[BCMA] Port Hardy Museum New Exhibit 'The Brilliant Lilian Bland’

[Moderated BCMA subscriber listserv]

PORT HARDY, KWAKIUTL TERRITORY – The Port Hardy Museum and Visitor Centre
is delighted to announce the opening of The Lilian Bland 'The Woman Who
Soared, The Brilliant Lilian Bland’ at our Museum location. (7110 Market
St).
[image: Lilian Bland Press Release photo 1.tiff]

Are you air-minded? Are your eyes always on the birds overhead? Well, you
are not alone. Meet the brilliant Lilian Bland!

In 1911 Bland became the first woman in the world to design, build, and fly
her own powered aircraft. Did you know that this important historical
figure lived in the remote community of Quatsino on Northern Vancouver
Island.

During the early days of aviation, people flocked to home-built airplanes.
These flimsy structures fulfilled an eons long human dream — to fly. 18
years before Amelia Earhart would make her transatlantic journey, Lilian
Bland was studying diagrams of airplanes and designing her plane the Mayfly
in her uncle's workshop.

Since youth, Bland was never one to be confined to society’s rules. She is
remembered as sarcastic and passionate, always chasing after what she
wanted, despite push-back.

This new exhibit explores her early life pursuing photography, her days as
an aviatrix, and her time as a homesteader in Quatsino.

The Exhibit “The Woman Who Soared, The Brilliant Lilian Bland” was curated
by Wren Springle (Curatorial Assistant, YCW). This exhibit was made
possible with the aid of The Quatsino Museum and Archives, and the Lilian
Bland Website.

Other contributors from our team include Robin Folvik (Curator/Executive
Director), Brie Watson (Associate Curator), Ashley Cadwallader (Assistant
Manager of Visitor Services), Danya Gorodetsky (Education Programmer), and
Kiara Benjamin (Community Engagement Assistant).

The Port Hardy Museum and Visitor Centre is operated by the Port Hardy
Heritage Society, a non-profit organization. For more information about
latest activities, exhibits or how to support the organization, visit
https://www.porthardymuseum.com/

The exhibit will be on display until August 2027, and we welcome visitors
and community members to view it.

-30-

-- 


*The Port Hardy Museum is located on the unceded homelands of the Kwakiutl
First Nation in Gwa’dzi (Hardy Bay), a place of longstanding gathering and
exchange for many coastal nations. We honour the Kwakiutl as caretakers of
these lands and waters and are committed to elevating Indigenous voices,
knowledge, and perspectives.*
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