Latest news with #MuseumLondon
CTV News
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- CTV News
In Your Community: Museum London
In Your Community: Museum London CTV London's Julie Atchison was joined by Museum London's Andrew Kear to talk about their summer launch party!
CTV News
6 days ago
- Business
- CTV News
Mayor's budget squeeze on city hall's external boards and agencies yet to yield tax savings
London mayor asked several agencies to find budget savings in order to meet his property tax increase target of below five per cent, reports Daryl Newcombe. Mayor Josh Morgan believes it's too early to tell if he can still meet his property tax target of below 5 per cent in 2026. Earlier this spring, Morgan and Budget Chair Coun. Elizabeth Peloza contacted 12 city-funded agencies, boards and commissions (ABCs) requesting they provide opportunities for potential budget reductions, provincial/federal advocacy and new revenue generation. However, just two response letters appear on the agenda of next week's Budget Committee meeting. '(Some) other organizations we're still in discussions with, and other boards just need some time to dig into their budgets,' Morgan tells CTV News. The letters on the agenda from the Middlesex London Health Unit (MLHU) and Museum London both include blunt warnings against another budget reduction in 2026. 060425 - Property tax Exterior of Museum London. (Daryl Newcombe/CTV News London) 'Further budget reductions from the City will necessitate reduced operating hours, impact jobs, and reduce our ability to attract investment from all levels of government, sponsors and donors,' reads the letter from Museum London. The MLHU writes, 'further reducing the funding from the City by an additional 1.5% would lead to a deficit of over $1 million dollars for the Health Unit next year.' 060425 - Property tax Exterior of Middlesex London Health Unit. (Daryl Newcombe/CTV News London) Peloza explains that the 2024-2027 municipal budget already includes savings from both agencies, 'In their letters it's stated that at the beginning of the multi-year budget they already took their (budget) cut then. Now they're saying, 'I don't have more to give.'' 'I'm not surprised by their responses,' admits the mayor. 'I met with both of them individually, and as I said all along, there's going to be some organizations that are facing different types of pressures than others.' Outreach to the city's ABCs was an extensive undertaking by Morgan and Peloza earlier this spring. 060425 - Property tax Projected property tax increase in 2024-2027 Budget. (City of London) Joint Meetings with the Mayor and Budget Chair: • RBC Place • Middlesex-London Health Unit • Upper Thames River Conservation Authority • London Middlesex Community Housing Meetings with the Mayor: • London Public Library Meetings with the Budget Chair: • London Police Services Board – Finance Committee • Museum London • Tourism London • London Transit Commission Written Correspondence Provided to: • Kettle Creek Conservation Authority • Lower Thames Valley Conservation Authority • Eldon House The mayor emphasizes ABCs can still respond to City Hall about potential budget savings in the coming weeks and months. 'Given their board (meeting) cycles, (and) the amount of time their staff need to look into things in a meaningful and serious way, they're going to need a little bit more time,' he explains. 'What I've said to them is there's no bad time to bring forward a budget savings.' The London Police Services Board's finance committee recently began looking for between $1 million and $1.5 million in budget savings that would not impact police operations. The appointment of a temporary London Transit Commission (LTC) made up of Council members has delayed an analysis of the net financial impact of two unanticipated events when the LTC's multi-year budget was first approved: lower fuel prices and declining international student enrolment at Fanshawe College. London's initial property tax rate increase in 2026 was projected to be 6.4 per cent, but the mayor set his own target of below 5 per cent. 060425 - Property tax 2024-2027 Municipal Budget Documents. (File) Achieving the mayor's target requires finding savings and/or revenue totaling about $13 million. Peloza believes budget savings from external agencies, boards, and commissioners will be needed for the mayor to reach his target. 'I'm going to assume that we were banking on them, and the mayor was especially banking on them as he made a target to get under a certain percentage,' she admits. 'It's going to get to the point of which ones can we cut, which ones can't we cut. Those decisions will start with him and then go to council for consideration.' Council deliberations about the mayor's draft budget begin in late November. Morgan says it's still too early to determine if his tax target will be reached. 'I don't know yet, but what we are doing is we're tracking in the right direction,' he says. Representatives of the Health Unit and Museum London have asked to speak at the Budget Committee meeting on June 11.
