LIVE Webcast Tonight! Memorial Presents: Creating Cultural Destinations: Art, Heritage, and Place
Bonavista Campus, College of the North Atlantic
7-9pm, Tuesday, June 7, 2016.
The Bonavista Peninsula is becoming a well-known cultural destination with picturesque outports, dramatic scenery, a rich cultural heritage, and a vibrant arts scene. Visitors from all over the world marvel at what the place has to offer. Relationships between business, non-profit organizations, and communities have allowed for collaborative development around cultural heritage. What else needs to be done to make the region an even more attractive place for visitors and residents alike? How can we better profile our artists and tradition bearers so that visitors can get an enhanced appreciation of our way of life? How can we preserve our built and natural landscapes so that they contribute to the sense of place? How can the arts community leverage resources to attract investment in the region? What is the role of governments, businesses, artists, and citizens in making the Bonavista Peninsula a showcase for Newfoundland culture? Join panelists Jennifer Dyer, Marilyn Coles-Hayley, John Norman, and Marieke Gow to discuss these questions and more.
Jennifer Dyer is Director of Interdisciplinary Masters and Doctoral programs at Memorial and Associate Professor in Gender Studies. She is currently conducting research into Patterns of Arts Support in NL, and has lectured and published on various aspects of Newfoundland art, culture and heritage, amongst other topics.
Marilyn Coles-Hayley was a Campus Administrator at the Bonavista Campus of the College of the North Atlantic for 26 years. She was also Founder and Managing Director of the Bonavista Institute for Cultural Tourism. Marilyn is presently working as Executive Director with the Home from the Sea Foundation Inc. She is also an active volunteer and have acted as Chairperson for Tourism Elliston for 19 years. Her passion is working with communities on new initiatives leading to economic development and diversification.
John Norman grew up in the historic community of Bonavista. He graduated from Memorial University with a Bachelor of Science, Honors (B Sc.H), Geomorphology and a Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.), Intermediate/Secondary, and is currently working on a Masters in Environmental Science, focus on erosional studies. During his university years, Norman purchased various pieces of vacant land and historic properties throughout Bonavista, which he believed were worth preserving. He returned to his hometown to work with the College of the North Atlantic in Education Administration, business and program development, a position he held until 2014. Over the years, John Norman has been involved with multiple organizations throughout the Province and Canada, many of which focus on built heritage, environmental protection, economic development and tourism. He is the Founder and President of the Bonavista Horticultural Society, Chair of the Bonavista Peninsula Dialysis Committee, President of the Bonavista Area Chamber of Commerce, and Vice Chair of the Bonavista Historic Townscape Foundation. As a previous councillor for the Town of Bonavista, Norman was one of the youngest municipal politicians in the province. He is a registered Professional Skate Canada coach and co‐coaches the Bonavista Skating Club (Silver Wings).
In 2014, blending formal education and professional work with a passion for built heritage, Norman (with Mark and Chantal Dickson) founded a new group of companies: Bonavista Living; Bonavista Creative; and Bonavista Creative Workshop. The triad companies which focus on built heritage restoration and redevelopment also preserve and restore the tangible and intangible cultural heritage of Bonavista’s historic properties. Bonavista Living is a privately funded company that operates a year round heritage carpentry shop employing trades people from the community.
Marieke Gow grew up in Newfoundland and is the manager the award winning Artisan Inn and Twine Loft Restaurant in Trinity. Her educational background includes an Arts Degree from MUN in history and languages, a diploma in Community Development and Cross-Cultural Relations through Cégep Marie-Victorin and Sommelier Certification from Algonquin College in Ottawa. As a volunteer Marieke chairs Eastern Newfoundland’s Destination Management Organization: Legendary Coasts, is Vice Chair of Hike Discovery and holds a board member position on the Tourism Board.
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This event is run in conjunction with our Regional Workshop, taking place in Port Rexton on Wednesday, June 8. To attend the workshop, register here.