Job Posting - Building Conservation Intern (full time graduate position to March 28 2025)

Building Conservation Intern Wanted!

Heritage NL is a non-profit organization that promotes the conservation and awareness of Newfoundland and Labrador's historic places and the safeguarding of its Intangible Cultural Heritage. Heritage NL is seeking a qualified individual passionate about heritage carpentry or conservation for the position of Building Conservation Intern. Work will include assisting Heritage NL staff and workshop leaders on providing technical workshops on the repair and restoration of wooden windows and other conservation skills, helping provide workshops on Standards and Guidelines, preparing a written report on the benefits of window restoration over replacement, and assisting with assessments of historic properties in the field.

A certificate of completion, diploma, or degree in heritage conservation, heritage carpentry or masonry; or certification as an apprentice carpenter; or practical experience in building trades with an interest in heritage restoration or conservation. The candidate must have excellent oral and written communication skills that could be gained by a degree in an appropriate undergraduate or graduate program in such fields as: history; archaeology, folklore, architecture, cultural geography, or a related field.

Candidates must meet eligibility requirements under the YCW program and be a resident of Newfoundland and Labrador. The job will be situated at the Heritage NL offices in downtown St. John's.

Hourly wage:

$21.00

Deadline to Apply: 19 April 2024

All applications must be made through the YCW website:

https://young-canada-works.canada.ca/Opportunity/ProjectDetails?projectId=19530 

Job Posting - Celebrate 75 Researcher 12 week position through Young Canada Works.

The Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador (Heritage NL) is hiring a Celebrate 75 Researcher as a 12 week position. Heritage NL has designated over 360 Registered Heritage Structures since its creation. These places range from elaborate houses and lodges, to modest fishing structures, and works of public engineering. They are a physical record of where we have come from, and are repositories of the stories that tell our history. Celebrate 75 is a project to recognize, record, celebrate, and promote the meaning and evolution of these places since Newfoundland and Labrador’s Confederation with Canada in 1949.

The Researcher will be undertaking research about the historic architecture of local historic places, with the goal that the collected information and images from the research will be featured in the Celebrate 75 online media campaign.

The applicant must have excellent oral and written communication skills; good knowledge of word processing and Excel; availability to travel; and an undergraduate or masters level degree in history, archaeology, folklore, journalism, creative writing, or architecture. Previous experience with a heritage organization is an asset. Good computer skills required, including ability to do online and archival research. Experience with blogging/informal newsletter writing an asset.

The position may also assist with Heritage NL public programs related to historic places as needed, and will report directly to Heritage NL’s Executive Director.

$20/hr, 35 hrs a week, 12 weeks.

Deadline to apply: April 26, 2024

A student may be eligible for employment if they:

• are a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident, or have refugee status in Canada (non-Canadians holding temporary work visas or awaiting permanent resident status are not eligible);
• are legally entitled to work in Canada (have a valid social insurance number);
• are between 16 and 30 years of age inclusively at the start of employment; and
• are a high school, college, CEGEP or university student.

All applications must be made through the YCW website:

https://young-canada-works.canada.ca/Opportunity/ProjectDetails?projectId=19512&showBackToSearch=true 

Celebrating the Traditional Skills of the Humber Valley

photo courtesy Lauralee Ledrew, Cormack

Heritage NL has been working with the Department of Folklore and the Harris centre at Memorial University on a traditional skills inventory for the Humber Valley.  The following communities are included in the study: Steady Brook, Little Rapids, Humber Village, Humber Valley Resort, Pasadena, Pynn’s Brook, Little Harbour, St. Judes, Deer Lake, Reidville, Cormack, and Howley. 

The study is now finished, and is presented in two parts. First is the Humber Valley Skills Inventory (2024) which showcases individual makers, crafters, and artists in the region. The second is a report entitled Needs and Gaps Related to Traditional Knowledge Transfer in the Humber Valley, NL (2024), which explores challenges related to traditional skills.

And as a followup to a recent Thriving Regions workshop in Deer Lake, we have set up a new facebook group, Humber Valley Traditional Skills, for those people wishing to discuss or share opportunities for knowledge transfer:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/humbervalleytraditionalskills

Thanks to Harris Centre for their support and to the work of our researchers: Denise McKeown, research assistant & writer; Felicia Omodunke Somolu, graphic designer; Emlyn Tuck, needs and gaps researcher; Rose Baruh and Era Mahmuda, archival research. Thanks also to Heritage NL staff Andrea O’Brien and Terra Barrett, for fieldwork assistance and editing.

There are also collections of material related to both the Humber Valley generally and Deer Lake specifically on Memorial University's Digital Archives Initiative:

https://dai.mun.ca/digital/ich_wn/

Talking about Wool - From Sheep to Socks

Do you produce, have, use, or love wool? 

Memorial folklore students are looking for wool enthusiasts in Newfoundland and Labrador to interview, photograph, or maybe visit, with the aim of developing a series of student papers and podcasts about the wool industry. 

Heritage NL is working with the students of Folk6400, a Graduate Seminar in Material Culture at Memorial University, to study the linkages between local raw wool and the crafting of products from that material. Are you a sheep farmer with underutilized wool? Are you a felter looking for a source of wool for your next project? Are you a new or experienced entrepreneur who has thoughts or questions about making or marketing wool-based craft in NL? If yes, our students want to talk to you! 

https://forms.gle/bzYcNGk5HB5eMVkN9 

"This Labrador school is now a recognized heritage structure, and its former students are nostalgic" New CBC article on the Indian Cove School Designation

CBC NL's Jessica Singer has published an article on the designation of the Indian Cove School, highlighting several former students' memories of the building.

