NLIS 6
January 13, 2005
(Tourism, Culture and Recreation)
 

Minister announces opening date and appointment of CEO for The Rooms

Tourism, Culture and Recreation Minister Paul Shelley, along with Dr. Priscilla Renouf, chair of the Board of Directors of The Rooms Corporation of Newfoundland and Labrador Inc., today announced the official opening date and the appointment of a new Chief Executive Officer for The Rooms, the new home of the Provincial Museum of Newfoundland and Labrador, Provincial Archives of Newfoundland and Labrador and the Art Gallery of Newfoundland and Labrador. Key stakeholders within the cultural community were present at The Rooms for the official announcement. 

"Government faced a number of difficult decisions as part of the budgetary review process last year, one of which was the decision to delay the opening of The Rooms. While the decision was disappointing, it was necessary in order to achieve government�s fiscal objectives," said Minister Shelley. "As part of our decision to delay the opening, we committed to open the facility in 2005. In keeping with that commitment, and after consulting with the arts and heritage communities and the Board of Directors for The Rooms Corporation, The Rooms will officially open to the public on June 29, 2005." 

In addition to the announcement of the official opening for The Rooms, Minister Shelley announced the appointment of Dean Brinton as the new Chief Executive Officer of The Rooms Corporation. 

Dean Brinton, a native of Newfoundland and Labrador, has a bachelor of arts in philosophy and religious studies from the University of Calgary and a master of arts from the University of Toronto. Prior to his appointment, Mr. Brinton held the position of executive director of the Community Foundation of Nova Scotia. Over the last 15 years, he has served as executive director of the Foundation for Heritage and Arts, Nova Scotia; director of artistic and external affairs, Symphony Nova Scotia; executive director, Debut Atlantic, Nova Scotia; and a consultant for the design and development of the Nova Scotia Sustainability Program and Symphony Nova Scotia. Mr. Brinton has also served two terms as a member of the Board of Directors of the Canada Council, where he served on the executive committee and chaired the council�s first governance committee. He is currently a member of the board of the National Theatre School of Canada in Montreal. 

"I am delighted that Mr. Brinton has accepted the position as CEO of The Rooms Corporation and I am confident that he will bring a great deal of experience and expertise to the new operation," said Minister Shelley. "His appointment reflects government�s continued commitment to The Rooms. Through his leadership, the entire Rooms team will open an incredible facility in June that will be second to none." 

The Rooms will bring together the museum, archives and art gallery into one multi-purpose facility while maintaining the individual identities of the three provincial institutions. The design concept for The Rooms pays tribute to the traditional lifestyle and unique language of the province. "Rooms" were those buildings on the shoreline where fish was processed and where nets and other fishing equipment were stored. 

Dr. Priscilla Renouf, chair of the Board of Directors for The Rooms Corporation, said she is pleased that government is moving ahead with opening plans for The Rooms. "Today is an exciting day for the board of directors and the beginning of what I know will be many positive announcements leading up to the opening," said Dr. Renouf. "The board of directors has been working in cooperation with staff of the three institutions and the acting CEO to prepare for the opening of The Rooms over the last year. In partnership, we will ensure that when The Rooms opens this year, it will be a facility of which we can all be proud and one that will result in enhanced client services, partnerships and the conservation of the collections." 

Minister Shelley said the progress that has been made at the three institutions over the last number of months would not have been possible without the determined efforts of staff at the three institutions. "I commend all staff for their hard work and commitment to their institutions despite their obvious disappointment over a delayed opening. I am confident that staff will continue to rise to the challenge to ensure a successful transition to The Rooms." 

Further details regarding plans for the official opening will be announced in the coming weeks. 

Media contact: Tansy Mundon, Communications, (709) 729-0928 or (709) 685-1741 

When families visit The Rooms for the first time during the opening season of 2005 they will find not just an innovative and inviting piece of architecture housing three familiar institutions � The Provincial Museum, The Provincial Archives and the Art Gallery of Newfoundland and Labrador � but an impressive new resource designed to meet visitors� needs. Their experience of The Rooms will start when they approach the building and discover the historical significance of the site. 

