Exploration Place welcomes new Executive Director

Leier brings a wealth of experience with her, as she worked at Exploration Place for 11 years prior to becoming the Executive Director, with her most recent role being the curator. Beyond her experience with Exploration Place, she also brings a strong educational background, as she graduated with a bachelor of arts with a major in archeology and minor in first nations studies with Simon Fraser University.

“I have a really good institutional knowledge of the building, so I know how each department functions. I know how we can function better, so I’m working with all management here, and we’re just seeing how we can improve things, how we can bring families back into the building and how we can bring the excitement back post-Covid,” she said.

Leier’s appointment as Executive Director also marks some local history for Exploration Place, as she is the first Indigenous person to take on the role.

“In one sense, it’s an incredibly important issue, because we have good connections and good relations with the Indigenous communities in the North. There’s a lot of work that needs to be done on truth and reconciliation. And in another sense, it’s not relevant at all, because she is just the best person for the job,” said Exploration Place Board Chair Dr. Todd Whitcombe.

As the first Indigenous Executive Director, Leier says she’s excited to continue the work Exploration Place has done in regards to truth and reconciliation and working with Indigenous communities like Lheidli T’enneh.

“What actually brought me to the Exploration Place when I first moved to Prince George was the reconciliation work that the Exploration Place was doing with the Lheidli T’enneh. I’m a member of the Okanagan First Nation, so reconciliation and the decolonization of the museum sector is really important to me,” Leier said.

“We’re going to work with other nations. We’re going to be repatriating some objects out of our collection back to the other First Nations, and we have some really exciting exhibits planned as well,” she continued.

Another big priority for Leier is bringing more family friendly exhibits and activities to Exploration Place.

“Since reopening post-Covid, our galleries are a little bit empty, and since being curator, I knew that I wanted to add more content. We want to have families come back into the building. I know there was a little bit of, unhappiness with the community when we pulled out the children’s gallery, so I think the community can expect some more children friendly exhibits to come in,” she said.

“We also want to bring back some more hands on S.T.E.A.M. activities for kids. Get them involved in science, get them excited, and bring the laughter and the busyness back into the building,” she continued.

Both Leier and Whitcombe wanted to give a huge thank you to former Executive Director Tracy Calogheros, as Leier says Calogheros was a fantastic mentor and helped prepare her for the role.

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by Tommy Osborne

Exploration Place welcomes new Executive Director

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