Executive Director Louise Avery Retires from the Kitimat Museum & Archives After 28 Years

Statement From the Board of Directors of the Kitimat Museum & Archives | December 17, 2024

The Board of Directors for the Kitimat Museum & Archives announces the retirement of Executive Director Louise Avery and thanks her gratefully for her valuable and long-standing service. Board Chair Katherine Johnsen identifies Louise’s ongoing perseverance, creativity and commitment. “Her respectful advocacy and professionalism on behalf of the Kitimat Museum has been exceptional.”

In 1996, the Museum needed direction. Louise stepped in to take on the work, organizing staff roles and responsibilities, collections, and programming. Given her leadership, the Museum in 2024 is much different from 28 years ago. It welcomes over 8,000 visitors annually and runs a successful suite of annual children’s and school programs, and exhibitions in visual arts, community and natural history.

Over the years, Louise has worked tirelessly to build capacity in staffing. Museum staff now includes one additional full-time position and one part-time position in Collections & Programming. Consistent programs, staffing, and financial stability have made the facility operations successful. Organization of the Museum’s spaces have seen the introduction of a computerized network with online collections, new permanent exhibitions telling the story of the Kitimat-Kemano Power Project, smelter and town, and Haisla cultural heritage and Territory. Several of her projects can now be found online at www.kitimatmuseum.ca

Louise has a passion for museums in service to communities they seek to serve. She advocated for the Museum with the District of Kitimat, and created new partnerships and liaisons with businesses, industry, and local NGOs. She enjoyed working with local non-profit organizations and served on several Boards including Kitimat Arts for Youth, Kitimat Community Foundation, Kitimat Multicultural Society, Kitimat Community Development Centre, and the BC Museums Association (BCMA), Awards Committee. Today she serves on the BCMA Advocacy Committee. She is one of fifty individuals to receive the Golden Service Award from the BCMA for her years of service to BC Museums and her Association.

Louise advocated for reconciliation with the Haisla Nation through continuing work on programming and collections and listening to community members and representatives. The Memorandum of Understanding for the Haisla Photograph Image Collection was signed by the Haisla Nation Council (HNC) and the Museum Board in 2018. Today, three Haisla community members have a seat on the Museum Board. The Haisla heritage collection is now rehoused in new exhibition cases with nine interpretive panels of cultural information. Another case for cultural heritage artifacts has been added at the Museum entrance. This summer, the Haisla Artists exhibition featured twenty-five artists. The exhibition booklet is the newest Museum publication.

Advocacy can sometimes be tough, but Louise continued with tenacity. In 2018, Louise was tasked by the Museum Board to explore a shared facility with the Haisla Nation. In these last years, she has accessed funding for the Strategic Plan and for the Feasibility Study, then worked with CEDI – Community Economic Development Initiative between Haisla Nation Council and District of Kitimat – to explore the possibility of two governments funding a shared museum facility. The idea is before the two governments now.

Katherine Johson states, “I have observed Louise Avery’s dedication, her leadership and her ongoing passion and vision for preserving and sharing local history and culture. She has been instrumental in creating strong relationships and community connections that foster learning, engagement, pride and celebration about our community through our museum.”

Louise shared that she would miss museum conversations the most. She will continue to call Kitimat home and hopes to join the planning team for a new museum for Kitimat. “Museum work has been my passion for so long, it is hard to give it up.”

Executive Director’s Desk—Retirement and Some Thoughts, by Louise Avery

Published in the Summer 2024 KMA Newsletter | August 23, 2024

I knew this day would come and that it would be bitter sweet. I have set my date to retire! My last day of work will be December 20, 2024. Recently, I posted my job on three professional sites and on social media, and so, the first exit step has been completed.

I have considered the Kitimat Museum & Archives to be the most challenging and rewarding place of my museum career. I was able to stay inspired here for 28+ years, tackling a variety of challenges, some resolved and some not. All my failed ideas were learning experiences, of course! As many say in Kitimat, I planned to stay only three years. The work kept me here. A few memories stand out as highlights of a career well spent.

Working with Museum staff, District staff, and Museum stakeholders. Much of my job is communication, both writing and speaking. I will miss the daily conversations with everyone on the work, and living in the community. I will enjoy the quiet time coming, but really do like to converse. I most enjoy talking projects over and finding the best, most efficient way to complete them. Balance and positive experiences are the best.

Opening permanent exhibitions. I had a goal to tackle every area of the Museum’s mandate. Geology and fossils is the last—with the exception of some finishing touches—to be updated. It has been an honour to complete valuable cultural heritage work with the Haisla Nation heritage collection, and to gather and share the history of the Kitimat-Kemano Power Project. I never imagined that I would have much to do with a natural history collection, but look what has been created for woodlands and wetlands in our small space, given all the assistance the Museum received from stakeholders.

Improving the Museum services to the community. With the assistance of dedicated staff and educators, the Museum has improved its profile through consistent successful programming and marketing. It has also been proactive with new ideas. The Museum now has completed strategic planning and a feasibility study for a new shared museum facility with the Haisla Nation.

When I first arrived at the Museum, July 3, 1996, there was a mountain of recent acquisitions in the Curator’s Office, a 286 DOS PC, and a broken laptop. The challenge was organizing all areas with staff, and bringing the Museum fully into the digital age. We now have a computer network of five stations with a file server, online collections, and point of sale in an active gift shop.

I have some critical thoughts on the ongoing success of the museum facility for Kitimat going forward:

Be accessible. The Museum must devote time and energy to make its holdings as accessible to the public as possible. It needs to continue to be a reflection of the area and gather that unique history.

Be connected. Consistent outreach in the community is key. Establishing positive connections with businesses, organizations, and cultural groups has proved rewarding for the Museum. As the facility wants to be relevant and a representation of the communities it serves, it must be connected to those communities.

Provide valuable arts, heritage, and culture services. The Museum is a unique resource that will continue to need community and municipal support. The Museum cannot exist without you!