by Heather Desveaux
June 18, 2019
From left to right: ARHS museum director Cindy Turnbull, ARHS facility manager
NEWPORT LANDING: Prior to meeting with cultural ministers from across the country in Halifax on Tuesday, Canada’s Minister of Canadian Heritage and Multiculturalism first took a drive down some country roads to make an early morning appearance in rural Hants County.
On the backdrop of a blue sky and the brown mud of the Avon River during low tide, Minister Pablo Rodriguez met with about thirty members of the arts and heritage circles from the region at the Avon River Heritage Museum and Arts Centre at Newport Landing in Avondale.
The minister was treated to a buffet of local art and history as he toured the facility prior to making his remarks inviting guests to share their stories, concerns and questions. Rodriguez is the Member of Parliament from Honoré-Mercier in Montreal who was first elected in 2004 and appointed to Trudeau’s cabinet in July 2018.
“We have to understand where we come from to know where we’re going,” said Rodriguez, who added that life would be really boring if Canadians went one day without culture, which includes the country’s artists – creators, actors, writers
“By investing in our culture we’re investing in who we are, and who we are is our past, our present and our future,” he said. “If there are things you think we should improve, add, things we are doing that we should not do, we’re here to listen and learn from you.”
The museum shares the stories of the local people who lived in communities along the river: the Mi’kmaq, Acadians, African Nova Scotians and the New England Planters all prospered here. But it’s been over 260 years since the expulsion of the Acadians, one hundred years since the last sea-faring ship was built in Avondale and in this century more populated urban centres are eyed as the land of opportunity and family doctors. The health of arts and culture in those places off the beaten path is often threatened by events attended by smaller audiences and even fewer financial resources from either public or private sources. On the banks of the Avon River where the sloops The Lydia and The Sally landed with Planter settlers in 1760, flooding and erosion are also on hearts and minds.
“We believe understanding and sharing each other’s culture and heritage, especially where differences exist, is absolutely crucial in addressing current social issues. There is often
“Money for culture often gets directed to Halifax, but it’s the people of rural Nova Scotia that truly represent the culture of the province,” added the museum’s facility manager Tacha Reed, who is also president of the Avon River Arts collective that calls the museum home. Their group turned
The museum receives approximately $7,000 annually for an operating grant from the Province of Nova Scotia’s Community Museum Assistance Program based on an inspection every three years, annual recreation grants from the Municipality of the District of West Hants and funding to employ at least one student through the federal Canada Summer Jobs program.
Several who came to meet Minister Rodriguez commented it was refreshing to have someone from Ottawa visit them for a change. “It’s so important that ministers come and visit rural communities, to know that we’re cultural hubs too,” said Chris O’Neill, Executive Director of the Ross Creek Centre for the Arts near Canning. “It may not be for the same number of people but it’s integral to the life of communities, it’s really wonderful to have a minister of culture and heritage actually in a really small community in Hants County. It shows the commitment to actually reaching out.”
“The people are so passionate about what they’re doing, the region and the museum,” commented Rodriguez as he departed for Halifax. “It was a privilege to be here today.”
According to the Canadian Heritage