On the four public floors of The Rooms there will be a rich mix of the cultural riches of the province. On level three, for example, visitors can view a permanent exhibit from the museum, consult archival materials in the Reference Room of the archives, or take in a temporary exhibit from the art gallery. Visitors will also enjoy amenities shared by the institutions: a gift shop on level one with a selection of art, craft and gift items, the 140-seat multimedia auditorium on level two, and a restaurant on the roof top. The Rooms is wheelchair accessible, a fact that will be appreciated by visitors with mobility challenges � especially since the museum and archives have been housed in historic properties that were not accessible. 

Visitors will be excited to learn that in addition to being able to access all three institutions in one facility, each of the three has expanded exhibition and program capacity that suit their own mandates and collections. Both the art gallery and the museum will have dedicated space for traveling exhibitions, which offer returning visitors a changing menu of sights and stimulation. Moveable walls, flexible lighting arrangements and state of the art humidity and temperature controls within the exhibition halls mean that The Rooms will be able to attract exhibitions from major institutions with the most stringent requirements. 

The Provincial Museum will greet visitors with 13,450 square feet of permanent exhibit galleries telling the story of Newfoundland and Labrador's people and environment. It is a tale of convergence of natural elements and of how generations of resourceful people are connected to this environment and each other � a story of people shaped by life in this place. Behind the scenes, expanded office and meeting rooms, conservation, laboratory, storage and collections areas will create an inviting work environment for staff and visiting researchers, be they interested members of the public � who have made an appointment to examine an artifact from the museum�s permanent collection � or international scholars. Education areas will provide specially equipped classroom space for large and small group programs. 

In its new Reference Room, the Provincial Archives will be able to host more than twice the number of researchers it currently does in the Colonial Building. On site storage and processing areas, housing easily accessible materials, will have tripled. A separate audio visual and microfilm reference room will provide quieter and more effective use of research space for archives clients. Advanced climate, fire and security controls will accommodate fragile collections. And in a specially designed exhibit area, visitors can look forward to more archival displays drawn from the resources of the Provincial Archives. 

Visitors to The Rooms will be able to discover a new aspect of the art gallery on every level of the building. In addition to the art-related items for sale in the gift shop there will be an art rental facility on level one as well as a studio classroom for hands-on activities for school groups, family day fun, child and adult art workshops. Using the Collections Centre on level two, schools and visiting researchers can make appointments to see artworks that aren't on display. And on the same level, there will be an artist-in-residence studio that will give the public a first hand opportunity to see art being made by a visiting artist. On level three, the art gallery will display its temporary exhibitions both contemporary and historic, national and international art. And on level four, it will showcase art drawn from its permanent collection. Each floor has flexible gallery spaces well-equipped for both traditional and new art forms such as digital projections and installation art. There are also natural light galleries, on levels three and four, well suited for sculpture � not to mention the stunning views of downtown and the harbour. 

Tourists from across the province or across the globe, visiting scholars and researchers, or local residents � The Rooms will offer all its visitors a satisfying experience and many reasons to return. 

The Rooms will provide the Art Gallery of Newfoundland and Labrador with significantly more space to showcase artists from this province and elsewhere. With 10,000 square feet of gallery space for permanent collections and traveling exhibits, the people of Newfoundland and Labrador will see a much more diverse program of local, national and international art. 

With increased curatorial staff, the art gallery will mount a vigorous program of temporary exhibitions, largely of contemporary art but with a historical dimension as well. Its increased research capacity already is leading to more awareness of historical art related to the province. There also will be the opportunity to host major traveling exhibits which currently bypass the province. 

Between its fledgling collection and Memorial University�s collections, which it manages and uses, the art gallery has 5,500 works of contemporary, historical and folk art and has begun to collect fine craft as well. Along with the additional space for permanent collection display, The Rooms will provide the art gallery with expanded storage space for its full collection and for anticipated growth over the next 10 years.

The art gallery�s goal is to enable the people of the province and visitors to experience a broad range of art and to find meaning and pleasure in it. Staff already have expanded educational and public programming. A studio-classroom, the shared multi-media theatre and other resources in The Rooms will enhance gallery education. For example, the art gallery will create an on-line art education "magazine" for teachers. A somewhat unusual inclusion is an artist-in-residence studio for local and visiting artists who will do their own work and take part in education programs. 

