Originally published in Lake of the Woods Area News, Volume 55, Number 2, Spring 2025
The Lake of the Woods Museum and the Douglas Family Art Centre, known collectively as the Muse, serve as historical and cultural hubs for locals and lake residents, in addition to a significant number of visitors to Kenora each year. They provide educational, informational and enjoyable historical and art programming for youth, families and the community at large. Connecting the Muse to the Kenora and Lake of the Woods Community Foundation, as a donor and grant recipient seemed like a natural fit. The Muse established their first charitable agency endowment fund in 2020.
Robert Bulman, Board Chair of the Muse, states, “We have a very close relationship with Kenora and Lake of the Woods Community Foundation. We have three endowment funds with them, and one of them is the largest fund they hold. Every year, we receive growth from the funds, but we know that the principal will be there forever. As those endowment funds grow, we become less dependent on government funding. It allows us to do things we could not afford to do on a day-to-day basis; it allows us to do programming and bring in speakers. Our partnership with the Community Foundation, allows us to be a better organization.”
If you would like to help grow the arts and culture community at the Muse, please consider contributing to the Gail Konantz Art Education Endowment Fund, or the Lori Nelson Legacy Fund.
The Kenora and Lake of the Woods Community Foundation is a volunteer driven, charitable organization that promotes community philanthropy by working with both donors and charities. Since our inception in 2004, we have distributed $6 million in grants to charities in the Kenora and Lake of the Woods Region and thanks to our generous donors, our endowment funds have grown to $10 million. During this time, we have also been proudly supported and mentored by the Winnipeg Foundation and Community Foundations of Canada.
