Tegan Anthes

I bring a different set of skills to the Museum Advisor team at Museums and Galleries NSW, as I am a professional collections care conservator.  I specialise in paper, photographic and preventive conservation, and my collaboration with the volunteers in the Museums is often connected to collection needs.

I have always enjoyed working with regional and remote communities to build skills and share my knowledge of collection care. So the role of Museum Advisor for MGNSW was a perfect fit.

As a Museum Advisor, my expertise in collection care provides avenues for workshops, community connections, establishing programs or projects, and developing guidelines and policies. I understand that the collection care principles are intrinsically linked to the purpose of the museum, and my approach is to support the volunteers to achieve a sustainable museum.

I know that budgets and resources are limited, and volunteers are dwindling. I look for ways to support current volunteers, which ranges from advocating with Council or other organisations, collaborating on new opportunities, developing specific projects, establishing connections, and seeking grant funding. It is important to be dynamic, flexible and creative to encourage growth, development and diverse strategies to sustain community museums and their volunteers.

In addition to the collection care specialisation, I have worked with museums on fundamental museum management areas. This includes cataloguing, documentation, policy development, digitisation programs, research, volunteer guidelines, digital asset management, storage strategies, and more.

I value and respect the local knowledge held by community museum members. The level of detail about a specific object or a special event is delightful to learn. The intimate descriptions and depth of appreciation for their local community history creates many opportunities for stories and histories to be captured. My role as a museum advisor is connected to amplifying this knowledge. I am always working to collaborate with each of the museums to enable more ways to tell these stories.

I am currently a Museum Advisor for the Shoalhaven Region and share the Museum Advisor role in Lithgow and Eurobodalla regions.

To learn more about my experience, please visit collectpreserve.com.au