“Museum Report”, FCM to the Art Association of Montreal
December 31, 1917

It is now just over a year since the founding of the Museum and taking into consideration the very meager funds at thy disposal of the Committee it feels it can congratulate itself on having established the nucleus of a valuable permanent collection. This collection is as yet small and disconnected, but it has been its policy to represent as many groups as possible in order to show the public the variety of material which is required to form a useful working museum. For it is desirable not to merely appeal to the dilettante but to combine in the collections qualities of design and technique which will make them of greatest practical value. The Committee realizes that this put added responsibility on its shoulders, owing to the small space allotted it, but proposes to suppress certain articles as better specimens are obtained and form students’ series which can be seen on application only. This is the usual method of all modern museums.

As no money was available for either installation or objects it was necessary for the Committee to solicit funds on its own behalf and some $2650.00 was collected. This was used for the purchase of objects only as it was not considered fair to utilize this money for cases. It was equally impracticable to accept or purchase objects without properly housing them and the Committee was forced to spend about $1000.00 for installation, painting and repairing of cases, etc. As most of these were donated it is felt that action was fully justified as, when new, these cases represented an outlay of several thousand dollars. Besides these gifts the museum has received a number of articles of considerable importance, a list of which will be found below. Loans have been encouraged though the Committee feels these are a mistake unless promised for a long period, as short term leans are expensive to handle and upset the arrangement of the collection.

It is hoped the Council and every member will give their full support to the Museum, especially in the matter of funds, to enable it to successfully continue the work which it has undertaken.