Kawartha Lakes Historical Society and Kawartha Art Gallery join forces

Realizing the public interest in museums and art galleries has changed, the Kawartha Art Gallery and the Kawartha Lakes Historical Society, which runs the Old Gaol Museum, are embarking on a new partnership.

Both realize that today’s successful museums and galleries cannot wait for the public to walk in the door but they must go out into the community. The new entity called KMAG for Kawartha Museum and Art Gallery, will work to create programming to appeal to a broad sector of the community.

“We can’t just expect that people are going to want to come in, it’s a very one-dimensional experience just coming in to view something on a shelf or something on a wall. We want to get out there and offer programming that interacts with people,” says Susan Taylor, the president of the Kawartha Art Gallery.

The Kawartha Lakes Historical Society has run their museum in the old Lindsay Gaol for about 10 years. But with their new focus on reaching out to the community, the 19th-century Gaol is no longer a good fit.

“It’s a great old building, it’s great, it’s been saved and preserved but in terms of its usefulness as a museum, there’s no community room there, there’s no education room,” says David Webster with the Kawartha Lakes Historical Society.

Webster says eventually, they would like to see KMAG establish itself in a cultural centre somewhere in the City of Kawartha Lakes.