The art gallery�s move to The Rooms with the other two institutions, the Provincial Archives of Newfoundland and Labrador and the Provincial Museum of Newfoundland and Labrador, will create remarkable opportunities for collaboration in a unique cultural facility. 

The Provincial Archives of Newfoundland and Labrador has room for 40 researchers at its current home at the Colonial Building. However, when it moves into The Rooms in 2005, that capability will more than double with a 4,600 square feet reference room. This will be beneficial to the thousands of on-site legal professionals, writers, artists, genealogists, film makers, historians and the general public who use the Provincial Archives for research on a daily basis. The Rooms will also offer 8,000 square feet of collections storage and processing space. There will be a specially designed exhibit area, as well as shared use of classroom space, and multi-media auditorium. The Rooms will provide space for specialized storage for photographic collections. This new facility allows the Provincial Archives to provide public programming and outreach to enhance the profile and understanding of the value of our documented heritage. Improved information technology infrastructure will also enable the Provincial Archives to provide enhanced on-line services to the thousands of distance researchers from throughout the province, the country and around the world, who use the archives every year. 

The Provincial Archives� mandate is to preserve those records of the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador deemed to have legal, fiscal and evidential or research value, as well as any records from private sources which have enduring value to the history and culture of the province, regardless of their physical form or characteristics. The Provincial Archives holds over 400,000 photographs, some 50,000 maps and architectural plans, records and diaries of colonial secretaries, governors and prime ministers, post-Confederation government records, and merchant and business records of the colony and country. 

The Provincial Archives is committed to preserving Newfoundland and Labrador�s documentary heritage in all of its physical forms � documents, photographs, maps, architectural plans and film � for the present and for the future. It is this rich documentary heritage which forms the foundation upon which our understanding of our culture and our history is built. 

The move to The Rooms will see the Provincial Museum of Newfoundland and Labrador gaining triple the current exhibit space in its building on Duckworth Street. These permanent exhibits will occupy a total of 13,450 square feet on three floors, presenting the provincial museum�s diverse human and natural heritage. Exhibits and programs will also be developed to interpret the history of The Rooms� site- including interpretation of the archaeological remains of Fort Townshend and the history of the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary. This full program of permanent exhibits will be developed in a phased approach, with the first phase of exhibits to be opened in 2005. An additional 2,500 square feet will be available for traveling exhibits. The Rooms will also provide the Provincial Museum with 5,000 square feet of state-of-the-art on-site collections storage. 

The Provincial Museum is responsible for managing the provincial museum system, including the headquarters in St. John�s, the Provincial Seamen�s Museum in Grand Bank, and the Mary March Provincial Museum and Loggers� Life Provincial Museum in Grand Falls-Windsor. It also provides important conservation and exhibit support to the provincial historic sites and to the Labrador Interpretation Centre. 

In its ongoing mandate to develop and to share knowledge of our environment and of the history of our peoples, the Provincial Museum is steward for the provincial collection of artifacts and specimens. This includes over one million archaeological items relating to the ancient peoples of Newfoundland and Labrador. Over 1,000 ethnographic artifacts including the largest Beothuk collection in the world. The collection also has over 27,000 history artifacts including an important collection of World War I material. The extensive natural history collection has over one million natural history specimens, including internationally significant "voucher" specimens that document benchmarks in the scientific identification of species. 

The move to The Rooms will allow the provincial museum to continue building on its partnerships with the Labrador Inuit Association, Innu Nation, Miawpukek First Nations, Federation of Newfoundland Indians and Labrador Metis Nation, as well as developing its outreach to other cultural communities. This will provide a broader presentation of the province�s cultural diversity for all Newfoundlanders and Labradorians. The permanent exhibits are being developed with the support of an external advisory committee which includes representative subject area specialists and user groups from across the province.

The move will also provide the Provincial Museum with workrooms for visiting researchers, classrooms and public programming capacity. As future stewards of our heritage, school children and youth are particularly important members of the museum�s audience. 

2005 01 13                             1:05 p.m.