Frieda Miller (left), Executive Director, VHEC with Nina Krieger (right), current Education Director and Curator and new Executive Director as of August 1, 2012
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VANCOUVER, BC – Frieda Miller, who has been with the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre since its founding in 1994, is retiring after six years as Executive Director. The Centre’s exhibits and education programs, which reach more than 15,000 students each year, place it among the most respected Holocaust centres in North America.
Miller has been responsible for much of the dynamic programming at the VHEC in recent years. Many will remember the impressive productions of the operas Brundibar and The Emperor of Atlantis. The Centre’s exhibit on view during the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics, More Than Just Games: Canada & the 1936 Olympics, achieved national acclaim and drew Canadians’ attention to the choices faced by athletes invited to participate in the 1936 Berlin Olympics.
An educator in post-secondary institutions with an expertise in museum studies before joining the VHEC in 1994, Miller has been deeply committed to the Centre’s educational programs and the expanded use of the web for the online delivery of exhibits and teaching resources. "My focus has been on the Holocaust as a tool to educate young people about the dangers of racism and to use our exhibits, teaching materials and the testimonies of our local survivor community to inquire into humanity's darkest moment," stated Miller.
Miller leaves the VHEC on August 1st and hands over the reigns to Nina Krieger, current Education Director and Curator at the Centre. According to Ed Lewin, President of the Centre’s Board, “Frieda has provided gifted and dedicated professional leadership and has been indefatigable in her efforts to ensure that the mission and mandate of the VHEC were furthered. On behalf of the society I want to wish Frieda all of the very best in her retirement, and at the same time, formally welcome Nina as she embarks on her new role as Executive Director.”
Lewin stated that Krieger is ideally suited to build on the success and profile of the VHEC. Before arriving at the VHEC in 2006, Krieger worked at Vancouver’s Contemporary Art Gallery and at the London Consortium Summer School at Tate Modern and Artangel in London, England. She is highly regarded for developing educational programs and exhibits that challenge audiences to probe the difficult historical, cultural and ethical issues raised by the Holocaust. Her many successes during her six-year term as Education Director include Framing Bodies: Sport & Spectacle in Nazi Germany, exhibited alongside More than Just Games in 2010. As Curator of the VHEC's upcoming exhibit, "Enemy Aliens": The Internment of Jewish Refugees in Canada, 1941-1943, she has worked to chronicle a little-known chapter in Canadian history. The exhibit opens at the VHEC on June 11th.
Krieger’s first challenge as Executive Director will be to lead the Centre during the development of a major exhibit devoted to the history of the Holocaust and showcasing artefacts and eyewitness testimonies from the VHEC's collection. "We are now poised to build on past successes, to engage new audiences in our work and to honour the Holocaust survivors who founded the Centre.” Stated Krieger, “this is particularly important as we face the inevitable loss of the survivors able to bear witness to the Holocaust. The VHEC plays a vital role in ensuring that students, teachers and all BC citizens continue to learn about the events and implications of the Holocaust.”
About the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre
The VHEC is the only non-profit museum and education space in Vancouver dedicated to promoting human rights, social justice and genocide awareness, and to teaching about the causes and consequences of discrimination, racism and antisemitism through education and remembrance of the Holocaust.
As a teaching museum and a leader in Holocaust education in British Columbia, the VHEC reaches over 15,000 students annually. It produces acclaimed exhibits, innovative school programs, teaching materials and online exhibits, many of them with a focus on Canada and the Holocaust.
The VHEC presents numerous public cultural and commemorative events and maintains a museum collection, archives and library.
Now marking its 18th year, the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre was founded by survivors of the Holocaust, whose dream it was to leave a legacy in the form of an anti-racism teaching museum to the citizens of British Columbia.
Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre
50 -950 West 41st Avenue, Vancouver, BC, V5Z 2N7
www.vhec.org
The VHEC welcomes public visitors and school groups.
Hours: Monday – Thursday 9 AM – 5 PM;
Friday 9 AM – 4 PM
Admission by donation
For more information please contact: Sue Lavitt
Communications and Press Consultant
T: 604.306.1422 E: suelavitt@yahoo.ca
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