As listed on page 8 and 9 of EHC’s 2019 Annual Report, the Edmonton Heritage Council provided support to several organizations throughout 2019 via Heritage Community Investment Program (HCIP) funding.
Consistent with EHC’s ongoing efforts to be more open about where our support is going, further details about funded projects and organizations are listed below. In the coming years, EHC will continue to share similar information about HCIP funding. Further links and updates may be added to this page as more project details are made available.
Operational Grant
Operational grants are designed to provide limited operating assistance—up to 25 percent of an applicant’s eligible expenses—to museums, archives, and other heritage organizations so that
they can continue to research, preserve, and interpret Edmonton’s heritage.Alberta Aviation Museum – $134,103.00
Alberta Aviation Museum’s mission is to tell the story of Edmonton’s rich aviation heritage legacy through exciting displays, artefacts, and activities related to Alberta and the north – past, present, and future.Alberta Genealogical Society – $17,396.25
The Alberta Genealogical Society is a non-profit organization that promotes the study of genealogy and genealogical research within the province of Alberta. Their mission is to provide support and services for people researching their family history and genealogy.Alberta Labour History Institute – $8,716.25
The founding mission of the Alberta Labour History Institute (ALHI) is to contribute to an historical awareness of workers’ past, which is crucial to the pride and dignity that workers today have in the jobs they do and in the communities they build. ALHI collects materials from working people, including oral histories, photographs, and some documents with a view to educational dissemination.Alberta Pioneer Railway Association – $9,024.00
The Alberta Railway Museum (ARM) is operated by the Alberta Pioneer Railway Association (APRA). The APRA is a not-for-profit organization of volunteers dedicated to the collection, preservation, restoration, and interpretation of artifacts that represent the technology and history of the Canadian National and Northern Alberta Railways (NAR) in Edmonton and Western Canada, as well as industrial and short line railways.
Edmonton Chinatown Chinese Library – $13,935.75
The Edmonton Chinatown Chinese Library (ECCL) is a non-profit organization with a mandate to serve the Chinese community and the general public and leave a rich historical and cultural legacy for anyone interested in Chinese culture. The library is home to a collection of 20,000 items, including books, magazines, and audio/video materials for nearly 1,100 members. They are constantly striving towards the motto “Reading enriches mind; Culture enriches soul.”Edmonton Radial Railway Society – $9,291.00
Through the efforts of volunteer members, Edmonton Radial Railway Society preserves and interprets the history and technology of street railways with particular emphasis on Edmonton’s streetcar system. The organization collects and restores significant artifacts and maintains an operating street railway in Fort Edmonton Park and the High Level Bridge line.Loyal Edmonton Regiment Museum – $10,852.00
The Loyal Edmonton Regiment Museum researches, collects, interprets, and displays historical documents, objects, and stories of those individuals who served in the Edmonton-raised 49th Battalion of the First World War, the Loyal Edmonton Regiment in the Second World War, and through to recent service in Afghanistan.Société généalogique du Nord-Ouest – $10,900.00
The Société généalogique du Nord-Ouest (SGNO) maintains a genealogical research center for people with French-speaking roots to become inspired by rigorous research, written works, and the sharing of their genealogies and family histories.Société historique francophone de l’Alberta – $35,394.75
The foremost goal of La Société historique francophone de l’Alberta (La Société) is the preservation and dissemination of the heritage and history of Edmonton and Alberta francophones. La Société not only preserves heritage, but also makes it accessible to the community. Data collection and dissemination to the public are important aspects of the strategic plan of La Société.Telephone Historical Centre – $20,187.00
The Telephone Historical Centre’s (THC) mandate was to preserve, exhibit, and interpret artifacts and materials that demonstrate the evolution of telecommunications for the education and enjoyment of historians and present and future generations. To accomplish this, THC offers tours, engaging displays, educations programs, and access to collections and archival records. THC is no longer in operation.Project Grant
Project grants are designed to provide assistance for non-profit organizations to undertake projects that preserve, research, document, interpret, celebrate, and raise awareness of the history and heritage of Edmonton.
