Royal Alberta Museum

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Royal Alberta Museum
File:Royal Ab Museum Logo.svg
Royal Alberta Museum is located in Edmonton
Royal Alberta Museum
Location in Edmonton
Established 1967
Location 12845 102 Ave NW, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Coordinates Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Type History museum
Website Royal Alberta Museum

The Royal Alberta Museum (formerly the Provincial Museum of Alberta) is a museum of natural history and anthropology.

The museum building, located in Glenora, Edmonton (a residential neighbourhood of Edmonton, Alberta) was closed on 7 December 2015 in preparation for a move to a new building downtown. The new museum is expected to open in late 2017 or early 2018, depending on construction.[1]

The Glenora building had a natural history exhibit, a wildlife exhibit ("Wild Alberta"), an entomology exhibit, and the Syncrude Gallery of Aboriginal Culture, as well as some smaller displays. The museum also has an entomology collection and an arachnology collection. The Museum also had rotating galleries that welcomed various travelling exhibits as well as exhibits created in house by the museums curators. Also on the premises is Government House which is used by the Alberta Government Caucus.

History

The Canadian Federal Government’s Confederation Memorial Centennial Program and the Government of Alberta began planning for a museum in 1950. In 1962, they hired Raymond O. Harrison, an Australian architect who had been involved in the design of the Vancouver Maritime Museum to direct the planned museum.[2] Harrison was given 5 million dollars house and staff the museum as well as to build the collections.[3]

Former buildings of the Royal Alberta Museum, in Glenora
Former buildings of the Royal Alberta Museum, in Glenora

The museum opened to the public December 6, 1967 as the Provincial Museum of Alberta. On opening day, the museum's main floor featured galleries presenting the fur trade; native peoples of Alberta; early photographs of aboriginal people taken by Ernest Brown and Harry Pollard. Second floor galleries were less incomplete, but featured exhibits on agriculture; "pioneer" life; and industry and commerce.[4] The museum expanded through the 1960s and 1970s with more exhibits, curatorial programs and staff. In 1968, new exhibits portraying Alberta's dinosaurs and "Adaptations for Survival" were added to the natural history section, and permanent exhibits of "Vehicles of Alberta's Past", "Uniforms of RCMP Superintendant H. C. Forbes", "R. R. Gonsett, Inventor" and "Early Building in Saskatchewan" were added to the human history section.[4] In 1969, exhibits on volcanos, the thrush family were added to that natural history gallery, and displays of "Domestic Artifacts of Utility", the history of aboriginal people (including a display of Blackfoot clothing), and new agricultural artifacts were added to the human history gallery. The same year, a diorama of Pronghorns was created as the first of sixteen planned displays of Alberta's natural habitat.[4]

Paid admission began in 1990, and to increase its audience the ground floor Indian Gallery was removed and the space used for feature exhibition space.[3] In 1991, the mammal and bird gallery was upgraded with a display on "Survival and Reproduction", and the following year the "Beauty and Science of Birds" exhibit was built, including three new dioramas and a "Naturalist's Study".[4] A temporary exhibit called "The Bug Room" in the summer of 1992 featured live insects, and it was so successful that the museum decided to bring it back as a larger and permanent component of the museum in 1993.[4] A new permanent "Earth Science Gallery" was partially opened in December 1993, though not fully completed until the following May.[4] Also in 1993, the museum launched the "In All Their Finery" exhibit of aboriginal artifacts as the first phase of the larger "Syncrude Gallery of Aboriginal Culture." The complete Syncrude gallery was inaugurated years later in November 1997.[4] This gallery was later complemented with a large purchase from the family of James Carnegie at a Sotheby's auction on 8 May 2006. The sale of the "James Carnegie Collection" was billed as the most significant auction of North American Indian artifacts to date, including a prized beaded dress collected in 1859 which cost USD $497,600. [5]