Indian Cove School

You can read the full article here: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/indian-cove-school-labrador-1.7102073

Heritage NL Designates Three New Registered Heritage Structures

Photos of new Registered Heritage Structures. From Left to Right: Indian Cove School, Labrador; Cable Superintendent’s House in Heart's Content; and the Ross Property in Burin (photo courtesy of Russell Lynch).

Three historic properties in Burin, Indian Cove, and Heart’s Content have been awarded a heritage designation by Heritage NL. The designations include a one-room school, Anglo-American Telegraph Company housing, and a family home. 

The Indian Cove One Room School, constructed around 1940, provided a space for education for Indigenous and settler children until the community was resettled to nearby Mary’s Harbour in the late 1950s. Located by the waterfront in the center of the fishing village of Indian Cove, this one-story school building has remained primarily unchanged since construction. The school includes several pieces of original furniture, including wooden pews, chairs and desks, and a slate chalkboard. In recent years, the Indian Cove One Room School has become a community space again, hosting weddings and celebrations of life, and is located along a Battle Harbour Trust walking trail. Learn more from our website: https://heritagenl.ca/heritage-property/indian-cove-school-registered-heritage-structure/

The Cable Superintendent’s House is located on Parish Hall Hill in the Heart’s Content designated Heritage District. Constructed between 1881 and 1883 as housing for the Anglo-American Telegraph Company Superintendents, the house was designed by J.T. Southcott in the Second Empire style with a mansard roof and dormer windows. The Cable Superintendent’s House is part of the transatlantic cable history of Heart’s Content, including the Heart’s Content Cable Station Provincial Historic Site, which is currently being considered for UNESCO World Heritage Status. Learn more here: https://heritagenl.ca/heritage-property/cable-superintendents-house-registered-heritage-structure/

The Ross Property in Burin, also known as the “Red House,” is located off Little Burin Harbour and includes a family home, a small stage, and two outbuildings. Built circa 1888, the Ross house was constructed for George Ross and his wife, Charlotte Foote Ross, by her father, William Foote. George Ross was a blacksmith who operated a forge on the property from the mid-1890s to 1919, after which his son Charles took over following George Ross’s death. The Ross House is a 2.5-storey saltbox structure with a steep gable roof and central chimney. More information is available on our website: https://heritagenl.ca/heritage-property/ross-property-registered-heritage-structure/

“These properties reflect the varied history of the people of Newfoundland and Labrador as seen through built heritage,” says Dr. Lisa Daly, chair of Heritage NL. “Compared to the island, there are very few designated properties in Labrador, so we are pleased to designate the Indian Cove One Room School House as a built heritage that represents some of the complicated history of Indigenous and settler education in the province, and see its use as a community space. The Cable Superintendent’s House was built for Newfoundland’s role in transatlantic communications, keeping North America better connected to Europe. And the Ross Property was a blacksmith, a trade that was needed in every region to support fishing, farming, construction, and more. We are pleased to continue to work with the owners of heritage properties to continue to preserve the built heritage of Newfoundland and Labrador.”

Heritage NL was established in 1984 to preserve one of the most visible dimensions of Newfoundland and Labrador culture - its architectural heritage. Heritage NL designates buildings and other structures as Registered Heritage Structures and may provide grants for the purpose of preservation and restoration of such structures.

Heritage Update January 2024: Presentations, plaques, photographs, and a ribbon cutting!

In the first edition of the Heritage Update for 2024:

• Heritage NL is the recipient of the Governor General’s History Award for Excellence in Community Programming for its Craft at Risk project; 
• updating property plaques for Registered Heritage Structures to include the stories of the women who lived there, with a note on Lambert and Johanna Greene House and Outbuildings, Tilting, Fogo Island; 
• Heritage NL visits the Eastport Peninsula to host scanning parties in Salvage and Eastport, to document, preserve and share old photographs for the communities; 
• looking back at Heritage NL’s Skills Training and Mentor-Apprentice Program, with a peek inside the heritage window workshop of Neil Hammond; 
• and the City of St. John's and Heritage NL cut the ribbon on the official reopening of the Bowring Park Cantilever Bridge. 

download the pdf here

Made in Canada: Sustainable Fibre Arts Conference 2024

 

The Craft Council of Newfoundland and Labrador, through the provincial Year of the Arts initiative, has the pleasure to announce the Made in Canada: Sustainable Fibre Arts Conference 2024. The Conference is taking place from September 19 to 23, 2024, in Gros Morne National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. If you would like additional information, please find the Conference’s website through the embedded link. 

Organizations can contact the Craft Council of Newfoundland and Labrador directly if interested in becoming sponsors.

You are invited to the Humber Valley Thriving Regions workshop Jan 31

Heritage NL will be in Deer Lake on Wednesday, January 31, 2024 from 12:00 PM to 4:00 PM as part of the Harris Centre research project from Memorial, presenting on the Humber Valley Traditional Skills inventory. 

If you'd like to attend, it is free, with lunch provided, but you need to register in advance