Edmonton Federation of Community Leagues – $20,000.00
Project Title: Community League Plaza Display and Promotion
The EFCL is building a Community League Plaza at William Hawrelak Park. This new amenity will have displays that speak to the 100 years of history of the Community League Movement in Edmonton. This funding supports the research, design and fabrication of historic signage and art pieces for this legacy project.Edmonton Multicultural Coalition – $16,000.00
Project Title: Telling Our Stories: The Legacy of Horn of Africa Immigrants and Refugees in Edmonton
Through this EMC project, immigrants and refugees from the Horn of Africa (Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Somalia) and those who identify their ethnic origin to the Horn will tell their stories about their families’ journeys to Edmonton and share their experiences integrating into their new homeland.Edmonton Space & Science Foundation – $20,000.00
Project Title: Exploring Edmonton’s Astronomical History
This project will preserve, display, and interpret the Edmonton Space & Science Foundation’s Zeiss Star Projector (which made its public debut on July 1, 1984) and tell the story of how it impacted Edmonton and the international planetarium community.John Humphrey Centre for Peace and Human Rights – $25,000.00
Project Title: Paint the Rails
Paint the Rails is a public art and education project working to transform Edmonton Transit stations. The John Humphrey Centre for Peace and Human Rights has launched a public art mural at Corona Station in partnership with the Métis, Ukrainian, and Francophone communities. Three public art and story circles have been held and emerging artists were engaged and showcased at installation and unveiling.Ukrainian Shumka Dancers – $25,000.00
Project Title: Ancestors and Elders Documentary Production
Ancestors and Elders is a collaborative dance production that the Ukrainian Shumka Dancers and numerous local Indigenous artists created and premiered in April 2018. The goal of this work is to share a story of the first Ukrainian newcomers to the Edmonton area and their relationship with the First Nations people they encountered. The creative process involved ceremony, research, and understanding. The Ukrainian Shumka Dancers and their partners have shared this experience through a documentary, which was celebrated at a public screening at Metro Cinema. A DVD has been produced and distributed to schools in the Edmonton area.Project Accelerator Grant
Project Accelerator grants are designed to support individuals and organizations undertaking small scale heritage projects that tell Edmonton stories in unique or innovative ways.
Dustin Bajer – $9,103.00
Project Title: Heritage Plants of Edmonton
This project takes on the question “What makes a heritage plant?” by researching the history, backgrounds, placement, and defining characteristics of Edmonton’s past, existing, and unidentified heritage plants. Bajer maps individual plants, collecting photographs, first-hand accounts, locations, and physical samples that, in combination, contribute to a growing inventory of Edmonton heritage trees and plants. Read more on the EHC blog about how this project has evolved in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.Andrea Beça – $10,000.00
Project Title: Solidarity Film Camp
Solidarity Film Camp is a multi-week film camp that aims to educate, empower, and inspire marginalized youth in the Edmonton community to share their stories through film. Read CBC coverage of the camp at this link.Canadian Art and Leisure Association – $8,486.00
Project Title: Equal Regard
Led by artists, human rights specialists, politicians, lawyers, and community members, this project will brgin together artists from different backgrounds to write/sing songs, paint, draw, and write poems about racism, discriminitation, and its consequential results. Artists will then share their work at Equal Regard showcases across the city.Molly Chisaakay – $10,000.00
Project Title: Dene Tha Youth Innovations in Language & Cultural Heritage
This project will result in an English-captioned version of a Dene language documentary. The project will provide hands-on student training. At the end of the project, an important Dene Tha resource that was previously inaccessible to Indigenous and non-Indigenous English speakers will be available for educators, students and the Indigenous Knowledge & Wisdom centre, available at public and post-secondary schools in Alberta.
