Toé & Émond

Overview of Museum Education and Cultural

Mediation in a Quebec Regional Museum: Between
Democracy and Cultural Democratization
François Thierry Toé, Beaulne Museum
direction@museebeaulne.qc.ca

Anne-Marie Émond, Université de Montréal

anne-marie.emond@umontreal.ca

Summary: The Beaulne Museum is a regional institution located in Coaticook, Quebec.

Its threefold mission includes the showcasing of textiles and costumes, local heritage,
and visual arts. While favouring an historical approach, the museum’s programming is
also open to modernity. Many exhibitions and a range of cultural activities are offered to
the public with the aim of promoting cultural democracy and cultural democratization.
This paper examines audiences’ response to the museum’s offerings and the impact of
the socio-economic and environmental context on the relevance of its activities.

Keywords: Museum education; Regional museum; Cultural democracy; Cultural

democratization; Cultural mediation.

Introduction

M useum education and cultural mediation are the ultimate goals of the
museological chain. In recent decades, museum researchers and professionals
have shown increased interest in this museological function, owing to the
general awareness of museums’ social role (Black, 2010, Brown & Mairesse, 2018). It
has rightly been pointed out that it is not enough to collect; rather, this activity must be
done with a purpose, namely that of communicating with the public and establishing a
connection to individuals’ experiences (Hooper-Greenhill, 1994). Target audiences are
thus at the centre of concerns. In addition, some of the literature published in recent years
on museum education and cultural mediation brings this to light by offering an overview
of the question as it stands in Canada, the United States, and Europe, and by studying
visitor needs (Dufresne-Tassé, Banna, Sauvé & O’Neill, 2006; Dufresne-Tassé & Marin,
2012). This includes a case study analysis of a core institution of Quebec museology, the
Musée de la civilisation (Bergeron, 2002), and a thorough examination of museum
assessment (Daignault & Schiele, 2014). More recently, mediation issues in the digital
age have also been brought up (Juanals & Minel, 2016). Through this overview we wish
to contribute to the body of work published in recent years that touches on various aspects
of museum education and cultural mediation but in the context of a museum situated in
a small locality, far from large urban centres.
Notwithstanding the location of the institution, we can generally define the main
purpose of museum education as the enrichment of the person through visitors’ meaning-

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making (Silverman, 1995; Hooper-Greenhill, 1999; Falk & Dierking, 2000). The
museum is a place that offers, by its specificities, multiple ways where a person can grow.
As Dufresne-Tassé (2018) mentions, education being the goal, “mediation is the
technique, or the means used to achieve the interventions of democratization and
democracy” (p. 126). Further on, for Bélanger (2007), “in the Quebec context, mediation
is thought of, financed and practised in a situation of cultural decentralization, urban and
regional revitalization that increasingly involves culture; it develops in the context of a
marked interest in social inclusion problems […] [and,] places cultural mediation at the
heart of several types of development and problem solving” [free translation] (p. 27). To
adequately fulfil its educational function, the museum must constantly innovate to
respond to the community’s needs. In doing so, we are understanding museum education
and cultural mediation through the lens of cultural democracy and cultural
democratization. Cultural democracy values the different forms of cultural expression
and encourages the effective participation of communities (Baeker, 1999). It calls for
expressions and practices outside of the mainstream canon (Matarasso & Landry, 1999;
Baeker, 2002). In other words, it is "the enhancement of works and lifestyles related to
the expression of popular cultures not only traditional, but mixed, emerging, stemming
from urban cosmopolitanism, sometimes in opposition to dominant cultural models [free
translation] (Lafortune, 2012a, p. 13). In regards to cultural democratization, it is
understood as the sharing with the greatest number of "excluded" people of "learned",
"cultivated" or, if you prefer, "high" culture (Midy, 2002). More precisely, “it is the
access of as many people as possible to legitimate artistic works and the transmission of
aesthetic values, as defined by a certain art history” [free translation] (Lafortune, 2012a,
p. XI). Moreover, Émond and Mendonça (2018) identified accessibility, equality,
inclusion, equity and sustainability as being five key principles from which cultural
democracy and democratization are driven.
In this paper, we will focus on the notions mentioned above in order to study
cultural democracy and cultural democratization as modalities to cultural mediation. Our
reference for the present study is a regional institution, the Beaulne Museum of
Coaticook, located in the Eastern Townships of Quebec.

