it all starts with good design

We met with our designer, Linda Levit and she has developed a wonderful floor plan for us. The space will have a natural and even flow, lots of light and display cases everywhere to highlight some of the smaller items in our collection such as hats and shoes. We will also have what is called a "discovery wall" this wall is full of small cabinets that can be opened to explore. It is similar to the idea of visual storage with a twist.

One exciting piece of news is that we will have two galleries open! Originally we had informed you that we would be showing 6 exhibitions per year, but with two galleries would do 12! This is amazing news. It will certainly put a fair bit of pressure on the curator to come up with engaging shows and it will also mean that we will be needing the help of many volunteers!

We will also have a library space for researching and reading and we plan to stock it with current periodicals in a wide range of topics from sewing to design.

It is a very exciting time as we move forward with the development of our new home.

from dugald to the big city

It has been a long time coming. Many years of declining attendance put the Costume Museum of Canada in the position to make a change. After much searching for a suitable building in Winnipeg, finally 109 Pacific Avenue fell into our laps.

Upon first glance it might look like a big old warehouse but underneath the industrial look lies a historic building waiting to be re-born into an elegant Costume Museum. The building was once home to the Children's Museum, but it's original function was as a horse and carriage garage. In the back you can see evidence of ramps used to move horses upstairs to the cozy stalls full of hay.

Some may not see the beauty in this building, but it is there. There are so many small elements of design and intrigue that make it unique and gorgeous. Presently we are a long way from a final product but we do have a wonderful interior designer that we will be working with. Her name is Linda Levit and she has done museum work before and really understands our limited budget, but our need to present professional exhibitions in a contemporary yet comfortable space. We are just getting started with her, but the purpose of this blog is to chronicle the events and the changes in the space as they occur. Please check back often as we will be updating you on the exciting new home that we are building for our collection.