VICTORIA, BC—The Royal BC Museum has launched three new webinar series—RBCM@Home, RBCM@Home (Kids) and RBCM@Outside—so British Columbians can stay connected while staying apart.
Although the Royal BC Museum closed its doors to the public on March 17 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the museum and archives has responded with a flurry of strengthened and brand new online programs to appeal to learners of all ages, anywhere in the province, for free.
“The Royal BC Museum sees the temporary closure as an opportunity to think creatively about how we can serve our communities,” said Royal BC Museum CEO Prof. Jack Lohman. “We have leapt at this chance to connect museum experts with citizens in an informal and accessible way, whether you are at your kitchen table, balcony or back yard.”
“This free web series is a great opportunity for parents searching for ways to keep their kids learning while schools are closed,” said Lisa Beare, Minister for Tourism, Arts and Culture. “I commend the Royal BC Museum for this initiative to bring British Columbia’s culture and history to people’s homes.”
RBCM@Home is designed for youth and adults, and features members of the curatorial and collections staff who are working from home. Participants will discover how these museum experts do their work, how their work is reflected in their homes and what they're working on now. RBCM@Home takes place every Tuesday and Thursday at 12 pm.
RBCM@Home (Kids) is much like an online museum playdate. Participants will visit with museum members who are working from home, along with other families from across BC, to learn and make together. RBCM@Home (Kids) takes place every Wednesday from 11:00 am to 11:30 am.
RBCM@Outside is a series of themed virtual fieldtrips to local destinations that are rich in history. Participants can follow along at home as museum staff lead them through outdoor spaces. This series is still in development (though the first webinar will be a virtual ramble through the poles in Thunderbird Park). Watch our event calendar for upcoming RBCM@Outside programs.
Staff from the museum’s Learning team facilitate each webinar, steering the conversations, encouraging hard (and entertaining) questions and flagging themes for follow-up at subsequent webinars.
The webinars will be streamed live on Zoom and on the museum’s Facebook page (facebook.com/RoyalBCMuseum). Additionally, each session will be recorded and uploaded to the Royal BC Museum’s YouTube channel later that week at youtube.com/RoyalBCMuseum.
To learn more about the webinars, visit the event calendar at royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/visit/calendar.
To explore the full range of the Royal BC Museum’s online programs, from genealogical research resources to videos, online art galleries to museum and archives highlights, visit royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/engage-us-home.
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About the Royal BC Museum: The Royal BC Museum explores the province’s human history and natural history, advances new knowledge and understanding of BC, and provides a dynamic forum for discussion and a place for reflection. The museum and archives celebrate culture and history, telling the stories of BC in ways that enlighten, stimulate and inspire. Located in Victoria on the traditional territory of the Lekwungen (Songhees and Xwsepsum Nations), we are a hub of community connections in BC–onsite, offsite and online–taking pride in our collective histories.