In 2003, the Habitat Gallery was greatly renovated into a new "Wild Alberta" interactive exhibit.[4]

Government house, on the former Royal Alberta Museum grounds in Glenora
Government House, on the former Royal Alberta Museum grounds in Glenora

Between 1989 and 2001, 175 travelling exhibitions were displayed in this area. Some of which include: Prehistorics Gigantics (1990), Whales! Bigger than Dinosaurs (1992), Sharks: Facts and Fantasy (1993), Masters of the Night: The True Story of Bats (1994), Camosaurs! (1995), Bugsworld (1996), Genghis Khan (1997), Syria-Land of Civilizations (2001) and International Wildlife Photographer of the Year (2003).[6]

On 24 May 2005 , Queen Elizabeth II visited, bestowing royal patronage.[7]

The museum was to undergo an extensive multimillion-dollar renewal project, but funding was been put on hold causing delays.[8][9]

Mission and vision

  • Mission: "To preserve and tell the story of Alberta - the experience of people and places over time - and inspire Albertans to explore and understand the world around them."[10]
  • Vision: "To help Albertans play an active and informed role in shaping their world by encouraging understanding and appreciation of Alberta’s natural and cultural heritage."[11]

Collection organization

The collections are divided into four main categories:

  • Life Science: Botany, Ichthyology/Herpetology, Invertebrate Zoology, Mammalogy and Ornithology Program – 577,745 objects
  • Earth Science: Archaeology, Geology, Quaternary Paleontology, and Quaternary Environments - 9,224,075 objects
  • Human History: Ethnology, Cultural Studies (formerly Folk Life), Military and Political History (formerly Government History) and Western Canadian History - 137,610 objects
  • Collections Services: Collections Management, Conservation, Information Resource Management, Resource Library - 70,103 objects[12]

Glenora location galleries

  • Wild Alberta Gallery: This gallery contained dioramas, which showed Alberta animals in replicated natural habitats. The gallery also gave visitors information on the ecosystems of Alberta and how animals, microorganisms and humans interact in the environment.
  • Syncrude Gallery of Aboriginal Culture: This gallery explored the history of North American Aboriginals with over 3000 artifacts spanning 11,000 years of history. It started with the time of the last ice age, and explored aboriginal settlement, livelihood and culture.
  • Natural History Gallery: This gallery was home to the popular "Bug Room", where some of the world's largest bugs are on display.[13] The gallery also boasted an area dedicated to the vegetation of Alberta as well as the birds that make Alberta home. The entrance to the gallery housed a large geology exhibit containing gems and rocks, as well as a collection of the rocks that make up the landscape of Alberta.

Downtown building

The Abstract Fountain on the grounds of the Royal Alberta Museum.
The Abstract Fountain on the grounds of the Royal Alberta Museum.

In April 2011, it was announced that a new building for the Royal Alberta Museum would be built in downtown Edmonton, north of the city hall and Law Courts, and east of the CN Tower, on the land currently occupied by Canada Post's Edmonton station. The 36,000 m2 (390,000 sq ft) building, which will contain twice as much gallery space, is estimated to cost $340 million, and be completed in 2015. Premier Stelmach and the Alberta government have said that the location of the new building could be used for the terminal of an Edmonton—Calgary high speed rail line, while the old location will be the site for a new residence for the Lieutenant Governor.[14][15]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Museum on the Move FAQ
  2. ↑ Raymond O. Harrison fonds, Heritate Resources Management Information System, Provincial Archives of Alberta
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 History, Royal Alberta Museum]
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 Past Exhibits, Royal Alberta Museum
  5. ↑ The Globe and Mail. Museum digs deep to acquire native artifacts
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Royal Alberta Museum. Royal Visit
  8. ↑ Royal Alberta Museum. Renewal project
  9. ↑ Archiseek. Royal Alberta Museum design revealed
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ http://www.royalalbertamuseum.ca/gallery/nathist/info.htm
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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