Bert Finnamore, a past administrator from the Royal Alberta Museum in Edmonton, has been hired as Powell River Historical Museum and Archives Association’s heritage manager.
The heritage manager position was created this summer after the museum’s two staff positions were restructured and additional core funding was secured from Powell River Regional District board.
Lee Coulter, president of the association’s board of directors, said that he was impressed with Finnamore’s “solid resumé.”
Finnamore brings 30 years’ experience working in “all areas from the bottom to the top” in museums, from curating and collecting to managing. He grew up in New Brunswick and started out in a natural history museum. He obtained his doctorate degree from McGill University in Montreal in 1983 and started at Royal Alberta Museum as a research officer. Over the span of his career at the museum in Edmonton, Finnamore moved up from curating natural history to helping to oversee collections of both natural and cultural historical objects. While in Edmonton, Finnamore also worked on the repatriation of sacred ceremonial first nations’ objects and on digitizing the museum’s collections.
Coulter said that Finnamore was shortlisted from six highly qualified candidates and initially interviewed online.
“We ended up with two finalists, so we invited them to visit Powell River for further in-depth discussions,” said Coulter. “Bert was one of them and he was just a very powerful choice.”
Within five minutes of being in Powell River Finnamore knew that he wanted to be here, but his wife Claire, a cycling enthusiast, took a little longer.
“It wasn’t until our trip to Lund that she decided where she wanted to have her bike shop,” he said.
Previously the couple had been looking at retiring in the Okanagan, but he said they are happy to be on the coast. They have two adult daughters who attend university in Edmonton.
As the museum’s heritage manager, Finnamore will set the direction for the museum, oversee staff, apply for funding grants and work on community partnerships with Tla’amin (Sliammon) First Nation and Townsite Heritage Society. Teedie Kagume has taken over the curating and archivist responsibilities for the museum’s collections.
Finnamore said his vision for the museum is a refinement of what already exists and that he plans to help make it more accessible and relevant for visitors.
The museum will host a meet and greet to introduce Finnamore to the community, as well as a book sale, from 5 to 7 pm on Friday, October 4.
