Our People
Exhibitions and Collections
Exhibitions and Collections Team Leader
Chris Pole, Exhibitions and Collections Team Leader
Chris leads the Gallery’s Exhibitions and Collections team, overseeing the registration, conservation, exhibitions, workshop, library and photography departments. Co-ordinating these diverse roles and responsibilities, and collaborating across the wider gallery team, he enjoys working in a very dynamic environment. He is a practising artist, keen surfer, goofy dad, and a tragic lifelong Warriors supporter.
Head Conservator
Eliza Penrose, Head Conservator
Eliza leads the Gallery’s conservation team, who care for, conserve, and document the Gallery’s collection both in storage on whilst on display. Eliza is an experienced paper conservator, with a special interest in time-based media art conservation.
Exhibitions Conservator
Carla Pike, Exhibitions Conservator
Carla's main role is to care for works of art that are on current exhibition. She is responsible for the condition reporting of works as they enter and leave the gallery, and maintaining their condition while on display. Carla works closely with registrars, curators and exhibition designers in the preparation of works for exhibit and loan, to ensure that they are stable and safe for display. She also assists the lead conservator with tasks associated with the long-term care of the gallery’s collection, including pest management, preventive conservation and disaster response. Carla trained as an objects conservator in Canada and has been working in the field for over ten years. She is currently the Canterbury representative for the NZCCM (New Zealand Conservators of Cultural Material) group.
Exhibitions Designer
Tjalling de Vries, Exhibitions Designer
Tjalling installs and lights exhibitions, assists artists during installations, and collaborates on exhibition design work. He is also responsible for repairing, modifying and painting gallery spaces. In addition he helps conserve and store the collection, and handles packing and transporting artwork. He is a practicing artist, and in a past life, a cheesemaker.
Exhibitions Designer
Jamie Richardson, Exhibitions Designer
Jamie works closely with artists, curators, graphic designers, conservation, and registration teams to assist in developing the visual look of exhibitions. This includes the provision of floor plan layouts, elevations, physical scale-models, and 3D renders, as well as developing architectural, mechanical, engineering, and audio-visual display solutions on a show-by-show basis. Jamie has more than ten years’ experience in all aspects of exhibition design and installation.
Photographer
John Collie, Photographer
John photographs Gallery exhibitions, events, staff and collection works including new acquisitions. He also handles photography for Gallery publications including Bulletin, catalogues and books. He oversees production of prints for the shop, supply of images for external use and also creates imagery to be used for marketing the Gallery.
Graphic Designer
Peter Bray, Graphic Designer
Peter takes care of graphic design in the Gallery, including advertising and marketing, gallery way-finding signage, interpretative graphics and labels, exhibition graphic identities, publications and ephemera. His personal area of expertise is design for museums and cultural institutions, with a strong focus on visitor interaction and interpretation.
Workshop Gallery Technician
Martin Young, Workshop Gallery Technician
Martin supports our exhibitions team by fabricating exhibition fittings and furnishings for display, and making museum standard crates and boxes to protect our works of art for storage and shipping. Martin has been at the Gallery for over 29 years, and started as an exhibition technician at the Robert McDougall Art Gallery. He is a skilled craftsman who takes pride in the quality of his work.
Exhibitions Gallery Technician
Scott Jackson, Exhibitions Gallery Technician
Scott installs and lights exhibitions, assists artists during installations, and collaborates on exhibition design work. He is also responsible for repairing, modifying and painting gallery spaces. In addition he helps conserve and store the collection, and handles packing and transporting artwork. He has a special interest in the matting and framing of works and the careful de-framing of old artworks.