer Mike Cashin from the Crew Studios in Vancouver will oversee audio production.

Big thanks to the Sunshine Coast Community Foundation for supporting this innovative and exciting heritage project! We greatly appreciate the support!