We are pleased to announce Joy Bailey-Bryant's promotion to Vice President, Lord Cultural Resources. Previously the Managing Director of the U.S. office, Joy is a specialist in cities and cultural development and a leader in the field of outreach and consultation. Joy says:  “Today’s cultural spaces are where we are exploring what it means to be human, excavating and discovering our separate and collective identities. As Vice President of U.S. operations at Lord Cultural Resources, I am an enabler in this process. Creating sustainable concepts and business models so that these cultural spaces will exist and thrive for many generations.” Congratulations Joy!

Last month, we introduced you to the City of Brampton's newly proposed culture master plan; on June 27, the plan was approved. The master plan lists fourty-seven actions to help achieve six goals that include providing resources, funding, space, development, production, and presentation in local arts and artists. “Arts and culture are essential to the vibrancy and success of any city, not only because they create jobs and drive economies, but also because the $28.5 billion Ontario arts industry contributes to residents’ quality of life and visitor experience,” councillor and chair of economic development and culture, Jeff Bowman said in press release.

The development of the plan began in October 2017 and was led by the consulting team of Lord Cultural Resources and Nordicity, guided by a committee of community cultural leaders.

In the fall of 2015, a new project was announced that would see a public space developed underneath Toronto's elevated Gardiner Expressway; The Bentway was described as a "reinvented public space" that would provide an "ever-evolving space for culture". The Bentway's summer programming has just launched, and already the community is buzzing over the transformed space. 

We would like to offer a congratulations to the new Bell Museum, which opened to rave reviews this month! The Bell Museum has moved locations, and has had a 21st century update to its existing exhibits. The museum explores natural history in new, invigorating ways, with interactive computer programs, gigantic replicas, and a Touch and See Lab.

For 40 years, the Thunder Bay Art Gallery has been tucked away on the local college's campus. The proposed new gallery will be located on the shores of Lake Superior, with new spaces for outdoor educational classes. The current gallery already attracts visitors from around the world, but it's location is challenging to access, and the space is very small. The new gallery will have a scenic view of Northwestern Ontario, and is expected to benefit the tourism sector in the area.

The Glenstone Museum in Maryland will be unveiling a new expansion in October; the space, called The Pavillions, will showcase works by contemporary favourites such as Mark Rothko, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and Andy Warhol. The Pavillions has 50,000 square feet of exhibition space, which will allow the curators to expand their scope to include work from Brazilian modernists, Japanese Gutai, and the Italian Arte Povera movements.

A 1915 painting by William Orpen is now the subject of a tantalizing new children's book. "The Frame-Up" is a mystery-adventure that takes place almost entirely in the Beaverbrook Art Gallery, in New Brunswick, Canada. In the story, Mona Dunn, the subject of Orpen's painting that hangs on the walls of the Beaverbrook, flits from her frame to the frames of other paintings to visit her friends. Lord Cultural Resources has been engaged to facilitate the development of the Beaverbrook's next strategic plan. 

The 2018 Soft Power 30 is out, and it is the fourth year of the comprehensive ranking of the top 30 countries in the world. SP30 uses 75 metrics in six categories to tabulate a single score for each country, allowing for an overall ranking of global soft power resources. In this year’s edition there are a few important findings of note - when we compare the overall Top 10 to those ranked highest in Culture, Canada drops off the list, an argument for the need for continued support and growth in the Canadian cultural sector, and in cultural diplomacy. 

On July 25th, Gail Lord presented an ICEE-ICOM Webinar to great success. In the webinar, "Museums, Soft Power, and Cultural Diplomacy in a Changing World", Gail demonstrated how museums around the world are utilizing their soft power to influence opinion leaders and improve communities. Learning outcomes for participants included understanding how soft power can be a tool for making museums matter, the criteria for innovative programs, and the structure for successful partnerships in cultural diplomacy and soft power. 

The Association of Art Museum Directors (AAMD) has launched a new internship program that will provide opportunities to students from under-represented backgrounds. This year, the program's pilot, will see ten students offered a 12-week placement where they will be paired with a mentor. All 242 of AAMD's member museums are participating. 

The Soft Power 30, launched in 2015, measures a country's soft power. There are six categories to rank in, and the index was dominated by Europe and the Americas, with four Asian countries making it onto the list, one of which being Singapore. Soft power is a critical foreign policy tool, and Singapore is an, "inspiring example of how small coutnries can carry global influence through attraction and persuasion," Jonathan McClory, Portland’s general manager for Asia and author of the report, said: “Amidst a shifting geopolitical landscape, Singapore has real opportunities ahead to elevate its profile in international diplomacy and global affairs.” 

In 1938, the voice of Anishnawbe Elder Robert Thompson was recorded on wax phonograph cyllanders. Elder Thompson shared traditional stories and songs, about fur trading, love, religion, and medicine. After eighty years in storage and months of digitization, the recordings are currently on diplay at Museum London. Elder Thompson's decendant, Bimadoshka (Annya) Pucan, hopes that once the exhibit ends, the recordings will be returned to her community: “Robert Thompson was able to bend time for us with these recording. He did this on purpose. He knew we would need these songs, these stories. He knew we would need these connections.”

