Lord Cultural Resources can be found at this year’s Canadian Museums Association (CMA) National Conference, taking place April 9 - 12, 2018 in Vancouver. Kathleen Brown (Chief Operating Officer, Lord Cultural Resources) and Elisabeth B. Galley (Senior VP, Arts Consulting Group) will be facilitating the workshop, Full Financial Fitness – From Revenue to Campaigns.

The first regularly circulated Canadian bank note to feature a human rights theme was unveiled on Thursday March 8th, International Women’s Day. The new $10 bill displays a portrait of human rights defender Viola Desmond, and on the reverse an image of Lord project, the Canadian Museum for Human Rights (CMHR). “This is a proud day for women of colour, for all women, and for museums,” said Gail Lord. “I congratulate especially Gail Asper who led the fundraising to make this Museum and this day possible.”

“Too often swept under the rug by the chroniclers of history, the contributions of dedicated women to artistic innovation, social reform, and scientific advancement are worthy of our recognition and admiration.” The Smithsonian does just that with their interactive online tour which features more than 100 pieces from across their museums, including Lord client, the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

In Charleston, South Carolina, an unmarked, empty plot is the site of great potential. The long discussed and years overdue International African American Museum site is to be on the very ground where nearly half of all African slaves who were brought to America landed. The New York Time comments, in light of the nearby statue commemorating the Confederate Defenders of Charleston, "Symbols matter. The past is present. The museum would clearly be good for more than just business."

In 2017, Lord Cultural Resources developed an integrated Operational, Facility and Business Planning Study for the future museum.

A new "cultural hub" the provincial government says will help make Nova Scotia a "world leader in visual arts" is in the works for Halifax's waterfront. The Art Gallery of Nova Scotia and NSCAD University will both be moved from their current downtown Halifax locations to a new facility. The Lord Cultural Resources report informing the co-location is quoted: "It is an opportunity to transform a parking lot on the waterfront of Halifax into a dynamic destination for creative innovation and contribute to the profound transformational changes remaking the city."

The Contemporary Austin and Reed Hilderbrand Landscape Architecture announce the start of construction on Phase I of the Master Plan for the Betty and Edward Marcus Sculpture Park at Laguna Gloria. These improvements mark the beginning of a multi-year undertaking to implement the master plan.

Public consultation is under way for Toronto’s First Parliament project, a city-led exploration of the downtown site containing long-buried histories of Upper Canada’s first parliament building. Built between 1795 and 1797, looted and burned by American naval forces in late April 1813, and reconstructed, this article outlines some of the site’s winding history, and what could be its future.

Lord Cultural Resources is part of a larger team led by DTAH landscape architects, to develop a Heritage Interpretation Strategy and Master Plan that reflects a deep understanding of the site’s heritage values and related heritage attributes, and provides an interpretive framework that reflects its dynamic history and importance to a wide range of audiences.

The CASCADE awards recognize the outstanding people, programs and exhibits in Canada's science centres, museums, aquariums and planetariums. Among the 2018 finalists in the category "Best Exhibition or Show - Large Institution" is Planet MTL, which opened at Montreal's Biosphere on June 1^st, 2017. Lord Cultural Resources worked with NGX Interactive, Expographiq, and WeatherstonBruer Associates to create this innovative, educational exhibition designed to immerse visitors in learning about Urban Ecosystems.

They're coming from all corners of the globe. Last week, the Canadian Museum for Human Rights said that 60% of its visitors in 2016-17 came from outside of Winnipeg. CMHR president and CEO Dr. John Young comments, "The Museum is increasingly recognized as a place where we can better understand who we are as Canadians and where we aspire to go together ... We are building an international reputation in the cultural world, in global architecture and design circles and in the world of human rights discourse."

For this issue of the Museums section, the editors asked national correspondents to tell us about their favorite museums. Of Seattle’s Frye museum, one contributor writes, “Museums can be cool or warm. The Frye Art Museum in Seattle feels like a hug, so deeply is it the expression of one couple, Charles and Emma Frye.”

Gail Lord was invited to appear on a panel before the Canadian House of Commons’ Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage to speak and answer questions about the state of Canadian museums. Her panel included Hon. Eva Aariak, (President, Inuit Heritage Trust Incorporated) and William Beveridge (Executive Director, Inuit Heritage Trust Incorporated). The Committee is planning to undertake a study to review the state of Canadian museums, with a focus on local and community museums.

Americans for the Arts and The United States Conference of Mayors awarded Dallas Mayor Michael S. Rawlings the 2018 National Award for Local Arts Leadership for cities with a population of 100,000 or more. Since taking office in 2011, Mayor Rawlings has spoken extensively about the importance and impact of the arts on the city’s economy and quality of life, and supported the effort to create a new cultural policy for the city – the first since 2002.

The Soft Power Destinations Awards recognize soft power best practices in cultural destinations. Does your city, cultural organization, or district have a strong and positive influence in your community? Making a nomination takes only a few minutes and gives your destination a chance to be featured online as well as honoured at the Leading Culture Destination Awards in September 2018. Deadline extended to April 6.

This past month, The New York Times released its annual Museum Supplement. Featuring over two dozen articles on events and trends, it is the largest journalistic release in the museum field each year. Here are our our top picks:

• Women in the Spotlight at Museums
• European Museums Get Adventurous With Virtual Reality
• You Can Take It With You, and Museums Hope You Will
• Using Art to Help the Police Understand Racism
• To Reach New Audiences, Museums Are Redefining What They Offer

The world’s top architecture prize went to Balkrishna Doshi, an architect and urban planner known for designing public housing. The first Indian architect to win the accolade, Doshi’s 70-year career has been characterized by dignified designs that respect the people they serve and the contexts in which they exist.

With an estimated 600 million users, Instagram is not only giving users a means by which to document their cultural experiences, but is actually beginning to drive visual culture itself. This editorial argues that social media is in fact redefining the nature and intent of public art: from street art to pop-ups to esteemed institutions, what is photogenic can gain new audiences, for better or for worse.

In a case where eight migrants tragically lost their lives crossing the border under extreme conditions, traditional medical tools such as DNA reconstruction and dental comparisons failed to reveal their identity. Now, students at the New York Academy of Art are using sophisticated tools and a fusion of science, art and anthropology to try and shed new light.

The Art Newspaper recently released its annual list of exhibition and museum figures, “Art's Most Popular”. Click through to read the about the most cultured city in the US (it’s not New York!), how experts think galleries and museums can double their visitor numbers, the secrets behind naming a blockbuster, and much more.

The arts and cultural sector contributed over $763.6 billion to the American economy in 2015—more than the agriculture, transportation, or warehousing sectors, according to new U.S. government data released Tuesday by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) and the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). Robert L. Lynch, the CEO and president of Americans for the Arts, commented that the research “makes clear that, if you care about jobs and the economy and infrastructure, you need to care about the arts … Strategic investment in our arts and cultural organizations is not an extra, it’s a path to prosperity.”

London Mayor Sadiq Khan has been urged to change planning guidance so that every London borough is forced to consider the need for an “anchor venue”: a dedicated space to showcase the work of artists and musicians. Recommendations within the report “Rewrite the night: the future of London's night time economy” additionally call for better support of museums and galleries so that they can offer extended hours and proper promotion of events. As one advocate notes, “Culture needs to be at the heart of diversifying London’s night time economy … It’s not just about bars, clubs and drinking. London’s night time economy should be a thriving and accessible space for Londoners, which involves families.”