Galt Museum emerges from unprecedented challenges presented by COVID-19 pandemic

By Al Beeber on June 18, 2022.

Herald photo by Al Beeber A group of photographers walk the grounds of the Galt Museum and Archives this week. The Galt has just released its annual report for 2021.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDabeeber@lethbridgeherald.com

With COVID-19 restrictions in place for parts of 2021, the Galt Museum and Archives continued its focus on online engagement with continued uncertainty over in-person visits last year.
The Galt, however, still reached an audience with much of its online content going beyond its geographic area, especially among Indigenous populations, according to the 2021 annual report which was presented Thursday to the Cultural and Social Standing Policy Committee of Lethbridge city council.
When it was possible, the Galt hosted events in-person but many programs were offered in outdoor settings to reduce health risks, said the report. Guided walking tours at the museum and in offsite locations including downtown were part of the museum and archives programming.
Board chair Vic Mensch told the SPC “the Galt and fort (Whoop-Up) have come through another unprecedented year and I’m really starting to dislike that word ‘unpredecented’ because we’ve used it so much. Following public health measures meant that we were closed to the public for a good portion of ’20-21. It was not until late spring, early summer that we were permitted to have in-person visitation and program participation.
“This challenging situation obviously created a great deal of uncertainty and resulted in us having to modify our engagements and our engagement tactics, ensuring that everyone who passed through our doors was kept safe,” said Mensch.
The Galt had some special moments last year – The Canadian Museum Association Award of Outstanding Achievement for Stewardship of Collections was awarded to the Galt with Kevin Maclean being “stellar,” said Mensch. Jim Boychuk also received the Sovereign’s Medal for volunteers. He has volunteered more than 18,000 hours, said Mensch, and has scanned more than 200,000 Lethbridge Herald photos for the museum over the course of 16 years.
The Galt also raised more than $200,000 in grants to support institutional programming, he said. More than $15,000 was raised to help with accessibility upgrades at the Galt and Fort Whoop-Up, he added. A new five-year strategic plan was also developed.
The report cites the contributions of Indigenous Engagement Assistant Kalli Eagle Speaker for her contributions which included organizing the first virtual powwow staged by the Galt, writing articles about the region’s residential schools, hosting Indigenous craft markets at Fort Whoop-Up and hosting ribbon skirt sewing sessions in partnerships with the Sik Ooh Kotoki Friendship Society.
In 2021 the Galt published its Blackfoot language workbook and flash cards and produced a number of printed materials to commemorate the International Year of Indigenous Languages which were distributed freely in southern Alberta to school districts, libraries and individuals.
With in-person programming offered only from September to December, the Galt still staged 30 admission events which were attended by a total of 470 people. It also held four free events that attracted an additional 473 attendees.
The museum also managed to deliver 68 school programs virtually and in-person with more than 1,500 people attending.
In June after the restrictions exemption program was introduced by the province, Galt staff introduced timed ticketing.
“The Galt continues to be a vibrant gathering place for community members and visitors,” said the report.
Before COVID forced the museum to close and reschedule or cancel bookings, it had been booked almost every Saturday night which the report says would have been a higher number of bookings than even in 2019, showing rentals and bookings were on track to set a record.
Statistics from 2021 show the Galt attracted 174 new annual pass holders and had 66,095 social media engagements as well as 4,663 hours of video viewed. Its 100 volunteers put in a total of 3,102 hours of service to the museum worth about $83,754.
In 2021, 72 objects were catalogued and 1,361 images added.

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