Castlegar, BC – The Doukhobor Village Museum has received support from Canada’s largest community foundation for its major exhibit for 2005, Pioneer Scenes As Seen Through Lantern Slides, featuring rare, restored lantern slides and negatives from the early days of the Doukhobor settlement in British Columbia. Most of these have not been published or seen before, and many are in colour.

Richard Mulcaster, President and CEO of Vancouver Foundation, announced this week that the Foundation’s Arts and Culture Advisory Committee has approved a $10,000 grant to assist the restoration and printing of these archival slides. This is the first award that the Doukhobor Museum has received from the Vancouver Foundation and was based on the excellent exhibits which have been presented in the past as well as its standing as an excellent heritage and cultural museum.

This exhibit is an excellent example of cultural and archival work that museums should be engaged in and for the most part, are not able to do because of lack of funding. The Foundation’s assistance in this project is vitally important to the museum’s archival work and will be a great benefit to the international visitors and the local public.

Vancouver Foundation administers a permanent endowment with assets of approximately $500 million, representing the combined capital of over 800 funds created through bequests, from living donors and through other gifts. Grants are made from the income that is generated from investment of the pooled capital of these funds. Although Vancouver Foundation is located in Vancouver, the Foundation provides grants to registered, charitable organizations throughout British Columbia.

This particular grant has been made possible by the Katherine Moffat Memorial Fund. Larry Ewashen, Curator of the Doukhobor Museum, indicated that this is a significant grant to the projected exhibit and is delighted and grateful for the news. “We are confident that this support will help to make this exhibit a success within the community and will also attract other donors, contributing to the long term sustainability of the museum. Perhaps this recognition by outside foundations will make our local contributors realize what a gem they have in their area, and may stimulate them into a more meaningful support of this local resource”.