We were thankful to have our creative mind Kathrine back this summer as our Canada Summer Jobs Student! Below is her description of how she spent her summer here at the Museum:

Hello! My name is Kathrine and I’m a 4th year Visual Arts student at Emily Carr University. I am very pleased to have returned for a second summer at the Pitt Meadows Museum. My focus last year was on researching, archiving, and restoration. This year, my tasks were more focused on graphic design
for the Museum. I had two major projects this summer which involved creating signs and souvenirs. Alongside those two bigger projects were some smaller projects here and there, such as going through donations and accessioning ones we decided to keep, and Heritage Thursday.

My first big task when starting at the museum this year was to make signage for several objects in the museum and at the Hoffmann site. For these signs, I had to research usage and history for each object, as well as find historical photos and videos of them in use. I summarized the information on how these objects were used and their history on the signs and included one image and a QR code that would bring the viewer to a video of the object, or a similar object, in action. One of my favourites to work on was our General Electric G-77 Radio. I made two signs for this radio: the usual history and use and a sign with information on all the pre-programmed stations. It was very interesting to learn about each station and to see which ones were still in service and which ones weren’t.

My second task was a self-directed Museum Store project. I had been talking to some friends around the start of my summer here at the museum. They wanted to visit and had asked if there were any souvenirs for them to bring home. At that time, we didn’t have any. It got me wondering if that would be something in the museum’s interest. I discussed it with our curator Leslie and she gave me the go-ahead to come up with some designs. I wanted one design representing each building. For the General Store, I decided to go with a drawing of our cow head in the main area by the farm exhibit. I find her to be a very iconic part of the building and she represents dairy farming which is a huge part of Pitt Meadows’ history. For the Hoffmann Site, I went with a drawing of one of our tractors. The tractors have been of focus as of late since we were able to have them out at both Canada Day and Pitt Meadows Day thanks to the efforts of the great folks we have working on engine restoration. It also speaks to Hans Hoffmann’s machinery work that took place in that building. After drafting them up, presenting them, and being given the OK, I went ahead and drew them up digitally. I then took care of all the research into finding a manufacturer for stickers, magnets, and mugs. It was so amazing finally getting the souvenirs through the door.

As with most summers, Heritage Thursdays was all hands on deck. This was especially true with the other summer student (and also my sibling) Hollis and I both taking a week off. We both took different weeks off in order to make sure we still had enough staff to run Heritage Thursday. On the week Hollis was gone, I organized a scavenger hunt activity for the kids. The theme of that week was survival. I thought it would be cool to have the kids find and identify different mushrooms. I researched local mushrooms, sculpted them out of modelling clay, painted them, and then wrote both a guidebook with descriptions of each mushroom and whether or not it’s poisonous and a journal where they matched up the name of the mushroom and edibility to its image. I knew it would be fun, but I didn’t anticipate how into it the kids would be. Seeing them run around the museum and investigate the different colours, smells, and shapes of these mushrooms was so fulfilling.

It was such a privilege to be able to return to the Pitt Meadows Museum this summer. I feel I’ve learned a lot about the artistic side of running a museum. I, of course, must mention Canada Summer Jobs, my co-workers, our curator, and the many volunteers who made everything we did this summer possible. Thank you!

Canada Summer Jobs, 2024.