Research problem
Officially registered in 1975, the Beaulne Museum is a regional museum located
relatively far from urban centres. The city of Coaticook has a population of 8,698 people
and the regional county municipality has 18,497 inhabitants (Statistics Canada, 2016). It
is characterized by a mixed French- and English-speaking population, although the gap
in numbers between the two groups has continuously widened over the course of the last
century, benefiting French speakers. In addition, this is a tourist area. The Beaulne
Museum therefore sits in a unique microcosm grouping multiple parameters, whose
impact on the institution and vice versa is interesting to study, especially given the
scarcity of research literature on the functioning and impact of regional museums.
Regional museums have particularities that at once are recognizable because of
their institutional structure yet having to disseminate a unique cultural narrative. Of
interest is how a regional institution juggles with global and local culture. In what way
can the cultural product offered by the Beaulne Museum since its founding be
characterized? Have cultural education and/or mediation always been aligned with the

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characteristics of the social environment they are set in? Have they occupied their rightful
place? How have they evolved and how are they received by their target audiences today?
Are notions of cultural democracy and democratization present in the Beaulne Museum’s
cultural mediation offer?

Methodology
Our reflection is based on the literature of the last three decades dedicated to the
topic of museum education and cultural mediation. We also scoured the Beaulne Museum
archives: minutes, annual reports, committee meeting reports, the listing of all
exhibitions since its inception, exhibition records, special event records, and reports on
the characteristics of museum attendance. We were thus able to make an overview of the
programs implemented since the opening of the institution, the context thereof, the means
used, and their reception by the public.
We designed three questionnaires specifically for this study: one for occasional
visitors, one for teachers who take part in the workshops organized by the education
service, and one for individuals from the cultural milieu and cultural actors having had a
long-standing involvement with the museum. This is a qualitative analysis. However, we
were rapidly faced with the limits of this exercise due mainly to sample size occurring in
a small community. The answers provided in the questionnaires were therefore not very
diversified, hence our decision to limit the number of questionnaires studied. In total
fifteen questionnaires were analysed, five of which for occasional visitors, six for
teachers and four pertaining to cultural actors.
Aside from the questionnaires, starting in 2008, short surveys were made
available to visitors at the exit of the museum. We examined the comments provided in
fifty of these short surveys. Subsequently, evaluation sheets were forwarded to primary
school teachers who bring their students to the introduction and creative workshops
offered by the education service. Seventy-seven sheets were consulted.
Although based on a thematic analysis, this study also presents a historical
perspective. The first section exposes the museum’s socio-economic environment, the
second presents the museum offering since its inception, and the third focuses on the
audiences’ response to the museum’s activities.

1. The Beaulne Museum’s socio-economic environment

Museums are both witnesses and a reflection of the territory and the community
that they are set in. This is more relevant in rural areas where institutions located in
relatively homogenous environments act as a beacon to the community.
The Beaulne Museum is located in the Coaticook Valley which has been a tourist
region for a number of decades. The pillar of this tourism is unquestionably Parc de la
gorge. Coaticook Gorge Park is a natural park with a gorge running through it. A
suspended footbridge, the longest in North America (169 metres) overlooks this gorge.
The park has more than 20 km of trails and many activities are offered year round:
snowshoeing, skating, snow biking, mountain biking. Also, for the past five years, the
Foresta Lumina light show has helped to reinforce the Coaticook Valley’s reputation as
a tourist destination with its 2.6 km illuminated night trail located in Coaticook Gorge
Park. The agribusiness also attracts gourmet tourism with businesses such as Laiterie de

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Coaticook, farms, dairies, and so on. Even when the museum is not the primary attraction,
it benefits from some of the trips undertaken to the area.
It is therefore interesting to see to what degree and in what way the Beaulne
Museum’s environment influences the development and the scope of its museum
education and cultural mediation activities.

