Western Bay Museum in Katikati has taken a major step toward realising its ambition as Aotearoa’s best small regional museum with the appointment of a museums qualified Collection Curator. “The science and skill set of museum qualified staff mostly goes unnoticed as these highly qualified people work behind the scenes,” says Paula Gaelic, Manager of Western Bay Museum.
The only museum in the Western Bay, the Western Bay Museum is the guardian and custodian of the Western Bay’s stories and treasures. The museum preserves, conserves, stores and displays historic and noteworthy items of the area to the highest standards.
The Collection Curator role is a crucial element of the Museum’s Development and Strategic Plan and applicants from around the globe applied for the position.
The Interview panel for the position included Sally August from Te Papa National Services Te Paerangi, which selected Rosemary Deane for the role. The newly created position will be funded by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council.
Rosemary, who has worked for over 20 years in Collections, Library/Archive and Exhibition curator roles holds a PGDip in Museum Studies from Massey University and has extensive museum experience in a variety of Museums including MOTAT, Rotorua Museum, Te Awamutu Museum, Cambridge Museum and Te Toi Uku, the Crown Lynn and Clayworks Museum.
Rosemary has experience in initial setting up of appropriate collection policies, procedures, online and digital cataloguing. “Rosemary managed a documentation project of a large collection which will be extremely beneficial for Western Bay Museum with 11,000 objects held in our collections,” says Paula.
“We are very excited about appointing a Collection Curator – and having secured Rosemary is an exceptional attainment. Her reputation is simply outstanding,” says Paula. “Rosemary’s skills and experience will take us to the next level in museums best practice.”
Rosemary will be relocating to Waihi from Auckland for the role which begins on February 1st. “I am really looking forward to working with Paula, who has a great vision for the museum and has the backing of a lot of people,” says Rosemary. “The collection needs a lot of work to get it onto a database, but I relish a challenge and there are plenty of volunteers to help with the process. I will also be developing some policies and procedures around the museum collection which I also enjoy.”
Rosemary says her career highlights include helping deinstall the taonga Maori from Rotorua Museum after it had closed due to earthquake damage. “I helped condition report and clean some of the huge carvings, including Pukaki, who appears on our 20-cent piece. At Te Toi Uku, the Crown Lynn and Clayworks Museum, I developed and installed all new exhibitions which made a bigger and better experience for visitors as a result.”
Annually over 7,000 people visit the Western Bay Museum sited in the old Fire Station building on the Main Road of Katikati. Te Papa National Servies Te Paerangi (the Government arm of Te Papa Museum) recognises the museum as currently the most progressive museum in the country.
