Emergency Preparedness Videos
The AMA is pleased to announce the launch of a series of video
case studies highlighting the resiliency and innovation of affected
sites following the intense flooding that occurred throughout
Alberta in 2013. The four part series will profile the journey of
four museums from their salvage efforts to current successes and
inspiring plans for the future.
Each video will focus on a different institution and the impact
the floods had on their site, building, collection, and personnel.
Heritage Village, Medicine Hat Clay Industries National Historic
District, National Music Centre, and the Museum of the Highwood
will each be featured.
Heritage Village
The first video in our series chronicles the challenges faced by Heritage Village in Fort McMurray following the extensive flood damage to their collection of large industrial artifacts and thirteen heritage buildings in 2013 and the impact the wildfires that took place in the Fort McMurray region in 2016.
Medicine Hat Clay Industries National Historic District
In Medicine Hat, we focus on the Hycroft factory site which was damaged structurally as a result of rising flood waters. Increased humidity, buckling walls, and collapsing shelves put the collection of rare clay moulds housed in that building at risk.
This video highlights their work cataloguing this previously unused clay mould collection and the implications of this work on artists, researchers, and social enterprise at the site.
National Music Centre
The collection at the National Music Centre is unique because of the nature of their working collection of musical equipment; this video highlights the treatment and preventive conservation activities carried out in order to maintain this unique mandate.
Museum of the Highwood
Nearly the entire collection of the Museum of the Highwood was submerged by the flood waters and inaccessible for eleven days before museum personnel were allowed back into High River.
Lessons learned from this unprecedented experience are shared and are very relevant to all museums in Alberta for disaster planning and preventive conservation best practices.
Acknowledgements
The Emergency Preparedness Videos were funded through the Museum Flood Funding Program. As a multi-year initiative supported by Alberta Culture and Tourism, the Program provides assistance to museums affected by the June 2013 floods, and ensures at-risk museums are able to mitigate potential damage in the event of future flooding emergencies. The AMA appreciates the Government of Alberta's commitment to assisting flood-affected cultural institutions.