Ashley Kulp, Carleton Place Almonte Canadian Gazette
November 1, 2017
Enhanced exhibits, upgrades to its galleries and a solid financial situation has the Mississippi Valley Textile Museum (MVTM) with a positive outlook towards 2018.
Brian Stephenson, president of the MVTM’s board of directors, provided Mississippi Mills council with an update on the museum’s activities Oct. 24.
“We’ve had higher admissions in 2017, more exhibits and higher gift shop sales,” Stephenson noted. “But of course, there are higher costs to go along with that.”
Despite those higher costs, he said the museum is currently in a good financial position.
The MVTM started off celebrating its 30th anniversary with an Out of the Box artists Colour and Unboxed exhibit from Dec. 20 to Feb. 25.
“We’ve had events pretty much continuously throughout the year. It’s been a banner year for the museum with Canada 150,” he said.
“Visitor count has gone up incredibly this year and that’s due to the quality of exhibits, which is a testament to our curator (Michael Rikley-Lancaster) and the contacts he’s been able to pull from in the textile industry,” Stephenson added.
The annual Soup for Thought, which provides gourmet soups from local restaurants served up in a stoneware bowl, courtesy of the Almonte Potter’s Guild, to take home, was another success. Stephenson noted nine restaurants participated this year. This was followed up by a Blanket Statement: No Shame in Patches exhibit, featuring Gloria Duncan of B.C., from March 14 to May 20.
From June 6 to Sept. 16, the MVTM offered A Life Inspired, a retrospective on artist William Hodge of Hamilton.
“It was quite a beautiful display,” Stephenson said.