Featured Projects
“We’re Going to Build a Boat School!”
For the past 10 years Museum staff have been building boats and changing the lives of kids-at-risk with imaginative programs that they’ve shoe-horned into tight spaces between restored classic Nova Scotian sailing vessels in our boat shop, on the deck of CSS Acadia, and in gymnasiums like the one in Pictou Landing First Nations School
The success of these programs has created a demand that has far outstripped the Museum’s limited capacity to deliver. In the summer of 2018 the Boat Builder, General Manager and Curator went for a creative sail and landed having hatched a dream; they told everyone who…
Our Dream for a Boat School
The impact of our “Building Boats, Changing Lives” program inspired our dream of a new BOAT SCHOOL at the Museum for kids at risk from marginalized communities.
Building Boats, Changing Lives
Over the past three years, our Foundation has supported the work of Eamonn Doorly, the Museum’s Boatbuilder, and Dr. Shane Theunissen, his partner from Mount St Vincent University. Together they have developed a program we call “Building Boats, Changing Lives”.
The Canadian Maritime Heritage District
The Maritime Museum and HMCS Sackville, along with our Foundation and Develop Nova Scotia are working together to create a new precinct in the heart of the Waterfront; we’re calling it the “Canadian Maritime Heritage District”.
Other Projects
The Restoration of the CSS Acadia
For a number of years, our Foundation worked behind the scenes with the Maritime Museum and the Department of Communities, Culture and Heritage to encourage the Province to restore CSS Acadia, Canada’s first purpose-built hydrographic vessel and a National Historic Site.
Tuesday Night Tunes
QUESTION: What do “Jigs Start Here”, “The Side Cats”, “The Dory Bungholes”, “The Ragged Robins”, “Wontanna”, “Naming the Twins”, “Jiggers Mist”, “The Fine Tuners”, “Put the Kettle On”, and “Salt Water in Your Socks” have in common?
The Samuel Cunard Prize—Friend-Raising
In 2015 we partnered with Cunard and the Maritime Museum to create the Samuel Cunard Prize for Vision, Courage and Creativity, which we award each year to an extraordinary individual who demonstrates the world-changing vision, courage and creativity exemplified by Samuel Cunard.
The Sea Dome
Between 2016 and 2019, our Foundation collaborated with Ka’nata Productions to create the Sea Dome, a 360° theatre inside a geodesic dome and collaborated with a variety of writers, artists and new media to create two productions, “Bluenose: The Legend” and “A Whale Story”.
BlackHalifax.com
In 2015, our Foundation collaborated with a number of Black poets, spoken word artists and actors in a innovative project that celebrates the vibrant Black community the has flourished here since the 1700s.
The Winkworth Collection
In 2015, we joined with AGNS some generous donors to acquire some amazing paintings, prints, and cultural objects from the estate of Peter Winkworth, who had amassed a unique collection of Canadian paintings and artifacts over his life.
Unsung Heroes – Héros méconnus
In 2014, our Foundation joined with a community group committed to celebrating the stories of vererans from the African Nova Scotian, Mi’kmaw, and Acadian communities and women, whose brave and patriotic contributions have often been ignored and rendered invisible in our collective memory.