Demographic characteristics and its impact on cultural mediation

The figures published by the Regional County Municipality (RCM), bring to
awareness certain realities experienced by the local and regional population. According
to the Coaticook RCM 2014 final report on socio-economic planning, the size of the 0 to
4 age category (higher proportion than in Estrie and Quebec) justifies the effort and
attention dedicated to creating workshops for school groups (RCM of Coaticook, 2014).
Similarly, the attachment to creating certain exhibitions that reflect traditions, results
from the large number of people aged 65 and over (a higher percentage than in Estrie and
Quebec). Furthermore, the fact that the total population is relatively small invites to
conceptualizing cultural mediation within a broader perspective that includes tourist
visitors.

Socio-economic reality
Examination of the structure of the community in relation to the museum has led
to the following observation: the population has a lower level of post-secondary
attendance than the average for the Estrie and Quebec City regions. For example, in 2011,
30.6% of people aged 15 and over had no diploma, certificate or degree compared to
24.2% for Estrie and 22.2% for Quebec. In the same line of thought, only 7.7% of the
population held a university certificate, diploma, or bachelor’s degree or higher. The
percentage in Estrie is 15.7% and in Quebec 18.6% (RCM of Coaticook, 2014, p. 14).
As regards the sectors of activity: agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting, are
predominant with 14.7% of the active population against 3.6% for Estrie and 2% for
Quebec, as is the manufacturing sector which mobilizes 20.1% of the active population
versus 16.1% for Estrie and 11.4% for Quebec (RCM of Coaticook, 2014, p. 20).
Concerning the average personal income, it is lower than elsewhere: $21,418 versus
$23,180 for Estrie and $25,646 for Quebec (RCM of Coaticook, 2014, p. 25). To recap,
we can say that the population is relatively under-represented in post-secondary
education and living mainly from the farming and manufacturing sectors with a low
average personal income.
In addition, the 2016 census indicates a decrease in population compared to 2011.
In 2016, the city of Coaticook counted 8,698 residents and 18,497 inhabitants for the
Coaticook RCM (Statistics Canada, 2016) compared to 2011 where the city of Coaticook
had 9,255 residents and the Coaticook RCM, 18, 847 (Statistics Canada, 2011). This
situation is common to many remote rural municipalities and can create concerns for the
sustainability of the institution. If this trend continues, the weak local visitation rate might
drop further together with the diminishing population around the museum (already small
in number), thereby compromising its viability despite its attractiveness for tourists.
However, if mediation activities targeting youth are effective, the dwindling population
should not affect attendance dramatically since upcoming generations of adults will have
been exposed to art and heritage within the context of the Beaulne Museum.

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Outlook on visitation figures

Since 1978, yearly visitation, not including virtual visits, has varied between
7,500 and 8,500 entries (Visitor registry). School groups represent on average half of this
visitation rate. The proportion of tourists in these statistics has remained consistent for
two decades, but it has been on the rise in the last four years. During the tourist season,
which stretches from June to October with a peak in July and August, approximately
80% of visitors are tourists (provincial, national, and international) and 20% are local
and regional visitors (Visitor registry). As Michel Allard (2012) highlighted, it is
recognized that tourists visit not only for the purpose of entertainment, rest, and a change
of scenery, but also education and learning. Conversely, during the low season, 10% to
15% of visitors are tourists and 85% to 90% are local and regional residents. Among the
latter, 80% are students (Visitor registry).
In terms of the split between French-speaking and English-speaking visitors, the
latter represent only 2% to 3% (the overall ratio in the region is 95% French speaking
and 5% English speaking) despite the proximity of the American border and the
favourable exchange rate for American visitors in recent years. An effort could be made
to attract this clientele (Promotional plan). However, the rate of 2% to 3% English-
speaking visitors should be nuanced as it only represents persons who identified
themselves as such. A number of English-speaking residents speak and understand
French and consequently, do not request that the guided visit be conducted in English.
Concerning age groups, the ratio is the following: 50% very young (school
visitors), 30% seniors (60 years of age and over), and 20% of adults (varied) (Visitor
registry). The youngest and the oldest are therefore the most important portions of the
museum’s clientele and this reflects the situation for many museums. This brings about
the challenge facing the Beaulne Museum to achieve accessibility and equality for all
citizens in the development of its activities.