For 110 years, the Rautenstrauch Joest Museum in Cologne has held a Maori skull in its collection. Tattooed skulls have a long history in New Zealand; venerated male relatives and chiefs were often preserved out of respect. When one of these skulls made its way to Europe, they became a popular trade item, eventually leading to an illegal market. Cologne's mayor, Henriette Reker, repatriated the skull in a ceremony this summer: "I cannot reverse the wounds of the past. But I have done what I could to take your descendant out of an anonymous collection and return his human dignity.”

The Monticello heritage site (home of Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence) has revealed a new exhibit addressing his relationship with Sally Hemings, the enslaved mother of his children. This addition is part of a multiyear, $35 million project that is working to highlight the stories and existence of Monticello’s slaves.  

A group of highschool students in Massachusetts have created a museum exhibit on the history of disability in America. The exhibit includes a hearing aid from 1910; archval tapes from the notorious Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon; and an exposé on a local experimentation institution.

The students say: "The purpose of this exhibit is to tell an often-overlooked story, the story of people with disabilities in America. It is a story of struggles and triumphs, of insensitivity and learning...a story of scientific innovation, and the hubris that comes with newfound knowledge. Our exhibit is far from the whole story, and only one story of many, but it is enough to launch thoughtful discourse aimed at improving our communities."

This year's Beirut Design Week encouraged local designers to show the potential for public spaces; projects included a garden on stilts, a pop-up library, and a movable bench. Activist and architect Mona El Hallak said: "In Beirut, the people have no control over public space – they think it does not belong to them, so they don't use it." 

"Either we demolish the Taj or you restore it", says India's Supreme Court. The white marble Taj Mahal has been turning yellow and brown, primarily due to pollution. The landmark, established in the 17th century, attracts roughly 70,000 visitors daily. A committee is being established to ascertain the source of the pollution, however the analysis will take four months to complete. At this time no action plan has been developed. 

The world's first digital art museum has just opened in Tokyo; the venue displays colourful moving images and responsive technology that reacts to the patrons' movements. Digital art is still a new, experimental medium; one that can be challenging to price, collect, or even display. By founding this museum, art collective teamLab has bridged that gap, and created a space where digital art can be paid for and effectively experienced. 

In last month's Cultural News, we shared an article about a new bill to help repatriate Indigenous art and artifacts. The conversation about cultural ownership is slowly growing worldwide, with protocols and expectations beginning to be implemented by colonial-governments. While repatriation is hardly a new topic in Canada, the bill will encourage positive change, including allowing Indigenous people and communities to speak for themselves. 

“What we’re dealing with is one of the steps in reconciliation of the residential school experience and all of the ways in which heritage and knowledge were denied to Indigenous communities, or how the transmission of culture and traditional knowledge from generation to generation was interrupted. That is really the heart of this whole discussion,” says Sarah Pash, the executive director at Aanischaaukamikw Cree Cultural Institute.

Renowned Indigenous carver Dennis Shorty has elected to pull out of the world's largest Indigenous art market, due to concerns about crossing the U.S. border with his artwork. Shorty, a Kaska Dena First Nations artist from the Yukon Territory, applied to be a part of the highly competitive show last year and had already begun making payments and travel arrangements. The decision to pull out of the show was not made lightly; when another artist from Ontario was turned away at the border due to yarn, Shorty realized that his artwork (which utilizes materials such as moose antlers and polar bear fur) could easily be refused entry. Shorty says: "We're foreign, eh. Even though we're on the same continent, we're foreign."

Ruya Maps, a new non-profit project led by the Ruya Foundation, will bring wider global attention to artists living in conflict zones. The project will initiate pop-up exhibitions, commissions, talks, and partnerships. The foundation's co-founder, Tamara Chalabi, says that, “by presenting thought-provoking projects internationally, Ruya Maps will grant access to artists who are excluded from the international art world due to political, economic or geographic factors." 

Artists in Ghana are exploring radical opportunities to engage with their communities and encourage positive change. Since the Foundation of Contemporary Art Ghana (FCA) was founded in 2004, countless resources have been brought to local artists; from gallery space to internet access. With the FCA pushing artists to get out of their studios and actually work in public spaces, artists are stepping out of the box and transforming their surroundings. Performance artist Bernard Akoi-Jackson says: “The tendency of art...is to be a spectacle and take over the space and make the place almost sacred, so that nobody can simply pass by.” 

Tech giants and corporations looking to target advertising are not the only ones who can benefit from collecting personal data; used responsibly, personal data could be a massive asset in developing our cities. 

Cities are anything but stagnant; throughout the day, one street corner can transform from the bustling congestion of rush hour to a completely empty, desolate space. Italian architect Carlo Ratti is working on a modular paving system, Dynamic Street, that will respond to citizen's needs. The paving system is comprised of hexagonal pavers that can be picked up and move within minutes; the panels are embedded with lights to communicate crossings, bike lanes, or even pick-up zones. Dynamic Street would enable a strip to be transformed into a play space in the middle of the day, or reconfigured for a block party or basketball game on weekends.