CBC
13-05-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
Award-winning 'Afro-forward' restaurant to open café at Museum London
Social Sharing A unique London restaurant that focuses on culture through food is opening a new café at Museum London later this summer. Yaya's Kitchen, run by husband and wife team Malvin and Maryam Wright, is currently a pop-up supper club operating out of the Food Incubator Hub in Old East Village. The restaurant has won local awards, including London Inc. Magazine's Best Fine Dining Restaurant in 2024. Since opening in 2017, the Wright's have offered diners a culturally educational meal when they host their weekly dinner. "It's a continuation or an expansion of our existing culinary project," Malvin said. "We always tell our guests we are not your usual restaurant by any stretch of the imagination." He describes the food as "afro-forward" and from no particular country. The couple serves dishes from the "global Black experience" that many diners would not have tried before, something they plan to bring to the café's lunch menu at the museum. "As we always tell our guests, even at our restaurant: we don't serve jerk chicken or jollof rice," Malvin said, adding that if it can be found at a supermarket, they aren't interested. "Because there is so much more, right?" Museum is 'thrilled' The Wrights said they reached out to Museum London on multiple occasions to pitch the idea of a café to them. Their vision resonated with the museum, which is thrilled for the café to open, the musuem's spokesperon Abby Vincent said. "Food is such an important part of culture and expression. Having diverse food offerings is really exciting." Vincent said the Museum had been looking for a tenant to take over the space after the Rhino Lounge Café closed in 2024. Wright said finalizing the menu will take several weeks and will include introducing staff to new ingredients. He added he wants to take time to create what he described as a "sincere and honest representation" of diversity. Wright said they are hoping to plan a grand opening soon, but can't set a date just yet. "We're aiming for the first or second week of June, but it's out of our hands," he said, explaining that a lot of work needs to be finished on the physical space.
CTV News
02-05-2025
- Entertainment
- CTV News
In Your Community: Up with Art at Museum London
London Watch CTV London's Julie Atchison was at Up with Art at Museum London and spoke with Chuck Lazenby, Executive Director of the Unity Project.
CBC
09-02-2025
- General
- CBC
3 historians share local Black history they believe deserves more recognition
Social Sharing Southwestern Ontario's Black heritage, and the people responsible for documenting and preserving it for future generations, took centre stage this past week at Museum London. On Wednesday, the museum played host to a panel of six museum curators and historians from across southwestern Ontario, who shared details about the work their organizations do to save artifacts and the lived experiences of the local Black community. They also touched on the family histories that have been uncovered through their collections and research, efforts to engage young people and new arrivals with Black history, and the challenges around digitizing collections to make them more accessible. The event was conducted in partnership with the London Black Heritage Council as part of the museum's speakers' series "History Now!" Among those on hand were Irene Moore Davis of the Amherstburg Freedom Museum, Bryan and Shannon Prince of Buxton National Historic Site & Museum, Doug Robbins of Chatham-Kent Black Historical Society, Zahra McDoom of Museum London, and researcher Heather Rennalls. After the event, CBC News asked three of the panelists to share a piece of local Black history they feel deserves more attention, or to share something they learned in their research that was noteworthy to them. Zahra McDoom Museum London's Zahra McDoom on the city's historic Black newspaper 12 hours ago Duration 2:52 Zahra McDoom, TD curator of collections at Museum London, says one piece of local Black history she likes to call attention to is the Dawn of Tomorrow, the Black newspaper founded in London in 1923 by James Jenkins, copies of which are housed at the Western Archives. McDoom, who is TD Curator of Collections at Museum London, spoke about the Dawn of Tomorrow, the Black newspaper founded by James F. Jenkins and published in London beginning in 1923. "The Dawn of Tomorrow is a rich source for Canadian history, Canadian Black history, and it's written in the voices of the people," McDoom said. "It isn't some external gaze looking at the Black community and writing about them, but it comes from community voices. It comes from their own experiences." Copies of the newspaper are available on microfilm at the London Public Library and at Western University. Irene Moore Davis Irene Moore Davis on role men of African descent played in Upper Canada Rebellion 12 hours ago Duration 2:47 Irene Moore Davis, president of the Essex County Black Historical Research Society and assistant curator at the Amherstburg Freedom Museum in Essex County, says one piece of local Black history often overlooked is the role men of African descent played defending Fort Malden in Amherstburg during the 1837-1838 Upper Canada Rebellion. Davis, president of the Essex County Black Historical Research Society and assistant curator at the Amherstburg Freedom Museum, said there are many stories worth telling, but one that stood out for her dates back to the 1837-1838 Upper Canada Rebellion. "Down in Amherstburg, there was a group of men of African descent from throughout Essex County, but most particularly Amherstburg and Colchester, who formed a Black militia to help defend the fort from the rebels and from their American supporters," she said. The leader of the militia, she said, was Josiah Henson, who founded the Dawn Settlement near Dresden for Black settlers who had escaped slavery in the United States. The community is now home to The Josiah Henson Museum of African-Canadian History. Henson later served as the inspiration for the character Uncle Tom in the book Uncle Tom's Cabin. Heather Rennalls Heather Rennalls on the relationship between Harriet Tubman and John Brown 12 hours ago Duration 2:24 Heather Rennalls, an independent researcher and freelance writer based in Oxford County, said she was surprised to learn of the personal connection between Harriet Tubman and John Brown, and that the two were both allies and friends. Rennalls, an independent researcher and freelance writer based in Oxford County, said her research led her to discover more about the close friendship between abolitionists John Brown and Harriet Tubman. "John Brown had mentioned in one of his letters, when he was in Ingersoll, that Harriet Tubman was supposed to meet him," she said. Initially skeptical, she says she was surprised to learn the two were both allies and friends. The two first met in St. Catharines, Ont., in 1858. Tubman helped Brown plan the ill-fated raid on the Harpers Ferry Armory the following year in what is now West Virginia, an event which helped spark the Civil War.
