Diane Blake
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Diane Blake is a Canadian musuem creator, when she and her husband, Steve Smith, founded the Myseum of Toronto, Toronto's first history museum.[1][2] She is also a senior volunteer with the Arthritis Society of Canada.[3]
Early life
Blake was born in Hertfordshire, in 1959.[4] When she enrolled at the University of London she was the first member of her family to attend University. She earned a degree in Computer Science.
In a 2020 interview Blake said she decided to answer a job ad from the Canadian government, in 1983, when she was 29 years old, in part, because she had not yet found a serious boyfriend in England.[4] She describes a Canadian friend, in England, telling her that Oshawa, where her first job was to be, was not the most desirable place in Canada.
Canada
Blake did work in Oshawa, briefly.[4] She decribes moving to Toronto, meeting her future husband, then getting married, having children, all while continuing to work with computers.
A few years after her children were born Blake went back to school and studied Library Science.[4] She describes working as a librarian, and decided that the field was in such flux much of the skills she had been taught were obsolete. But then she got a job as an archivist, the job she said she wished she had been doing for her entire working life.
Blake said that, in the early years of their marriage she had been the primary bread winner, and had provided some seed money to her husband, but, that later his business ventures had been successful enough that they could consider philanthropy.[4] Her busband had been a board member at Historica Canada, the organization that produces Canada's heritage minute videos. So founding Myseum was a shared interest.
The pair began working with other interested parties in 2013, and Blake announced the official start of the Myseum in May of 2015.[5][6] The initial plan was for most exhibits to be online, with actual physical exhibits being made available to the public intermittently, on a pop-up basis.
Blake announced a CEO, and Board members for Myseum on December 13, 2018.[7]
References
- ↑ Marcus Gee (2015-04-03). "Toronto may finally be getting a history museum, thanks to this couple". The Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on 2021-08-01. https://web.archive.org/web/20210801142406/https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/toronto/toronto-may-finally-be-getting-a-history-museum-thanks-to-this-couple/article23787574/. Retrieved 2022-02-24. "Ms. Blake got the history bug in her native England, visiting stately homes on car trips with her parents. She came to Canada in 1983 to work for the Ontario government as a computer-systems analyst, moved on to Ontario Hydro, went to library school in the 1990s and did archival work for the Royal Canadian Yacht Club."
- ↑ "Meet the Board: Myseum wouldn’t be possible without these passionate Torontonians from across the GTA and around the world.". Myseum of Toronto. http://www.myseumoftoronto.com/about/meet-the-board/. Retrieved 2022-02-24.
- ↑ "Inspired to make a difference". Arthritis Society of Canada. 2020-09-16. Archived from the original on 2020-09-20. https://web.archive.org/web/20200920111442/https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/adv/article-inspired-to-make-a-difference/. Retrieved 2022-02-24. "This September, Ms. Blake is hosting a virtual gathering to introduce friends and neighbours to the work of the Arthritis Society and arthritis research."
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Paulina O'Kieffe-Anthony (2020-05-01). "Donor of the Month: Diane Blake". Sketch.ca. Archived from the original on 2021-01-19. https://web.archive.org/web/20210119024659/https://www.sketch.ca/2020/05/donor-of-the-month-diane-blake/. Retrieved 2022-02-24. "I was fortunate to be the first person in my family to go to university. I went to university in London and it opened a whole new world for me, and allowed me to pursue a variety of interests. I went into computer studies in the beginning and became a systems analyst. What did I use to do? Well I played field hockey, met my friends, went drinking in the pubs, you know, that sort of thing. Went on holidays to Europe, to Spain. Did fairly sort of normal stuff."
- ↑ Mark Maloney (2015-05-13). "Myseum of Toronto: not your traditional museum". Now magazine. https://nowtoronto.com/myseum-of-toronto-is-not-your-traditional-museum. Retrieved 2022-02-24. "Blake was hinting as recently as last month that a bricks-and-mortar proposal was imminent, perhaps at one of the numerous sites mentioned in the past for a Toronto museum. Stoking speculation was the fact a Museum of Toronto charity had been registered and two staff hired. A bricks-and-mortar location may still be part of Myseum’s future."
- ↑ Justin Skinner (2015-05-04). "Myseum of Toronto celebrates Toronto’s history, diversity and culture: Pop-up events throughout the GTA to highlight stories from the past and visions of the future". Toronto.com. https://www.toronto.com/news-story/5627081-myseum-of-toronto-celebrates-toronto-s-history-diversity-and-culture/. Retrieved 2022-02-24. "Blake said the idea has been in the works for two years, with a small but dedicated group of board members providing support during that time."
- ↑ "Myseum of Toronto Announces Jeremy Diamond as CEO and New Board Members". Newswire. 2018-12-13. https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/myseum-of-toronto-announces-jeremy-diamond-as-ceo-and-new-board-members-702671832.html. Retrieved 2022-02-24. "In addition to Diamond's appointment, Blake announced four new members to its Board of Directors, who join Founding Directors Ian Bandeen, Maureen Marshall, and Director Parna Sabet-Stephenson. The new members include: Richard Mozer, an Emmy-Award winning filmmaker; Carolyn Ray, CEO and founder of brand consulting firm AUTHENTICA; Paula Hughes, strategic planner and former Director of NYC Department for the Aging, and Janet Chow, Legal Counsel at the Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General."