2. Basis and characteristics of the museum’s offering

From the first years of the Beaulne Museum’s operation, its board of trustees—
“committee” at the time—oriented its mission along three major lines: textiles and
costumes, local heritage, and visual arts. The eclectic nature of this mission imparts a
number of fields on the regional museum. A highly specialized museum focusing on
textile and costumes or on local history or on visual arts, would have greater difficulty
developing and reaching out to its specific population base, even considering tourist
clients. The typological diversity of the exhibitions offered attracts a greater number of
visitors who find them of interest regardless of their personal tastes. This vision, which
remains unchanged, translates above all into a corresponding base and offering. In this,
we see an institution that develops activities around its collections with the preoccupation
of serving a diversity of visitors from its community and beyond, which is in line with
notions of cultural democracy and cultural democratization.

A solid base: collections and documentation

In keeping with its mission, the Beaulne Museum collections cover textiles and
costumes (approximately 8,000 items), local heritage (approximately 6,500 items), and
visual arts (approximately 500 works) (Inventory of artifacts). These collections were

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built gradually, and they continue to grow, although, in contrast to the early years of the
museum’s existence, accepting artifact donations is subject to rigorous examination.
In addition to objects and works of art, the documentation centre has items such
as: books covering a broad spectrum of fields, from local and regional history to various
arts disciplines, and different trades related to the museum’s collections, archives (photos
and other types of documents), maps, brochures, periodicals, and so on. The museum’s
offering is above all embodied by the exhibitions presented and its own collection of
objects.

Exhibitions

A clear historical mark

What immediately strikes the Beaulne Museum visitor, both virtual and real, is
the neo-Queen Anne architecture of the Château Arthur-Osmore-Norton which the
museum moved into in 1976, one year after its official incorporation. The permanent
exhibition retraces the life history of the man who built the stately home, Arthur Osmore
Norton, and his family. This history, which also touches upon that of the city of
Coaticook, provides a valuable overview at least of the first half of the 20th century. The
external and interior architecture lends core level legitimacy to the institution by virtue
of the aesthetic appeal that it confers and the rich history that accompanies it. The
museum’s conservation, enhancement, and mediation activities have made it possible to
maintain the building, classified as a historic monument in 2012, in good condition.
The museum’s board of trustees and management have always been cognizant of
its mission to reconstitute and restore the local history alongside the local history society
created in 1966, which, unfortunately, has never had the means to achieve its goals.
An exhibition of historical photographs by the famous photographer Nakash was
presented as early as 1978. Other historical exhibitions followed in subsequent years,
such as an exhibition on the impact of the railway on Coaticook in 1991 and an exhibition
entitled “Life in days gone by” (“Vie d’autrefois”) in 1999. The list goes on. To these
were added, starting in 2008, virtual exhibits on topics related to local history.
In addition, 2012 marked the launching of an archeological excavation project on
the Hotel Queen site, whose guests were mainly customers of the railway located behind
Château Norton. The hotel was in operation between 1863 and 1897, when it was
destroyed in a fire. Artifacts have been discovered in a succession of digs and more
discoveries are expected. The objective of the project is to put together an exhibition on
the history of the hotel, which is closely tied to that of the railroad, and, therefore, to local
economic history.
The goal of enhancing local history and heritage is also at the core of another
mission defining the museum: textile and costumes. In fact, Coaticook has long been a
major producer of a variety of textiles. Both the textile industry and trades have been
developed over time and have become one of the most important economic sectors. An
article was dedicated to this subject (Toé, 2016). As a privileged witness to local history
and a guardian of its tangible and intangible heritage, the Beaulne Museum could not
overlook this sector. Close to half of the artifacts that compose its collections and its
heritage artifact exhibitions (except visual arts exhibits) are textiles and costumes. A

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range of themes are thus explored ranging from special types of textiles to lavish costume
styles and a diversity of costume accessories.
History and heritage are therefore an important part of the museum’s offering and
their relevance has never been questioned. Exhibitions are considered tools for cultural
mediation, the aim of which is to facilitate the discovery and understanding of the
community’s history and its social impact on the lives of its citizens. However, this
historical and heritage rooting has not prevented the museum from focusing on the
present and looking to the future.

