A Spotlight on New Summer Volunteers (Part 2)

By Carmen Tang

The fall has always been a time of adjustment, change and new routines as volunteers return to their regular schedules after the summer holidays. A number of our volunteers are back in school and juggling multiple assignments, while others are back to full-time work. During this transition time, we are thankful to all our volunteers who find time for us in their jam-packed schedules. It is this kind of commitment and dedication that keeps The ArQuives going!

Continuing from Volume 2 Issue 8, meet some of our other volunteers who joined The ArQuives over the summer:


Andy Youngman, Collections Volunteers

Andy Youngman
Collections Volunteers

Andy Youngman has a Masters in Photographic Preservation and Collections Management (Ryerson University, 2009) and is a new permanent resident to Canada having emigrated from the United States. He joined The ArQuives as a volunteer in June 2019 and is working with the oversized photography collection. After attending the Metamorphosis Gala earlier this year he became interested in adding his expertise to the work that all of our volunteers are doing to preserve our rich LGBTQ2+ history.

“I chose to volunteer at The ArQuives as a way to contribute to the preservation of LGBTQ2+ history and, being new to Toronto, thought it would be a great way to connect with other members of the community.”


Hannah Frotten, Communications Volunteer

Hannah Frotten
Communications Volunteer

Hannah Frotten is a first-year student at McGill University, where she’ll be pursuing her BA in Art History. As a high school student, she began posting mini LGBTQ2+ history lessons on her social media to help make queer education more accessible to her peers. Her passion for teaching history as well as a deep love and appreciation for all mediums of queer art- be it film, music, poetry or paintings- have inspired her to focus her studies and volunteering on the two. She hopes to continue sharing the stories and creations of marginalized people to help build a future that celebrates their voices and brings light to their struggles.

“Our community has such a rich and colourful history, and I am so proud to be a part of it that I feel a responsibility and an enthusiasm to give back and help keep that history alive. Volunteering at The ArQuives allows me to do that while getting closer to my community and I could not be more excited! :-)”


Priscilla Carmini, Collections Volunteer

Priscilla Carmini
Collections Volunteer

Priscilla is a Master of Information and Museum Studies graduate student at the University of Toronto. Currently, she is a Collections Volunteer at The ArQuives, processing the J.A.C fonds. A couple things about her: she LOVES dogs and cats, she adores all libraries (and archives!!), she is a gigantic nerd, and she enjoys receiving fun book recommendations. Currently, she is reading The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula Le.Guin – come find her to see where she is in the story! 

I chose to volunteer at The ArQuives because I developed a passion for community archives through my studies at the iSchool.”