Surrounded by a bounty of natural beauty, it is no wonder the poetic nature of Smithers has led to a vibrant arts and cultural scene.
The town’s art gallery, library, archive, and museum (GLAM) services act as a hub for the rest of the Bulkley Valley.
Three women, the “GLAM girls,” are a large part of this success story. The trio consists of Smithers Art Gallery galley manager Nicole Chernish, Bulkley Valley Museum curator Kira Westby, and Smithers Public Library director of library services Wendy Wright.
“It does kind of feel like we are anchors for the community in a way,” said Nicole.
The GLAM girls have a strong working relationship. In a small community like Smithers, collaboration is key.
“We really do try and support each other in as many ways as possible, because let’s face it, we are three very strong, passionate, driven kind of people, but you always need to have that extra support to kind of take you to that next level,” said Nicole.
“You have these three very passionate people coming from different places, all landing here, all going ‘wow, this place is so awesome’,” said Kira.
All three women grew up outside of the province, before landing in Smithers.
Kira moved to Smithers from London, Ontario, after applying to online job ads in places all over Canada. She received a job offer from the Bulkley Valley Museum and thought “might as well do a big drastic change.”
“We said it was a five-year plan … now it’s been nine years,” she said.
Wendy also relocated to Smithers for her current role nine years ago. But unlike Kira, Wendy was not seeing the town with fresh eyes.
“I was just charmed by this place,” explained Wendy.
Years ago, when she was working as a sales representative for a publisher, she traveled to Smithers to sell to Mountain Eagle Books and Interior Stationery.
Wendy worked in books her whole life in sales roles, and before she relocated to the Smithers Public Library, she was working at the Vancouver Island Regional Library.
“In libraries, you can hold a program or event where community members are getting ideas from each other. That to me is alchemy. It’s magic. It’s really, truly exciting,” said Wendy.
In her previous role, she would travel between nine branches to work, having to catch the ferry made her feel “scattered” and “disconnected.”
“And so that was part of the reason why we moved up to Smithers was so that we could live work and play all in the same place,” said Wendy. “We wanted to be deeply involved in our community,”
Nicole moved to Smithers with her family five years ago, from Edmonton, for her husband’s job. She received a “fantastic introduction,” mesmerized by the mountains and lakes.
Growing up in Yellowknife, Nicole was no stranger to northern landscapes.
While browsing for jobs shortly after she arrived, she came across a listing for the Smithers Art Gallery manager. Her son urged her to apply.
“It was kind of my dream job,” explained Nicole.
“All the kinds of things that I did before this kind of came together to make it work.”
She has a background in museums, educational programming tourism and financial administration.
The educational programming aspect is key to GLAM’s strategy.
“I think that that’s one of the things that we’re doing really well, is that we’re reaching kids,” explained Nicole.
“We’re attracting the different school groups to come in, take a look at our exhibits.”
With the gallery and museum in the same building, Nicole and Kira will split a class in half when school groups come through.
“It’s funny watching some of them, they don’t want to come to the museums because they are so engrossed in what they’re doing here [at the art gallery], or vice versa,” explained Kira.
“Then you see that kid who didn’t want to go to the gallery, walking out talking about a painting … it’s kind of funny.”
The museum and gallery partner with the library for Literacy Week, educating people of all ages on the importance of reading.
“We put together some kits for them to hand out,” explained Kira.
“And we’ve done some other things like that, where we combined kits for different activities.”
Wendy explained that kids love the library, because it’s free to access, which means they have freedom to roam.
“They get to pick what they want to read, they get to choose their own books,” said Wendy.
“The library is actually busier than you can tell from walking into it, because they are all at home, sitting at home downloading things that they’re getting for free with their library card.”
Keeping GLAM spaces free, accessible and welcoming is central to the trio’s approach.
“Sometimes folks who just need a place to warm up for an hour, come in and spend some time,” explained Kira. “And that’s nice too.”
“It’s not about feeling that coming into an art space, you have to purchase anything, it’s you can come in and just take a look,” said Nicole.
“Then you can go, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with just appreciating this sort of space.
“We don’t want you leaving, feeling like you need to buy something. That’s not our mandate.”
The library sits next to the homeless encampment and Wendy said she encourages anyone to come into the space.
And for those who have questions, she is happy to provide them with the proper educational resources.