Representation of contemporary art

The part of the museum’s mission that consists in showcasing visual arts is quite
substantial. Through contemporary artists, the museum plays an important role as an
exhibition centre to the extent of maybe overshadowing other aspects of its mission. On
average, 12 to 13 visual art exhibitions have been presented every year for at least the
last ten years. Furthermore, there have been two biennials since 2008: a local and regional
artists’ fair, and an exhibition of high school students (on hold for the last four years
while developing a better system for the teachers). A small majority of the artists are
from the Eastern Townships, but many of them come from other Quebec regions,
including the Montreal and Quebec City areas, and the Montérégie and Mauricie regions.
In this regard, the museum exceeds its regional vocation and reaches out to the province
as a whole.
Visual arts exhibitions thus help to expand the museum’s offering and ensure
constant animation while enabling a large number of artists to present their work to a
variety of audiences. Quality requirements have been upheld. The museum therefore
plays the role of a catalyst for talent development.
As it stands, exhibitions, be they physical or virtual, focused on history and
heritage or on contemporary art, are a vehicle for promoting cultural democracy and
cultural democratization. We examine next the means used by the museum to enable the
public to benefit from the heritage and the works of art that it presents.

Confronting education and cultural mediation activities and methods with means
and context

Exhibition visits
Exhibit visits are guided for individual visitors and for groups. As an introduction
to the visit, the guide summarizes the Norton family history. The tour starts with the
permanent exhibition rooms and ends with the temporary exhibitions. Although the
method is conventional, the visit can be captivating depending on the guide’s storytelling
and communication skills. Like other institutions of this size, the individual skills of the
educator are essential to creating a good experience for the visitors. No audio guide or
other electronic devices that have become common in larger museums are used. The
apparent lack of technological means is actually an advantage if the guide is able to keep
the visitors’ interest through human contact and interaction. The possibility for visitors
to ask questions and to revisit stories is enriching. A parallel can be made here with
storytelling, used to create personal connections between visitors and the museum offer,

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which consists in the guide or the facilitator’s ability to tell a story, to make the visitor
“travel”, react, and perhaps even offer a narrative of his or her own (Bedford, 2001).

Workshops
The museum’s educational activities also include creation workshops, mostly for
school groups. In fact, the school sector occupies a prominent place in museum
education. The head of education service sits on the visual arts selection committee
because some workshops are tailored around exhibitions included in the program.
Sometimes special exhibitions are designed specifically for educational purposes. This
can be tied to Nicole Gesché-Koning’s observations about the role of the museum
educator as an exhibit designer (Gesché-Koning, 2006). Because exhibitions are the
backbone of the museum, education has always been paramount in the process of
defining its vision of how it should function. A range of topics are addressed, and students
are introduced to a number of artistic creation techniques that are appropriate to their age.
In addition, there are games and exercises aimed at introducing the notion of heritage.
The above is also related to the Quebec Education Program.
Aside from school groups, workshops have occasionally been organized when
requested. For example, in 2001, the education sector organized knowledge-sharing
workshops in collaboration with the local Cercles de fermières (Women farmers’
circles). The program included knitting, crocheting, embroidery, and hand-sewing. In the
last three years, the concept has been updated to create the flagship inter-generational
knitting, lace, and embroidery workshop, which draws strong interest: directed by two
facilitators, participants are introduced to or improve their expertise in a variety of textile
craft techniques that face the threat of disappearing due to the advanced age of the people
who master them.
In the last five years, needs-appropriate educational workshops have also been
offered on a yearly basis to persons with physical or mental disabilities. Despite the
limited resources used, the emotional benefit for participants has been manifest. This is
in line with the concept of using art as a form of therapy for certain illnesses (Hawkins,
2015), an increasingly popular activity that is also used at the Montreal Museum of Fine
Arts.

