The Teece Museum of Classical Antiquities opened in 2017 as an integral part of the University’s central city presence at the Arts Centre. As Curator and Assistant Curator (respectively), Terri Elder and Emily Rosevear, with the help of the wider Teece Museum team, have transformed the museum into a bridge between UC and the wider community in Ōtautahi | Christchurch.
The mahi of the Teece Museum is wide-ranging. In the seven years since the museum opened, Terri and Emily have facilitated object-based learning opportunities for over 3,400 students studying Art History, Anthropology, Classics, Engineering, and Education. The opportunity to see, touch and hold real objects – most of them thousands of years old – is transformative for students, as a recent student observed: “Getting to handle artefacts in a museum is a privilege not many people are able to do…[and] is something that I think will stick with me forever.” In their time with the students, the curators have developed a patient, learner-centred process, with time for reflection, open questions, honest answers, and consideration for the background knowledge and capabilities of their visitors.
When students want to go further, Terri and Emily are there to assist. They’ve provided opportunities for nearly 100 students to engage as volunteers, employed them as gallery hosts, hosted more than a dozen PACE interns, and empowered them to pursue their long-term dreams of working in the cultural heritage sector by helping them to obtain the New Zealand Certificate in Museum Practice and connecting them with sector professionals and heritage organisations across the city. Through their leadership, the Teece has become a centre for work-based learning and career development.
Moreover, the Teece Museum also brings the community into UC, having recently surpassed a milestone of 100,000 visitors. This is in no small part thanks to the whole Teece team being focused on making the museum accessible to all. They have made the museum a learning destination for the Children’s University and hosted more than 3600 primary, intermediate and secondary students from Years 1-13; online exhibitions and open-access databases give the collection a global reach; audio descriptions ensure key items are accessible for those with visual impairments; resources, games and exhibits appeal to people of all ages. In the words of a tutor who visited the museum with a group of children:
I felt the children really fell under the spell of the museum which is what’d I’d hoped for… It’s wonderful that a museum can really operate in this way - inspiring all ages and making the Classical world come alive.
