Aboriginal gallery gets gold

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Not bronze . . . Not Silver . . . Gold!

That's what the team that worked to create the Syncrude Canada Gallery of Aboriginal Culture received on June 16.

Almost 50 people on the gallery team, including, Fort McMurray's Pete Ladouceur, Brocket's Reg Crowshoe, Rita Marten from Fort Chipewyan, Russell Willier from High Prairie and even Alberta Sweetgrass writer Terry Lusty, were recognized as 1998 Premier's Award of Excellence gold recipients.

At a formal ceremony at Edmonton's Shaw Conference Centre, Alberta Premier Ralph Klein presented 19 awards to public service organizations selected by a review panel for their leadership and people focus, stakeholder focus and their management skills.

The Aboriginal gallery was one of only three gold award recipients.

"I always enjoy this very special opportunity to celebrate the exceptional achievements of some of the best public service teams this country has to offer," said Klein.

The gallery's team leader and director of the museum Dr. Phillip Stepney was very pleased with the award and the recognition.

"It's very exciting because its another way of underscoring that this gallery is widely perceived in many quarters as being something worthwhile. It's a very positive endorsement of what we did and what the gallery is all about," said Stepney.

About the gallery itself, Stepney said the six-month-old, 900 sq. m facility has seen a "steady flow" of visitors and the feedback has been positive.

"They are commenting and talking about what it meant when they brought their children to it, what it meant to them, and in many cases they are very emotional comments where people are coming to grips and addressing a lot of things that needed to be addressed and talked about," said Stepney. "And that's very positive because it's not just a gallery of history then. It is a living gallery that interacts with people and people interact with it."

Gallery co-ordinator Tim Willis, the second team leader, said so far, the gallery is doing exactly what it was intended to do. It is attracting a cross-section of the public and creating awareness and education.

"If it makes those connections and works for those different people in different ways, then that's good. If it is good for a nine-year-old and if it's good for Aboriginal people and non-Aboriginal people, that's great. That's how it should be."

This was the fourth presentation of the Premier's Award of Excellence. It was launched in 1994 by Premier Klein to help recognize and nurture teamwork and growth of public sector projects.