The inaugural CollectionsCare Coordinator, Ms Elaine Labuschagne, has commenced work with the Western Australian Goldfields region in Australia's first CollectionsCare project.
Ms Labuschagne, the new CollectionsCare Coordinator, commenced in this new position at the start of March 2010. She brings experience working with regional museums in South Africa and art galleries in New Zealand. She will work with archives, cultural centres, galleries, historical societies, libraries and museums across the Goldfields to develop workers’ skills, identify and attract new resources for regional collections, and unlock the educational and cultural potential of their collections.
CollectionsCare will provide skills development and support for the volunteers and paid staff that look after collections in the Goldfields, and will help them mine the rich vein of history and culture that can be studied and interpreted using those collections.
Initiated by the Collections Council of Australia, the CollectionsCare demonstration project will run for two years, with funding from the Myer Foundation (through the Collections Council) for the first year, and from the Western Australian government (through the Department of Culture and the Arts) in the second year. During the project, valuable support is also being provided by the City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder and its History and Heritage Unit. The hub for CollectionsCare in the Goldfields region will be Ms Labuschagne's office at the Boulder Town Hall.
The Collections Council welcomes Ms Labuschagne, congratulates her on this appointment, and wishes her well in the establishment of CollectionsCare in the Western Australian Goldfields.