Laura Phillips, Administrator of The Ballytobin Foundation, looks forward to working with
interested applicants and by way of introduction, provides the following biographical
information:

Hi, I am honoured to be the Administrator for The Ballytobin Foundation and excited to be
part of this program. The ways that this foundation provides opportunities for community
arts to thrive in Kingston is truly wonderful.

I’m grateful to live in Ka’tarohkwi / Kingston, on the territory of Anishinaabek and
Haudenosaunee Nations. I am cisgendered, able-bodied, and use the pronouns
she/her/hers. I am from a white settler family with Western European roots, mostly Irish /
Welsh. My dad immigrated from England in the late 1960s from Liverpool, England. My
mom’s family (Blackall) has been in what is now Canada since the early 1800s but originally
were from Gardenhill, Limerick, Ireland. I’m very interested in re-connecting to my Irish
roots.

From 2000-2010 I lived in England, working at museums and other cultural organizations
(the Pitt Rivers Museum, Bristol City Museum & Art Gallery, English Heritage, the National
Trust). In 2010 I moved to Doha, Qatar, where I was the Head of Museums Documentation
for Qatar Museums until 2013. In 2014 I was appointed Collections Manager at the
Wolfsonian Museum in Miami Beach, Florida for a brief stint but then opted to return to
Canada to take up a position as Collections & Exhibitions Coordinator at
Aanischaaukamikw Cree Cultural Institute in Ouje-Bougoumou Cree Nation, Eeyou Istchee
(Quebec). Recently I have been teaching for the University of Toronto as a sessional
lecturer in the Masters of Museum Studies and in the Department of Visual Studies, and for
the Cree School Board of Eeyou Istchee in an adult education program.

In my PhD research, I am looking at ways to reduce settler/colonial narratives in the Miller
Museum of Geology on the Queen’s University campus. I am trying to apply decolonizing
concepts to my day-to-day life as I learn the many ways to be accountable for the
displacement my on-going presence on this land causes.

Please reach out to me about any matters relating to The Ballytobin Foundation using the
Contact Us webpage.