Commonwealth Association of Museums – $10,000.00
Project Title: Mill Woods: Arrival City
Mill Woods, Arrival City is a bilingual virtual exhibition from the Commonwealth Association of Museums that focuses on the experience of migrants and refugees who have moved to Mill Woods within the past five years. It explores the working lives of migrants in their home countries and their expectations and realities in Canada. The exhibition demonstrates the potential for museums to collect, exhibit and present migrant lives.Creating Hope Society of Alberta – $9,103.00
Project Title: Stories from amiskwaciwaskahikan: An Indigenous Gathering
Creating Hope Society of Alberta‘s Stories from amiskwaciwaskahikan community gathering will honour and tell the legacy of the rich contributions of our ancestors who paved the way for what is now known as Edmonton. Through this celebration, the rich cultural diversity of FMNI peoples will be honoured and celebrated through performances, content and dialogue related to the rich stories of amiskwaciwaskahikan.Edmontonians for Change – $3,000.00
Project Title: A Creation of Inclusive Public Spaces
The project will engage in a critical analysis of the City of Edmonton’s Sir Winston Churchill Square and Station. Various communities will be invited to engage in an intercultural dialogue that will ultimately help all participants understand each others’ points of view on the issue.Rayanne Haines – $6,995.00
Project Title: She, the River
She, the River by Rayanne Haines is a braided, poetic multicultural and multi-generational theatre production in which eight Edmonton women of varying ages, cultural backgrounds, and sexual orientation join together onstage for an evening of poetry that reflects their upbringing, their identity stories, and their family journeys. Learn more about .Judith (Judy) Iseke – $10,000.00
Project Title: Wesaketewenowuk: Roots Growing Up
This documentary records the intergenerational process of developing Michif-language song for teaching the language based on Elder stories. Tom McCallum, well-known Michif-speaking Elder, Sundance lodge keeper and traditional teacher, shares stories about relationships with land. Andrea Menard, internationally renowned Métis singer-songwriter, composed a song with Tom that journeys through Michif language metaphors to help connect us to our homeland in modern times. Read more on the EHC blog about the project as a “cultural ecosystem.”Derek Jagodzinsky – $9,103.00
Project Title: Cree Couture
This project involves the production of six contemporary highly visual, artistic garments in the style of haute couture that showcase traditional Indigenous craftsmanship skills, culture, and values. These garments will be displayed in a public exhibit to promote the Indigenous Heritage of Edmonton in a positive and interesting context.Jennifer Kelly – $9,592.00
Project Title: Highlighting African Canadian History in Edmonton: Educational and Pedagogical Representation
This project will result in the creation of display panels that depict the rich historical contributions made by peoples of African and Caribbean descent to Edmonton. These panels will be used by high schools to teach students about these histories.Migrante Alberta – $10,000.00
Project Title: To Have a Better Life: Histories of Filipina Caregivers in Edmonton
To Have a Better Life is a video series exploring the histories of Filipina live-in caregivers in Edmonton from the 1990s to today. The series will explore why these women came to Edmonton, the different challenges and joys they found here, and the ways they forged alliances and worked to better their own lives and those of others. Migrante Alberta will conduct, film, and edit interviews with Filipina women who have worked as caregivers in Edmonton.
Amal Mohamud – $10,000.00
Project Title: Somalis in Alberta
This project resulted in the creation of a docu-series program about the Somali community in Edmonton, celebrating Somali culture and stories on screen by highlighting Somali cultural events. The docu-series is presented on OMNI.
