Museum Establishes New Fund To Help Grow Collection

The Tairawhiti Museum Endowment Fund at Sunrise was established with a donation from Michael and Anne Muir.

Michael, who is Chair of the museum trust, says it was critical to get a fund set up for the museum.

“When I saw a list of the organisations that had set up funds at Sunrise I thought it was important to establish a fund for the museum, to encourage and give our community another way to support this important community resource.”

Eloise Wallace, Tairawhiti Museum Director, says the museum doesn’t have a budget for collection acquisitions.

“We receive funding from several different sources to cover our normal operating costs, but we don’t have a regular source of funding or income to purchase new works for our collection.”

“We’re never sure what will come up for sale. As this fund grows it will be great to have funds on hand that we can use when pieces do become available. We will use the income from our endowment fund at Sunrise to acquire and care for the development of our community’s heritage.”

Eloise added that the museum has a similar ethos to Sunrise.

“Our collections are held in trust for the Tairawhiti community for future generations, a tangible heritage for the future.”

Les McGreevy, a long-time supporter of both the museum and Sunrise, left $35,000 to the museum when he passed away last year, which has been added to their new fund at Sunrise.

Michael added that with Les’s bequest it “has given us a substantial amount to seed the museum’s fund.”

Les donated regularly to Sunrise as he said “it is the fact the donation I give to Sunrise is perpetual that appeals to me.”

Michael believes that Les would be pleased the museum has added his generous bequest to their fund at Sunrise, as he was such a strong supporter of the objectives of both organisations.

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