Danielle Marshall has taken on the role of new Curator at the Fort Frances Museum and Cultural Centre.
Marshall comes to Fort Frances from southern Ontario where she worked at a variety of museums in different roles over the years.
“I liked the idea of just being somewhere for a while,” Marshall said. “This industry can be really contract based, so the opportunity to come somewhere and get to know the community and not have to commute and stay for a while and make community connections was really interesting.”
Marshall did her undergraduate studies at York University in Toronto where she took Classical Studies and history. After some time working in a college art gallery in Brockville, ON, she pursued her master’s degree in Museum Studies at Bournemouth University in England.
Since returning to Canada with her master’s she’s spent most of her time working in eastern Ontario, primarily in the Kingston area including the Agnes Etherington Centre at Queen’s University, the Murney Tower Museum, the Smiths Falls Museum as well as The Royal Military College Museum.
In her spare time Marshall says she enjoys doing Yoga and learning languages.
“I’m currently almost at a 1,000 day streak on Duolingo (an app for language learning),” She said. “I did latin, that’s a small one, and then I’m doing French and I started Italian. I’m still very mediocre, but I do it or the little owl yells at me.”
She says she also is hoping to take advantage of the outdoor life in the area as well.
“I want to start hiking more. I know I didn’t move at the ideal time to experience Fort Frances at its best, but I’m excited to see what it’s like in the spring. I also read a lot, I’m a nerd,” She added with a chuckle.

Marshall is also hoping to form a committee so the curator is not the only person deciding what is added to the museum’s collections.
“I’m hoping to start an accessions committee so we have a committee to decide what comes in,” Marshall said. “Then it doesn’t fall solely on the curator.”
As she gets used to the town and the museum Marshall says she’s hoping to make a few changes and create a plan for the museum going forward.
“It’s got really good bones, so I’m excited,” She said. “We’re talking about making some changes to the permanent gallery. We’re going to start working on a strategic plan for the next five years soon. It’ll be a good chance to update that a bit… Obviously the community will be involved.”