Temporary Exhibits
The Woman Who Soared, The Brilliant Lilian Bland
Are you air-minded? Are your eyes always on the birds overhead? Well, you are not alone. Meet the brilliant Lilian Bland!
In 1911 Bland became the first woman in the world to design, build, and fly her own powered aircraft. Did you know that this important historical figure lived in the remote community of Quatsino on Northern Vancouver Island.
During the early days of aviation, people flocked to home-built airplanes. These flimsy structures fulfilled an eons long human dream — to fly. 18 years before Amelia Earhart would make her transatlantic journey, Lilian Bland was studying diagrams of airplanes and designing her plane the Mayfly in her uncle's workshop.
Since youth, Bland was never one to be confined to society’s rules. She is remembered as sarcastic and passionate, always chasing after what she wanted, despite push-back.
This new exhibit explores her early life pursuing photography, her days as an aviatrix, and her time as a homesteader in Quatsino.
The exhibit will be on display until August 2027, and we welcome visitors and community members to view it.
Do you Carrot All?
In honour of this year's Filomi Day’s theme, 'The Year of the Carrot', we have curated a quirky exhibition about the Carrot Campaign of 1976. This campaign advocated for a highway connecting Northern Vancouver Island to the rest of Vancouver Island. Promises of this road date back to the establishment of the Hudson's Bay Company in the 1840s.
Before the creation of the highway, North Island residents could only travel by ferry to the South end of the Island and Vancouver. In the 1960s treacherous logging roads opened for public use; this was not a solution. North Island residents came together to pressure the government to stop dangling the carrot (the highway) for votes, and to finally follow through and build it. As noted at the time by Campaign organizer, Roland Shanks, “That battered, half chewed, over-mature carrot that you clutch so tenaciously in your hand is mine! I want it now!”
Music of the North Island
Exploring the tangible and intangible aspects of the musical history of the North Island. Through a combination of online research, archival records, and interviews, we have developed a series of interlocking stories which you can now explore.
This exhibit was developed by summer student employees Brie Watson and Madeline Koski, with input from summer student Hyson Johnson and curator Robin Folvik.
We were also delighted to collaborate with the Sointula Museum (in particular, summer students Kezra and Michael), which will be hosting the exhibit next spring/summer. We are very grateful for their loaned items and the information they’ve shared.
We want to give a special thanks to everyone who participated in interviews for this exhibit. The story of a community is difficult to grasp without hearing from its members, so we sincerely appreciate the time you have offered us.
Lens On the North Island
In 2023, Madeline Kosksi, hired through the Young Canada Works program, digitized more than 700 images and worked with the museum curator to put together this temporary exhibit. Composed of photographs donated by Roland Shanks, former Editor and Owner of the North Island Gazette. Many of the photographs in the exhibit were from the 1970s. During the exhibit, community visitors were encouraged to record any stories they had related to the photos.
Please contact the Port Hardy Museum and Archive if you would like to view the collection info@porthardymuseum.com.
