Living the dream

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This article was published 02/03/2020 (2358 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

For the past 23 years, Claudette Leclerc has put the Manitoba Museum first as its longest-serving executive director and CEO.

And she was still putting it first when she announced, last week, that she’d be retiring from its helm in 2021.

“It’s our 50th anniversary and, at the end of this calendar year we’ll be finishing our big capital renewal of the galleries, our Bringing Our Stories Forward project, and I just thought that this would be a really good time to pass the baton to my successor,” she said during an interview in the book-lined Dr. F.A.L. Mathewson Reading Room at the Manitoba Museum.

“We have a major capital renewal vision that has three major steps. The first one was the expansion and renewal of Alloway Hall, which was $5.3 million. The second is the Bringing Our Stories Forward gallery renewal project, which is $20.5 million. The third one is a big one, and it’s the biggest: we want to establish a science centre for Manitoba. But that would be another 10-plus year commitment, and I realized that I didn’t want the organization to stall on its plan of renewal.

“I’m not one to ever abandon a project,” she says. “You’re all in or you’re out, and I want the organization to keep the foot on the gas.”

Leclerc, 58, has long been a pillar of the Winnipeg’s arts and culture scene. She began her career leading the Winnipeg International Children’s Festival and then became executive director of the Folk Arts Council, the organization that puts on Folklorama. Following the announcement of her retirement, the Free Press sat down with Leclerc to discuss her career, the importance of mentors, and why both Manitoba and the Manitoba Museum have special places in her heart.

Jen Zoratti: Tell me about what it was like when you started at the Manitoba Museum, in the late 1990s.

Claudette Leclerc: Well, I had the great fortune to come into the position succeeding one of my mentors, Joanne DiCosimo. She had started a major capital campaign which saw the building of the original 5,000-square-foot Alloway Hall, the expansion of our collection storage and systems, and she also worked very hard for the museum to acquire the HBC Museum Collection. I came in at a point when that capital campaign was halfway done, and the major projects remaining were the completion of a 30,000-square-foot addition to the museum, which would house the HBC Museum Collection, as well as the HBC Gallery, and expand our collections spaces and technical services, as well as to finish the story of Manitoba.

When our founders developed the plan for the Manitoba Museum of Man and Nature, ancient to contemporary time, north to south, it was like a chapter book. When it first opened, yes, that iconic bison diorama was there, but each gallery came on in stream. The most diverse region culturally and naturally in our province is the parklands region. The development of the parklands gallery was kept for last. It was the last chapter of the storybook of Manitoba that was yet to be told.

Jen Zoratti: It sounds similar to now: lots of change, and lots to do.

Claudette Leclerc: I’ll tell you, the foundation of the staff who were here, including Joanne, who had laid such a strong and solid foundation for me to step into, I will be eternally grateful for.

 

 

Jen Zoratti: I noticed you teared up a bit talking about Joanne.

Claudette Leclerc: Joanne was on the committee that hired me for my very first cultural director job. I was in my early 20s, and I applied to be the executive director of the Winnipeg International Children’s Festival. When she was leaving here, she encouraged me to apply. I said, “No, there’s no way I’d be qualified for that job.” And she said, ‘I think you should consider it.’ I had six interviews for this job, and I have to say that I wasn’t that far into the process when I fell in love with the place and I thought, “This is somewhere I’d really like to work.”

Jen Zoratti: And it certainly seems like you’ve loved working here.

Claudette Leclerc: This is a dream job. When I started 23 years ago, I never intended to stay here 23 years and retire here. But I have to say, I’ve stayed because there’s not days or weeks where I don’t learn something new here. I continue to learn and be challenged by this job. And we’ve had some tough times like any non-profit charity, but there’s not a day that I’ve gotten up that I haven’t been really embraced the day and the job that needs to be done and I’ve always held in the highest regard my colleagues and the work we do here.

Jen Zoratti: You were young when you took the helm, in your 30s.

Claudette Leclerc: I was definitely the youngest on the senior team.

Jen Zoratti: Was that intimidating?

Claudette Leclerc: No. When I met the senior team on the very first day, one of the first questions they asked me was, “Are you a cat or a dog person and where’s your lake?” And I thought, “We’re going to get along just fine.” I have a cat (Morris) and a dog (Ruby), and my lake is Lake of the Woods.

Jen Zoratti: I assume spending some time there is part of your post-retirement plan.

Claudette Leclerc: Yes, definitely. We’re also taking an extended trip to Italy. We’ve always wanted to go for a longer period of time and we’re big lovers of Italy. We’re starting our training; we’re going to do some of, not all of, the Camino de Santiago (in Spain). We’re going to do the last 120 kilometres. I’m interested in doing volunteer work, but I’m not making any decisions yet. I’ve been reaching out to my retired CEO friends for advice on decompressing because I’ve been an executive director for 37 years. I’ve been carrying the responsibility of small, medium and large organizations and all of their committed volunteers and boards and staff. All of those jobs I’ve thought about and worried about 24/7, so I’m ready to pass the baton.

 

 

Jen Zoratti: You say “we” — are you married, or do you have a partner?

Claudette Leclerc: I’ve been married for 31 years to Rob Kennedy (Manitoba’s film liaison, also recently retired). We have a wonderful daughter (Zoë Leclerc-Kennedy) who is a theatre professional; she’s the apprentice stage manager for Women of the Fur Trade (currently playing at Royal MTC’s Warehouse theatre).

Jen Zoratti: It seems like you’re a pretty artsy family.

Claudette Leclerc: When I met my husband he was the technical director at Manitoba Theatre Centre, and we had our wedding reception in the then-remodelled lobby of the Warehouse. We are very much an arts and culture family.

Jen Zoratti: Not only did you stay at the Manitoba Museum, you built your career and life in Manitoba. (Her family moved to Winnipeg from Hamilton when she was nine.) Why?

Claudette Leclerc: Oh, I’m a ‘Toban. To live here is to love Manitoba. I love the very rich Indigenous history we have here in this province. I’ve learned so much from our elders and communities. My eight years at Folklorama exposed me in major immersion to new Canadians and why they choose to be here. The reasons they chose and stay here are similar to mine; this is a very special place. And I know when we do a national search for a senior position, I can’t tell you how many people we hear from who say, ‘I want to come home.’

I like the size. I’ve often said that you can’t burn bridges in River City and I really do believe that. I find a lot of people operate that way here. I live three kilometres from the museum, but I gotta get over two bridges to get home. I don’t like to burn bridges. I like to work collaboratively with people and, at the end of the day, I like to get home.

Jen Zoratti: We’ve talked about the evolution of the museum. What, to your mind, is the role of a modern museum?

Claudette Leclerc: I think a modern museum needs to be a place where the community feels safe to gather and to share. To discuss different views. I think dialogue is really important, and I think museums are safe havens for dialogue to occur. The program staff here does an incredible job in creating those opportunities for dialogue, and the curators do an incredible job on providing, then, the backdrop of exhibits from which those two can come to life. We, as citizens, have an obligation to learn from our past because it’s through the learning of our past that we can shape a better future.

This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

jen.zoratti@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @JenZoratti