Fundraiser for MONOVA, the 16,000 sq. ft. Museum of North Van opening next year

To belong to a community means knowing its stories and experiences. Today, the North Vancouver community comes one step closer to opening the doors to the new Museum of North Vancouver.

In advance of the opening of a new 16,000 square foot purpose-built facility in 2021, the North Vancouver Museum and Archives is excited to reveal its new visual identity and name—MONOVA: Museum of North Vancouver—and is using the occasion to kick off a community fundraising campaign called “Bringing Stories To Life” as part of their ongoing $1.5M new museum fundraising appeal.

MONOVA will transform the way the community experiences North Vancouver’s stories. Stories are the threads that weave us together and form the fabric of community. At MONOVA, you’ll find yourself drawn in to landscapes you knew nothing about, meeting people from different eras, and contemplating what it all means for the present as we move towards our collective future.
“2020 has been a challenging year for many of us, and with this project we’re excited to be offering some much needed good news. Now more than ever, museums are where communities discover themselves and grow strong and resilient,” notes Director Wesley Wenhardt. “More than a museum—the goal of MONOVA is to build community, which remains as important as ever.”

Located at 115 West Esplanade in the heart of North Vancouver’s Lower Lonsdale Shipyards District, MONOVA will be well-situated adjacent to Lonsdale Quay, the Polygon Gallery, new Shipyards complex and the SeaBus Terminal. In addition to being the new home of the restored Streetcar 153 and a stunning new cedar carving of Sch’ich’iyuy (The Two Sisters) by Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) carver Wade Baker, the new purpose-built facility will be full of interactive multimedia exhibits, innovative programming and public gatherings.

“The red cedar Sch’ich’iyuy panel is based on the ancient Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Sister’s Mountain Transformer legend,” noted Wade Baker. “The twins were raised from childhood to be leaders for their people. They asked their father, the Siyam, the Chief, to bring peace to the warring tribes along the coast. He could not refuse their request and fires were lit all along the coast to signal a great welcoming feast to bring peace. For their efforts, the twins were immortalized in the mountain peaks you see today that watch over us.”

The new Museum will join the Archives of North Vancouver in Lynn Valley in engaging and supporting the north shore community in discovery and storytelling under the MONOVA banner.

“Decades of hard work by volunteers and supporters as well as the dedicated efforts of MONOVA staff have gone into this project. Our goal with this new facility is to bring the community together through their stories, and create a welcoming place to gather and celebrate,” stated NVMA Commission Chair Vic Elderton. “The new Museum of North Vancouver will join the Archives of North Vancouver in Lynn Valley as hubs of research, innovation and dialogue that will inspire ideas for a stronger, more engaged community, while keeping diversity, inclusion and sustainability top of mind.”

When it opens in 2021, the new Museum of North Vancouver will engage, strengthen and inspire our community by exploring the stories of North Vancouver’s past, present and future. We invite the community to come together and get involved to financially support MONOVA so that we can create a dynamic and innovative hub where the stories of North Vancouver’s people, places and past come to life.

“I spent my formative years in North Vancouver and although I moved away many years ago I still consider North Vancouver to be home,” added donor Don Reid. “I am so pleased that my donation to the new Museum supported Wade Baker’s magnificent new cedar carving of Sch’ich’iyuy (The Two Sisters). This new welcome carving will help the Museum ignite the imagination of generations to come by reflecting the community’s identity and rich Indigenous history.”