About CMA/PEI

Governance and Management

The Community Museums Association of Prince Edward Island was formed in 1983 and grew out of a need felt within the provincial museum community for stronger support services for the community museums. The mandate accepted by the Association was that of fostering and supporting historical societies and community museums, as well as facilitating communication between the various museums, governments, and other relevant organizations. From its inception, the major goal of the Association has been to upgrade the quality of museums on Prince Edward Island by providing the necessary skills and knowledge to museum operators. The movement towards high museum standards through training and the sharing of information is central to our very existence.

The most obvious and crucial need recognized by the Association was the necessity to provide adequate training and professional development opportunities in the various aspects of museum operation and development. Over the years, the program has evolved to include a number of teaching strategies designed to ensure that museum staff could access the training they required to maintain and upgrade their facilities. This has included seminars, newsletters, a resource centre, individualized training, mentoring, and museum support services.

The governing body of the Association is the Executive Board. This Board consists of nine members, 2 from each of Prince Edward Island's counties & 3 members-at-large. This representation on the Board ensures that the concerns and needs of the provincial museum community are represented. The day-to-day operation of the Association is conducted by the organization's Executive.

Our Members

The Association's primary audience is the museum/heritage community. We have been very successful in recent years in bringing this community closer together. For example, the Heritage Passport developed by the Association in 1994 which was updated and reprinted in 1996 featured all 31 museums/heritage sites on Prince Edward Island. We have a total paid membership of 80 and an extended mailing list which includes a number of complementary members.

All the museums in the province have membership in the Association. Membership includes the P.E.I. Museum & Heritage Foundation, the Confederation Centre Art Gallery & Museum, the Acadian Museum, community museums, Department of Veterans Affairs, educational institutions, private museums, museum professionals and volunteers, as well as interested individuals.

Confederation Centre of the Arts, Charlottetown	Green Park Shipbuilding Museum, Port Hill

Museum Services

Today, the Community Museums Association is an integral part of the museum community of Prince Edward Island. The Association conducts workshops, seminars and study tours; prepares and distributes a newsletter; liaises with museums, government, other agencies and the public; develops and manages a museum resource centre; initiates special projects; adjudicates special grants to community museums and when the funds are available administers a training assistance program for members.

Other initiatives that the Association has undertaken have resulted in the adoption of a Provincial Museums Policy by the Province; the development and adoption of a set of voluntary provincial museum standards; and the development of policy statements as well as achievable three year development plans based on an evaluation according to our adopted museum standards for our community museums.

The Association also strives to develop projects which allow the museum community to work together making the maximum use of valuable time and resources. We encourage an awareness in our members of their connections to the regional and Canadian museum community. In recent years, we have expanded our program to include a number of support services such as a museum advisory, access to conservation and exhibit materials at cost as well as access to a dry-mounting press and computers for upgrading labels. Individual training is available to any member wishing to use any of these materials or pieces of equipment. Unscheduled individualized professional development and training is also available to members upon requests in specific areas of museum study.

In 1996, an evaluation of our training program found that the Association's activities have produced many positive results including a greater understanding of the purpose and function of museums, a gradual refining of museum collections, improved exhibits and care of collections, and the implementation of interpretive programs. Communication among the province's museums continues to improve as we build upon that base we have created.