Other culture-oriented or cultural mediation activities

Though not expressly designated as such, a large number of cultural mediation
activities have taken place at the museum since its founding. Depending on the activities,
the public may be more or less involved in their implementation. For a long time, in
particular prior to the creation of the Arts and Culture Pavilion (an entertainment and
activity hall for the general public) in 1995, the museum was one of the rare places in
Coaticook where cultural activities took place. Storytelling evenings, masked balls, and
theatre activities, among others, were held at the museum.
In addition, certain activities, designed primarily for fundraising purposes,
appeared to be genuine cultural mediation activities because they were based primarily
on intangible heritage components. “Christmas Tea” for example organized each
December since 1978 allows the museum to collect donations. For some residents, less
drawn to the museum and its exhibitions, this strategy enables an ongoing presence of
the institution in the community. The same goes for the “Tea on the Veranda” offered in

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July and August each year. This activity generates revenue for the museum but, above
all, it perpetuates the English tea tradition which is part of the intangible heritage of the
founding community of the city of Coaticook that Château Norton bears material witness
to. These activities can be used to raise awareness among the public and enhance art and
heritage. Although they come to the museum mainly for tea or to socialize, visitors
inevitably encounter the surrounding artwork and heritage items. While providing space
for socialization, the museum thus becomes a place where highbrow and popular cultures
mingle (Bergeron, Arsenault & Provencher St-Pierre, 2015).
In recent years, social media, mainly Facebook and Twitter, have been
abundantly used to promote activities and collect comments. These new means of
reaching out to the public help immensely the institution in its mediation efforts,
especially because they allow for interaction with the public. Nonetheless, traditional
media continue to be used for dissemination purposes because at present it remains
prevalent. French- and English-language local and regional newspapers, as well as the
Radio cooperative pick up on the museum’s news on a regular basis. However, abundant
media presence is not necessarily an indicator of receptivity among the public. The
sociological characteristics of the museum’s target audiences bring into question the
pertinence, for the time being at least, of the comprehensive use of digital media
promoted by some marketing and digital communication experts who recommend
extensive use of the most popular social media in order to reach the public (Benay, 2016).
Unlimited use of social media only reaches one part of the actual and potential clientele.
As we can see, genuine effort has been expended towards enhancing the work of
a number of stakeholders and towards reaching out to a diversity of audiences. Through
different activities the Beaulne Museum gears towards targeting new publics aiming for
equity among the population it serves.
Following this overview of the museum’s activities, we shall focus on analyzing
the public’s response and the impact and limitations of the museum’s education and/or
cultural mediation.

3. Reception by the public of the museum’s offering

General observation regarding visitors’ behaviour

Not to undermine the museum’s content, visitors of the Norton House are mainly
enchanted by its unique architectural characteristics and to some degree the opulence
associated to the lifestyle of its first occupants (Mini-survey at the exit of the museum).
Nonetheless, it is important to highlight the attachment to heritage items, which
bring back memories for many visitors. They connect certain objects on display to objects
that they possessed in the past or still have, inherited from their parents and grandparents.
This brings into focus the object’s importance and the visitor’s fascination. It all depends
on the visitor’s ability to marvel at the exhibited items (Dufresne-Tassé, 2015).

Analysis of client comments

Exhibition visitors
Analyzing the degree of satisfaction is done either through a conversation with
visitors following their visit or by collecting comments using a questionnaire. Although

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90% of the comments offered in writing on the short anonymous questionnaire express
the visitors’ full satisfaction, sometimes they offer criticism, the most frequent one being
the difficult access to the building and the exhibition rooms for persons with reduced
mobility. In the perspective of equity and accessibility, improvements have been made
since to facilitate access to the building, as well as to the exhibition rooms situated on
the upper floors with the installation of an elevator.
Another recurring criticism is voiced mainly by Anglophones, deploring the fact
that interpretation panels are not written in English although the house was built by a
member of the English-speaking community (Mini-survey at the exit of the museum).
The problem is that the space dedicated to the permanent exhibition is too limited to
allow for the installation of a larger number of panels. The choice was therefore made to
design panels only in French, because 97% of visitors are French speakers (Visitor
registry). An interpretation booklet in English is made available to museum visitors who
do not read French. It is a complex situation where the museum deals with the notion of
historic legitimacy versus spatial constraints as regards to displayed information.

The education service clientele

The education service clientele is mainly composed of primary school groups in
the region. For a number of years, teachers who participated in workshops with their
students have been asked to provide an evaluation of the workshop’s quality. In general,
comments are very positive concerning exhibition quality, the subjects addressed,
workshop organization, the materials used, and the ability of the facilitator. Occasionally,
there is some criticism regarding the appropriateness of a particular workshop for the age
of the students, either the youngest or the oldest, but this remains marginal (Teacher
evaluation sheets).
Responses to the questionnaire designed specifically for this study show that
teachers’ comments have not changed. They are very positive regarding accessibility,
circulation, and orientation in the museum. Also, 25% of teachers are satisfied that the
workshops are appropriate for the students’ age category. The same percentage evoke
rigorous time planning of the workshop offered as a factor in their willingness to
participate.

