Happy 224th birthday Louis Daguerre!

Google's homepage doodle for November 18th celebrates Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre (1787-1851) who invented one of the earliest forms of permanent photography, which he aptly named the Daguerreotype. Daguerre had been working with a partner, Nicéphore Niépce, to find a way of affixing an image seen through a lens onto a permanent surface. Niépce died in 1933, but Daguerre continued with their experiements and finally in 1839, he presented the first photographs to the French Académie des Sciences. (from: http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/dagu/hd_dagu.htm - accessed November 18, 2011)

In celebration of this groundbreaking invention, we are posting pictures of the daguerreotypes in our Archival collection. Unfortunately, we do not know who these two people are, but the photographs have been dated to ca. 1845. For more information on caring for daguerreotypes, you can visit the Daguerreotype Research Portal.

71.413.a1

71.413.a2

Remembrance Day 2011

The Peace River Museum will be open this Remembrance Day, Friday November 11 from 11 am to 4 pm.

We invite everyone to come and view some of our local veterans uniforms as well as a collection of digitized World War I postcards on display.

Artist of the Peace: Marie Laventure

Our November Artist of the Peace is Marie Laventure. Her pieces are full of colour and beauty!
According to Marie, "When I start most paintings, I am unsure of what exactly will end up being on the canvas, but I love playing with paint and colours; for me, making art is meditative and in important part of my wellness maintenance."

We invite everyone to come and view Marie's work in November! And, as always, admission is free to see our art wall.

Happy Halloween from the Peace River Museum, Archives and Mackenzie Centre

This Halloween, we thought to share a photo from a fund-raising masquerade for the Irene Cottage Hospital in February of 1915. Have a safe and happy Halloween!


PRMA80.1137.1.55



New Gift Shop items: 8x10 Archival Prints

 

View from 12 Foot Davis Gravesite, ca. 1930s (PRMAx87.1521.57)



Our Gift Shop has printed a selection of beautiful 8x10 archival prints on fine art paper available for $15 (+gst) each. This price includes a plastic sleeve for safe keeping. These prints are perfect for gifts and for framing. Thumbnails of each print are pictured below.



D.A. Thomas, ca. 1920s (PRMA2008.043.002)

Peace River Train Station, ca. 1920s-1930s (PRMA73.564f)

Delivering mail from Peace River to Fort Vermilion by dogsled, 1908 (PRMA80.1137.1.45)

Main Street, Peace River, 1967 (PRMAAR93.1.160)

Peace River, ca. 1920s-1930s (PRMA81.1162.1)

Peace River, ca. 1920 (PRMA2008.056.003)

Threshing Bee at Gilbert Axford's farm, 1929 (PRMA68.128a)

Peace River's train bridge, ca. 1920s (73.564d)

Artist of the Peace: Carole Gold

Our October Artist of the Peace is Carole Gold. Carole Gold is a talented quilter who designs many of her pieces. She has been sewing since she was a young girl and eventually narrowed her interests to quilting.

Her passion and artistic ability is evident in the pieces she creates!

We invite everyone to come and view Carole's art during October and read her story.

Alberta Archives Week

This week is Alberta Archives Week! The first week in October is used to celebrate and promote Archives and what they do in a community.
We participate also in a yearly archives exhibit through the Archives of Society of Alberta. This year's theme is: Archives in Living Colour! The exhibit can be viewed here: http://www.archivesalberta.org/2011exhibit/index.html

There will also be small displays up at the Museum, Kits Office Supply, the Record Gazette and the Peace River Library.

For our promotion this year, we are chatting with businesses and organizations around our area about what the Archives does for them and how to go about donating records to the Archives. Our Archivist, Wendy Dyck, will be presenting to the Peace River Rotary, Peace River & District Chamber of Commerce, Berwyn Women's Institute, Grimshaw & District Chamber of Commerce and Mighty Peace Tourism Association. If your organization or business is interested in a presentation, please contact the Archives at 624-4261 or museum@peaceriver.net. Here are some highlights:

• The Peace River Archives acquires, organizes and makes available inactive records from various businesses and organizations in Town of Peace River, MD of Northern Lights, Northern Sunrise County, Clear Hills County, MD #135 of Peace and MD# 136 of Fairview. Inactive records are those which are no longer needed for day to day operations of a business or no longer need to be kept for legal reasons. To discuss your donation, please contact our Archives.

• The Peace River Archives is able to provide the following services:
• conservation
• consultations on storage, care and records retention
• research and project help

Peace River WINS Alberta's Cultureville contest! & Alberta Arts Days

We WON! Peace River has received recognition from Albertans through CBC's Cultureville contest! Congratulations and thank you to everyone who voted for Peace River. To hear the announcement and Mayor Lorne Mann's reaction, click on this link:
http://www.cbc.ca/edmontonam/episodes/2011/09/29/peace-river-is-the-winner-in-the-cbcs-cultureville-contest/

To celebrate our victory, we encourage everyone to take part in the various workshops and performances going on this weekend as part of Alberta Arts Days. There are many different things going on!

Sept. 30: Peace River Music Teacher's Association Recital at the St. James Anglican Church, entry is $5 per person or $20 per family with all proceeds going to support musical program and awards in Peace River.

Sept. 30: Octoberfest at the Belle Petroleum Centre. Click here for a poster of events

Sept. 30: Family Performance Evening at 6:30 (free) at the Elks Hall in Grimshaw

Sept. 30-Oct. 1: Gallery of Artists, 10am - 10 pm at the Elks Hall in Grimshaw

Sept. 30: Mini-workshops at the Legion Hall in Grimshaw, 7-9 pm
            SQUARE DANCING: Come try out something new - good fun and great exercise!   
           All experience levels & ages welcome!

Oct. 1: Mini-workshops at the Legion Hall in Grimshaw, 9am-12pm
          GLASS & MIRROR ETCHING: Try a new craft! All supplies provided. Class suitable for
          ages 14 & up.

Oct. 1: Mini-workshops at the Legion Hall in Grimshaw, 1:00 - 4:00 pm
          IMPROV THEATRE: Feeling like you might have some actor in you? Try out Improv Theatre!  
          You never know what might happen!

          KEEPSAKE BOXES: Make your own keepsake box. All supplies provided.

Oct. 1: Sketching classes at the Peace River Library (free); 10-11:30 for children and 1-3 pm for adults

Oct. 1: 3rd Annual Reach for the Arts Night, 7-10 pm at the Elks Hall in Grimshaw (tickets available at Beyond 2000 in Grimshaw)

Oct. 1: Open Stage at Belle Petroleum Centre (free), doors open at 7:30, No Limits will be present

Artist of the Peace: Layton Paul Ramer

Berwyn Catholic Church

Our artist for the month of September is talented photographer, Paul Ramer. His exhibit: "Splendour of the Seasons" highlights the beauty of the Peace Country in all seasons. We invite you to come view his work this month.

Paul's work is available for purchase and he also has small cards and matted pieces for sale.