Haere mai to Whanganui Regional Museum’s Max Reeves as it farewells Margie Beautrais

Whanganui Regional Museum's new pou manaaki visitor experience leader Max Reeves. Photo / Bevan Conley

Max Reeves’ career has led him gradually northwards from his hometown Invercargill to Whanganui Regional Museum.

He takes on a new role at the museum as pou manaaki visitor experience leader after first visiting the city for the interview.

“I’m loving the place and the people so far,” he said.

Reeves, who has a postgraduate diploma in museum and heritage studies, previously worked for Christchurch City Libraries overseeing the collaborative makerspace for three-dimensional printing and design.

He managed the volunteer team at Ashburton Museum and was a visitor host at Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū.

“At this stage, I’m making community connections and exploring opportunities for collaboration,” Reeves said.

“I’m learning about all the existing partnerships and I’m impressed with the ways the museum works with the community. ”

Although his is a different role, Reeves has stepped into a space on the museum team left by educator Margie Beautrais, who retired this year after 20 years of service.

Beautrais said the time was right for her to step aside, knowing she would hand the torch to the talented and capable duo of Lisa Reweti and Waiora Bailey-Moore.

“I had always wanted to see mana whenua and younger people working at the museum,” Beautrais said.

“When I was young, I wasn’t aware that there were education jobs at museums.”

She recruited Reweti as the museum’s kaihāpai kaupapa (programmes presenter) five years ago, and this year Bailey-Moore was appointed kaiwhakaako Māori (educator) after working with the visitor services team for a year.

“I had the opportunity to observe Waiora in her previous role and saw how well she interacted with visitors. You don’t normally get the chance to observe someone at work before they apply for a job.

“Waiora’s fluency in te reo Māori and her interest in the arts combined with the knowledge she had acquired while working at the museum made her perfect for an education role.”

Waiora Bailey-Moore and Lisa Ruaka Reweti are Whanganui Regional Museum's "dream team", imparting knowledge with their interactive storytelling. Photo / Karen Hughes

Known by colleagues as the “dream team”, Reweti and Bailey-Moore combine their talents as performers to deliver dynamic, interactive storytelling sessions that have been delighting young learners, along with their parents and teachers.

Bailey-Moore’s ocean-green hair makes her instantly recognisable when she’s not at work.

“I was at the Riverside Market when a group of children who had been at one of our sessions came up and recited the story we’d shared.

“They’d remembered it really well and wanted me to recite it with them. I loved that.”

Beautrais said the young team represent the museum’s future and her preference was to talk about them rather than recall her own accomplishments.

Reweti, however, wanted to share some recollections and gratitude for her former manager.

“I miss Margie - she is an extraordinary person,” she said.

“She would go that extra mile for a colleague, a kid, a school, a community, and our museum.”

Reweti said Beautrais ensured that tikanga Māori was always acknowledged in her work.

“She was always exceptionally respectful of Māori taonga, tikanga Māori, and of iwi.

“Education programmes around kaupapa Māori were only ever led by Māori educators.”

When Reweti had been feeling unwell for some time, it was Beautrais who urged her to push for a diagnosis.

“Margie put her foot down (not a Margie thing to do) and she made me harrass the doctor, harrass the hospital until I was seen properly.

“If she hadn’t I wouldn’t be around today.”

Reweti was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, which had reached the second stage by the time she was treated.

Margie Beautrais was given a memory quilt as a farewell gift from Whanganui Regional Museum colleagues. Photo / Karen Hughes

“Margie knew that retiring when she turned 65 would leave me in the lurch so she waited another six months until I had recovered and we had a full team.”

Museum director Bronwyn Labrum said she also found Beautrais’ support invaluable when she returned to her hometown to take over from previous director Frank Stark in 2021.

“In her quiet way, Margie imparted so much knowledge and the museum was lucky to have her for 20 years.

“She left us with a fantastic education programme and a great team.”

Museum staff presented Beautrais with a memory quilt featuring silk-screened photos taken during her years at the museum, made by her colleagues Kathy Greensides and Trish Nugent-Lyne.

She was looking forward to spending more time with her husband Keith, their daughters and grandchildren.

“When we had Margie’s farewell, her whole family came to take her home,” Reweti said.

“All of them. That says something.”

Liz Wylie is a multimedia journalist for the Whanganui Chronicle. She joined the editorial team in 2014 and regularly covers stories from Whanganui and the wider region. She also writes features and profile stories.