Seven Manitoba museums will receive a share of $166,600 in provincial funding to help capture and preserve the province’s history, Premier Kelvin Goertzen and sport, culture and heritage Minister Cathy Cox announced Monday.
The funding, as part of the Manitoba 150 celebrations, will provide a $23,800 grant to each of Manitoba’s designated “signature museums” — funding that could be used for school and youth programming, exhibits, facility improvements, or improving the visitor experience.
“Museums help to provide us with a deeper understanding of the past,” said Goertzen.
“Museums provide us the opportunity to gather and celebrate, and more importantly to learn and to reflect.”
“There is no better time than in the celebration of our sesquicentennial to provide additional support to Manitoba’s signature museums so they can continue to share the stories of our past, which provide important learning opportunities for Manitobans and visitors of all ages.”
The seven museums are the Royal Aviation Museum of Western Canada — where the announcement took place Monday morning — and Le Musée de Saint-Boniface Museum in Winnipeg, the Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum in Brandon, the New Iceland Heritage Museum in Gimli, the Mennonite Heritage Village in Steinbach, the Canadian Fossil Discovery Centre in Morden, and the Manitoba Agricultural Museum in Austin.
“We have so many wonderful and important stories to share, and we know that these seven great facilities and their dedicated staff and volunteers will make excellent use of this additional financial support to help tell the stories of our past and provide learning opportunities for the future,” said Cox.