Nisha Patel – $4,755.00
Project Title: Spoken Word Poetry Album
The spoken word poetry album is a deep meditation on the place of first and second generation immigrants and settlers on Treaty 6 territory and dives into Patel’s struggles defining herself and her heritage in this setting. This serves the goals of capturing new Canadian heritage while also asking questions about the place of immigrants as settlers on Indigenous lands. This album is informed by her own experiences growing up in Treaty 6, her past experience living on Treaty 8 territory and her part of the Indian diaspora.Reconciliation in Solidarity Edmonton (RISE) – $10,000.00
Project Title: RISE Reconciliation Week Film Festival 2019
RISE seeks to strengthen reconciliation in Edmonton through the Reconciliation Week Film Festival. Hundreds of community members, supported by partners and panelists, join in exploring themes surrounding living on Treaty Six and engage in the shared responsibility to establish and maintain mutually respectful relationships. This festival augments Edmonton’s story by reflecting truth and reconciliation in the medium of film and sparking new, challenging conversations.Somali Canadian Cultural Society of Edmonton – $9,103.00
Project Title: Somali Museum of Edmonton
The Somali Canadian Cultural Society of Edmonton is developing a Museum of Somali Edmonton. The museum will organize elder/youth programming, build a sense of pride and identity in young Somali-Canadians, and introduce Edmontonians generally to Somali culture and heritage. The museum will be developed incrementally – initially with a virtual exhibit and public programming, and eventually with a facility. Read Edmonton Journal coverage of the initiative at this link.
Thirdspace Playback Theatre – $9,103.00
Project Title: Storylines: Community Dialogue Through Playback Theatre
Storylines will create community dialogues through the use of playback theatre – a form of improvisation theatre where community members tell stories from their lives, and actors play them back through movement, words, metaphor, and music. Thirdspace Playback Theatre Edmonton will collaborate with the Filipino-Canadian Saranay Association of Alberta through a series of playback workshops and public performances to offer a space for community members to share their heritage stories about immigration.Marlena Wyman – $10,000.00
Project Title: Sketching History: Rediscovering Edmonton’s Architectural Heritage Through Urban Sketching
This project draws attention to Edmonton architectural heritage and the City of Edmonton Archives holdings. Artworks interpret and highlight the character and details of heritage architecture often overlooked and evoke emotions and memories that encourage viewers to discover the stories behind the walls. The online version of the exhibit displayed at Prince of Wales Armouries Heritage Centre can be seen at this link.
#YEGARTS Podcast Collective – $9,635.00
Project Title: A Tale of Two Weeklies Documentary Podcast Series
A Tale of Two Weeklies is a limited-run documentary podcast examining the history of the alternative print media industry in Edmonton, the local drivers of change in media culture, and how the current media landscape impacts the community at large, particularly in the preservation of stories in the arts and heritage sectors.Robin Yusaf – $10,000.00
Project Title: Punjabi Pioneers of Alberta
This project aims to create an online documentary about the Punjabi trailblazers as early as 1903, starting with Edmontonian Sohan Singh Bhullar, whose trials and tribulations have directly shaped the representation and reflection of Asian Indian immigrants and other non-European Canadians. From petitioning the government for a hot tamale restaurant and bar license, to improving hostile working conditions, to starting a family and becoming a voting citizen, this project will give these brave men from Punjab the nod of respect they deserve.Travel Grant
Travel grants provide assistance to individuals to travel outside of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region for professional development or research that will support the telling of Edmonton-based stories.
