Willowbank student is awarded the Lieutenant Governor’s Ontario Heritage Award for Youth Achievement
- katiehoughton4
- May 23
- 2 min read
Updated: May 26
We’re proud to announce that Ellen Siebel-Achenbach, a student at the Willowbank School of Restoration Arts, has been awarded the Lieutenant Governor’s Ontario Heritage Award for Youth Achievement—one of the province’s highest honours recognising youth contributions to heritage conservation. Sponsored by Canada Life, this award celebrates exceptional individuals who are shaping the future of Ontario’s cultural and natural heritage.
The University of Toronto nominated Ellen for her session proposal titled Crafting Tradition.
Crafting Tradition: Reclaiming the Hand in Heritage
An excerpt from Ellen’s proposal:
"In recent years, there have been increased efforts to protect traditional practices of craft, defined as key facets of intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO and INTBAU. These traditions are handmade, allowing the maker to think with the hand during the creative process in order to gain insight into the material. While mechanical interventions divorce crafted objects from the domain of tradition (Walter Benjamin), handmade making imbues the objects with cultural meaning, thus contributing to the broader human condition (Hannah Arendt). In addition, traditional crafts examine the relationships between society and nature, acting to situate local, regional, and national practices in their natural surroundings over those of globalisation."
Ellen's pursuit of fine craft started a few years ago, when she was working on her undergraduate thesis and became interested in efforts to protect traditional practices of craft. These handmade traditions informed her research on historical reconstruction, with a focus on tool histories, the tangible implements of intangible skills.
These discussions are crucial not only for conservation professionals but for anyone concerned with cultural sustainability and the preservation of regional identity.
About Ellen Siebel-Achenbach
Ellen brings a rich interdisciplinary background to her work. Ellen is currently studying Heritage Conservation at Willowbank and recently completed a master’s degree in Art History at the University of Toronto, with a specialisation in Book History and Print Culture, focusing on the reconstruction of historical objects, primarily tools, from Early Modern Europe/North America. Her undergraduate degree from the University of Waterloo included a joint-major in Visual Culture and Medieval Studies with minors in Fine Arts Studio and Church Music and Worship. She is an avid stained glass maker (apprenticeship), carpenter, and textile artist, each practiced within traditional handmade modes of craft. She has presented at several conferences (UAAC, SSAC, ICMS) and received numerous awards, and a Rhodes Scholarship nomination.
We at Willowbank are honoured to support students like Ellen as they shape a more meaningful, connected future through the art and philosophy of craft.
If you are interested in the topics Ellen is exploring, you can read two of Ellen's most recent articles below:
Congratulations, Ellen!