People close to the cultural community

The museum’s orientation, exhibitions, and cultural mediation in general are
greatly appreciated, inasmuch as diverse public groups are taken into consideration.
However, some respondents suggested reinforcing the existing activities or organizing
new events (Questionnaire for the cultural milieu). These suggestions are pertinent but
are met with the institution’s limited financial and human resources. Furthermore, an
abundance of activities is commendable, but there is a need to ensure that it will be met
by an adequate response on behalf of the public given the variety of activities offered by
other organizations.
Although generally positive, the public’s response and satisfaction must inspire
the institution to adjust in order to fill any gaps that come to light and to consistently
question the direction given to its museum education and cultural mediation practises in
order to maintain the goals of accessibility, equality, equity, inclusion and sustainability.

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Institutional governance
The governance of an institution such as a museum is impacted by its social and
economic environment (Babbidge, 2018). “As the leader of its association, the Board of
Directors is the element of the system that should play the role of a flagship, herald and
ambassador, to keep a stimulating vision alive and to convey its message within the
organization and in the community where it operates” [free translation] (Malenfant, 2006,
p. 173). Governance in the museum sector means to ensure sustainability “by the
collective directions of the museums’ affairs, while meeting public needs and complying
with interests of key stakeholders” (Babbidge, 2018, p. 3). There are advantages and
disadvantages to smaller communities: most members of the Board of trustees are
personally acquainted. In fact, they oftentimes look to their circle of acquaintances for
the purpose of recruitment based on shared affinities. This facilitates interactions with
the various sectors of the community and allows for easy resolution of standard needs
and other requirements. Collaborations unfold without too much formality (Babbidge,
2018). In addition, the sentiment of belonging seems to be stronger than it is in larger
municipalities, particularly to the extent that the volunteer’s parents and grandparents
often took part in the institution’s development. Word of mouth contributes to projecting
a positive image of the museum and its activities in the milieu and the region (Société
des musées québécois (SMQ), 2015). However, it is necessary to be vigilant for too
much familiarity and informality amongst Board members may lead to issues of
confidentiality, conflict of interest and possibly foster the status quo (SMQ, 2015;
Babbidge, 2018).
At first glance, the governance of a regional museum may not seem directly
related to cultural mediation, but it should be noted that deficient governance can have
repercussions on activity orientation, important decision-making, and therefore
mediation effectiveness (Babbidge, 2018). This is to say that to have an institution driven
towards cultural democracy and cultural democratization, asks for the participation of
not only museum educators and mediators, but everyone involved in and around the
institution.

Discussion
As we have seen, the Beaulne Museum has progressively become more than just
an institution that conserves and collects objects. It is an institution that is involved in
education and community outreach wanting to enhance local history and heritage in a
sustainable fashion, looking to the future in involving younger generations in their
programming. It is mostly defined in terms of social positioning rather than a mere
collection of objects. The Beaulne Museum has a large number of exhibitions and a range
of cultural activities that are offered to diverse publics with a clear purpose to promote
cultural democracy and cultural democratization.
Despite the actions undertaken over the years by the Beaulne Museum to attract
a diversity of publics, part of the local and regional population has not yet come to own
the museum or else are not concerned by its existence. This could be explained in light
of the comments made by Luckerhoff (2007) when he mentions that nearly fifty years
after the publication of L'amour de l'art (Bourdieu & Darbel, 1969) we can still identify
the above-average level of education and income as factors that influence cultural