Erik Backstrom – $980.00
Travel to Winnipeg: Research at HBC Archives
The purpose of this travel is to visit the Hudson Bay Company Archives in Winnipeg to research the background and context of Edmonton’s first urban subdivision. (“Plan B”, registered by the Hudson’s Bay Company in 1882). This research is in support of Backstrom’s Edmonton planning history project, the outcome of which is intended to be the first book on the history of settlement and community planning in Edmonton.Catherine C. Cole – $3,415.00
Travel to UK: For Development of Somali Museum of Edmonton
The purpose of the study tour is to meet with museum professionals and members of Somali communities in the UK who are exploring ways of working collaboratively to collect, research, and interpret Somali culture and the history of Somali immigration and contributions to UK society. This trip will inform the development of the Somali Museum of Edmonton.Holly de Moissac – $1,930.00
Travel to Jyvaskyla, Finland: 15th International Printmaking Triennial
The purpose of this travel is to share Edmonton’s perspective through printmaking at the 15th International Printmaking Triennial in Jyvaskyla, Finland.Naima Haile – $2,195.00
Travel to UK: For Development of Somali Museum of Edmonton
The purpose of the study tour is to meet with museum professionals and members of Somali communities in the UK who are exploring ways of working collaboratively to collect, research, and interpret Somali culture and the history of Somali immigration and contributions to UK society. This trip will inform the development of the Somali Museum of Edmonton.Don Hill – $3,082.00
Travel to UK: Residency Program at U of Nottingham
The purpose of this travel is to attend a four-week residency in the UK. Internationally renowned Blast Theory, in consort with University of Nottingham’s Mixed Reality Lab, has developed prototype experiences that blend intangible heritage and built heritage. Hill will learn digital skills and explore first-hand the collaboration with Brighton Museum and their smartphone app. The approach to intangible cultural heritage and digital pedagogy will inform an interactive smartphone app Hill has in mind for the ‘miracle mile’ of churches along Edmonton’s 96th street.Marina Hulzenga – $1,253.00
Travel to Whitehorse: Kohklux Map 150th Anniverary Commemoration Conference
The purpose of this travel is to participate in the Khoklx map 150th Anniversary Commemoration Conference in Whitehorse, where Hulzenga has been invited to exhibit her spatial installation: LIMINAL SPACE II AWASITIPAHASKAN and present a related talk.Miranda Jimmy – $800.00
Travel to Winnipeg: Closer to Home Symposium 2019
The purpose of this travel is to participate in and present at the Indigenous Heritage Circle’s symposium Closer to Home: Locating and Retrieving Indigenous Heritage from Archives Outside Canada” in Winnipeg. Jimmy will present on a local archives project she worked on with government records that contain Indigenous traditional knowledge. She will also share Edmonton-based stories and connect with Indigenous experts working in the heritage sector.Ava Karvonen – $1,069.00
Travel to Thunder Bay: Finnish Canadian Festival
The purpose of this travel is to present the short film Coming to Canada as a special screening and to speak about the Finnish Migration Project at the 79th annual Finnish Canadian Festival in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Learn more about Karvonen’s production company, Reel Girls Media Inc.Jean Middleton – $2,155.00
Travel to Gatineau: Symposium on Family Learning, Inclusion, and the Value of Play in Museums
The purpose of this travel is to attend the Symposium on Family Learning, Inclusion, and the Value of Play in Museums at the Canadian Children’s Museum in Gatineau, Quebec. This trip also provided an opportunity to visit the Canadian Air and Space Museum to learn more about children’s programming specifically in aviation museums. These experiences are being incorporated into Middleton’s role as a lead interpreter at the Alberta Aviation Museum. Read more on the EHC blog about Middleton’s experience and learnings.Nisha Patel – $1,239.00
Travel to Ontario: Spoken Word Poetry Tour
The purpose of this travel is for Patel to tour her unique stories and poetry throughout Ontario, with three performances in London and Toronto over five days.E. Neil Taylor – $2,203.00
Travel to Ottawa: Research at Library and Archives Canada and Canadian War Museum
The purpose of this travel is to visit the Library Archives Canada and the Canadian War Museum to research the Second World War military service of several Edmontonians who served in the Allied air forces. This research will contribute significantly to a book Taylor is writing on this topic. The information collected will also be added to the archival records of the Alberta Aviation Museum.Shawn Tse – $2,533.00
Travel to Banff: Banff World Media Festival
The purpose of this travel is to attend the Banff World Media Festival (BWMF) – a marketplace and conference designed to help content creators with development and production opportunities. Tse’s goal was to represent Edmonton by promoting his unique approach for supporting diverse heritage work, develop his professional profile in arts, build stronger networks in the film/tv/media industries, and pitch Edmonton heritage and community media works that he has produced and developed the past few years.
