Sheffield South Island were delighted to partner with Invercargill City Council in their appointment of Eloise Wallace as the new Museum Director for Southland Museum.
Chief Executive Michael Day commented “Eloise comes to us with a varied and impressive background in the museum and heritage sector, both here in New Zealand and overseas, and an abundance of skills that will ensure our vision to create an industry-leading museum is achieved,”.
Te Unua Museum of Southland is part of Council’s Project 1225, which will see the creation of three key cultural facilities in Invercargill. The project also includes the construction of a new specialist tuatara enclosure at the animal reserve within the award-winning Queens Park, and a museum collection storage facility at Tisbury.
For more than eight years, Eloise has been Director of Tairāwhiti Museum & Art Gallery, in Gisborne. She has also served as Co-Chair of Museums Aotearoa, New Zealand’s independent national body for museums and galleries, since 2021, and also serves as a trustee of the Air Force Museum of New Zealand in Christchurch.
An award-winning history curator, Eloise has also been Deputy Chair of Heritage Tairāwhiti, an organisation that supports the protection and recognition of historic places, and their stories, within the Tairāwhiti district and has been extensively involved within other organisations across the arts, heritage, culture, tourism, and education sectors in both Tairāwhiti and Hawke’s Bay.
We know Eloise will make a fabulous contribution in ensuring this project is a success and wish her all the very best in her new role.