The Alberta Museums Association (AMA) is pleased to present the Red Deer Museum + Art Gallery (MAG) with the 2023 Robert R. Janes Award for Social Responsibility in recognition of its work to integrate social responsibility into all aspects of museum practice.

The Award recognizes the Red Deer Museum + Art Gallery’s work to embed collaboration, partnership, and shared authority into the institution. Over the last several years, the museum has built relationships and developed partnerships with community members and organizations to help to tell a fuller story of the city of Red Deer and its citizens, from the Indigenous communities that have lived there for millennia to the newcomers who are just arriving. The work of the MAG to integrate historical and modern perspectives positions the museum as a relevant community institution that is actively engaging with and shaping the future of their community, not just the past. Their joyful approach to community building, programming, and exhibition development makes them a gathering place that people want to be a part of.

“The Red Deer Museum + Art Gallery has built strong reciprocal relationships through years of deep and sustained intentional engagement,” said Jennifer Forsyth, Executive Director / CEO. “Demonstrating a commitment to holding space for underrepresented communities and their stories, the museum amplifies the diversity of central Alberta.”

The work of the Red Deer Museum + Art Gallery to embed social responsibility into all aspects of the museum from leadership models to exhibition development stands out as a model that can be used by other museums.

The Award will be presented at the Awards Gala, taking place during the AMA’s 2023 Fall Gathering. Red Deer Museum + Art Gallery’s achievements will be celebrated during the Gala, taking place on Friday, September 22, 2023, at 6:30 p.m. in the Gasoline Alley Museum at Heritage Park Historical Village in Calgary.