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 Toé & Émond

practices (Ganzeboom & Haanstra, 1989; Schuster, 1993; Donnat, 1994; Garon, 2005).
Considering the socio-economic reality of the region and in light of Bourdieu’s (1979)
studies and recent research, we can understand the “non-attractiveness” of the institution
for some members of the population.
In this regard at the Beaulne Museum, there is awareness to further address the
notion of non-publics. This term designates both the population to be reached out to,
lacking a beneficial relationship with art, and a clientele whose loyalty needs to be
secured, an audience who ensures the profitability of the operation of existing facilities
Lafortune (2012b).
In this context, the museum needs to continue to be proactive where actions are
taken in order to reach out to the museum’s specific population base and beyond, thinking
of occasional visitors but also of the non-publics in the hopes of attracting a greater
number of visitors who would find something relevant to explore. From this standpoint,
the Beaulne Museum educational programs and cultural mediation are designed at best,
to meet the needs of the greatest number of citizens and help develop a sense of belonging
that will favour long-term adhesion to the institution. Hence, the notions of democracy
and democratization as modalities to cultural mediation are circumscribed into the
promotion of engagement and inclusion and the strengthening of culture in the
community.
In general, the Beaulne Museum exemplifies, by its diverse actions, what Douglas
Worts (2006), a culture and sustainability specialist and former interpretive planner at
the Art Gallery of Ontario, wished to see in museums, that is, having museums
increasingly maximizing “their potential to be culturally relevant by being much more
responsive to the needs and realities of their communities and mindful of the impact (or
lack of impact) that their work has on those communities” (p. 47).
With the optic of cultural democracy and cultural democratization as modalities
to cultural mediation, the museum educational role is gradually changing from a provider
to a facilitator of knowledge and experiences. Besides the guided tours and activities such
as workshops for schools, the museum is now prompted to create education programs
tailored to specific needs encountered within its community and in collaboration with the
targeted publics using all the mediation tools available and in a multidisciplinary fashion.
These programs are part of the continuation of the development of museum education
where cultural democracy and democratization are at the forefront of the proposed
strategies. As proposed by Worts (2006), they take form when the museum is seeking the
pulse of specific communities and getting citizens involved in the process. Concretely,
we could foresee the Beaulne Museum sharing responsibilities between museum actors
and community groups in matters of planning exhibitions, overseeing collections and
putting in place education strategies, as proposed by Émond and Mendonça (2018), that
encompass goals of accessibility, equality, inclusion, equity and sustainability be that
economic, social and environmental. Specifically, in considering the Beaulne Museum’s
cultural mediation approaches to developing cultural democracy and democratization
within its history and current development, we identified three key factors that could be
applied to other regional institutions:
• First, a regional museum should be seen as an institution developing its
activities around its collections and audiences, being always engaged
towards developing community participation;

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 Toé & Émond

• Second, the museum educational purposes should be framed around the

museum being a knowledge and experience facilitator and being socially
responsible and conscious of its civic role;
• Third, the museum target audiences should continue to be built towards
the inclusion of new publics including non-publics to achieve diversity
and equity in the region it serves and beyond.

Conclusion
Museum education and cultural mediation at the Beaulne Museum are, in
proportionate to its size and means, supported by a robust, varied, and optimal offering.
They address concerns about cultural democracy and democratization inasmuch as,
despite some challenges, they provide an opportunity to a large number of stakeholders
to express themselves and promote greater citizen access to activities. The demographic
and socio-economic character of the museum’s environment has led its managers to
expand their education efforts beyond the focus on exhibitions, and to seek and draw
participation of the largest possible number of people in an eclectic choice of cultural
activities.
Despite the museum’s modest resources, the public’s response has been very
positive. Nevertheless, effort is mainly needed in relation to the issue of non-publics. We
believe that although an improvement in this regard is tied to progress on the level of
demographic and socio-economic indicators, we can start thinking about identifying
other avenues for action to assure sustainability.
We can wonder if sustained viability requires local and regional museums to
develop their role as places of “societing” a term used by Grimes and Minelli (2016) to
propose a new kind of participation. This is to view museums not only as institutions
adapting their offers to diverse publics’ needs, but as social actors embedded in their
communities. Exploiting “societing” in the museum context would translate into giving
diverse members within communities access to their collections, while also providing a
unique brand or label. In doing so, distinctive experiences would be created in a place
where members of communities could meet and share their different perceptions of the
world in an open dialogue with the institution. In the spirit of sustainability, can regional
museums provide an environment where “societing” can occur? If so, this key notion
could be added to our list, where the focus of a regional institution would be at the
foremost, to create a “place to be” in the spirit of cultural democracy and cultural
democratization.

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