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Getting the gallery ready for a new exhibit has been a bit more of a blast this spring. Morgan Ryder, who joined our staff in April as the Assistant-Curator, started off with a space plan and no timeline—only a deadline to have the exhibit ready for July 1st. Normally, we would start working on a project like this after Heritage Week, but there have been a couple of issues delaying us this year. Plus, we had to find Morgan first!

The idea for the exhibit evolved after the Community Heritage Commission nominated Haney Heritage House and the Salmon Arm Museum and Heritage Association for an award in the institutional category for preservation, conservation and/or adaptive reuse of the heritage structure.

Haney House was just one of 48 buildings and spaces on the City of Salmon Arm’s Heritage Register, with another 11 being added shortly. Joining this exclusive group was voluntary. Before being placed on the list, owners are consulted and agree to have their properties added. All who joined believe in the value of preservation. Some thought of themselves as custodians of a piece of history. Others just loved their building’s architecture. But all had one common denominator. . . proud ownership.

Since the buildings needed current photographs, the first task was to engage photographers. I approached Len Lazzarotto, a member of the Shuswap Photo Arts Club. I’d used some of the Club members’ photos in the past. All the guys had good cameras. It turned out the group was looking for a project! Len pitched the idea to the Club and the gig was adopted unanimously.

Morgan counted our frames, looked at mats, and realized we didn’t have enough. I started chewing my nails. This would be an expensive exhibit.

Luckily the Executive of the Salmon Arm Branch of the Okanagan Historical Society agreed to help. They’ve been friends of the museum and archives for a long time. This was the sort of project they could buy into.

We asked the homeowners for permission, in writing, and hand-delivered the letters. We couldn’t mail them – we didn’t know who they were. Those with dogs in residence needed warning.

One homeowner pointed out that her house would look better in Spring with foliage on the trees. Good point. Another was in the middle of removing a large tree and needed time to clean up after the arborist did their work.

I drafted some open-ended questions and asked all homeowners if they’d be interested in being interviewed. Morgan, the designated young person, was tasked with the technical stuff. She edited the interviews, figured out how to link QR codes to the audio hosted on SoundCloud and did the text layout, which included historic photos of our subjects.

In the museum gallery, Morgan and I worked on layout, moving cases and “walls”—thinking about traffic flow. Were we ready? Not really.

Henry from the Shuswap Photo
Arts Club promised to edit the photos and size them to our existing mats. They had to be printed. In the meantime, we had to have something to offer our visitors when the Village opened for the season. We snugged up last year’s exhibit, “Uprooted”, to create a barrier so people didn’t see us working. I was stressed about making the frames perfectly hung and even thought about buying a laser level. In the meantime, Morgan went up and down the 10-foot ladder arranging picture hangers on the rail. It would have been simpler to hammer nails into the walls, but at what expense? I explained to Morgan that the cost of painting the gallery again would be more than a thousand dollars.

We look forward to opening this new exhibit with a party in July. All the photographers will be invited. All the members of the Salmon Arm Branch of the Okanagan Historical Society will show up. The Salmon Arm Museum’s board and members will also be invited. General Manager Susan Mackie will get the Sprig of Heather’s kitchen staff to make cookies. It will be a celebration and a thank you to our community for caring enough about its built heritage to keep its components out of the landfill.