New NBPCA Curator

[NBPCA]

New Curator – National Bonsai & Penjing Collection of Australia (NBPCA)

Hi all,

The National Bonsai & Penjing Collection of Australia wishes to announce the appointment of its new Curator. After a lengthy and thorough national recruitment process, a selection panel of senior ACT Government executives has selected Leigh Taafe as the new Curator for the NBPCA.
Leigh assumes the role with significant experience within the NBPCA as the Assistant Curator, a position which he has held for over 3 years. Leigh brings over 26 years of experience with bonsai, including 14 years operating in a commercial capacity. Leigh’s local knowledge of climate and conditions is a great strength with regard to the care and maintenance of the bonsai within the Collection. The relationships Leigh has developed with donors and lenders of bonsai, along with the wonderful volunteers at the Collection should make the transition from the Curator’s Assistant to the Curator an easy one.
Leigh’s enthusiasm for the success of the NBPCA and the Arboretum goes without saying, and his desire to learn and share his skills is a valuable asset not only to the NBPCA but also the bonsai community as a whole.
Aside from bonsai, a large part of the role of Curator includes management of people and processes, budgets, and reporting to the ACT Government. Knowledge that Leigh has gained by working within the Arboretum team from its inception has provided him with an in-depth understanding of the NBPCA’s relationship with the Arboretum as a business at large. After graduating from Curtin University with a business degree majoring in Information Technology and Economics, Leigh’s business background, including industry experience in the commercial IT industry placed him very well in tough competition for the job.
I wish Leigh all the success in his new role and I am sure the Australian bonsai community will support him as they have strongly supported myself and the collection over the last 6 years.

Grant Bowie

[Meagi]

Congrats Leigh on your new adventure

[Pup]

Congratulations Leigh. We are sure you will do the Bonsai fraternity of Australia proud. Looking after our wonderful asset of the National Bonsai and Penjing Collection.

Looking forward to a secure and prominent future for our collection. Again congratulations to Leigh, and commiserations for the other worthy applicants.


From no 1/ 2 donors

Cheers Pup and Mrs Pup

[cre8ivbonsai]

Congratulations Leigh. We are sure you will do the Bonsai fraternity of Australia proud. Looking after our wonderful asset of the National Bonsai and Penjing Collection.

Looking forward to a secure and prominent future for our collection. Again congratulations to Leigh, and commiserations for the other worthy applicants.

Well said Pup ... Congratulations Leigh, and thankyou Grant

[Sean M]

Congrats Leigh!
Every time I've spoken to you either at the collection or at one of the CBS meetings you have always been very helpful.
I wish you all the best!

Does this make any purchases I made from Leigh any more valuable?

Grant,
Are you going to be able to step back now and take that break? Or will you find yourself up at the collection as a volunteer....every day?

[Brian]

thank goodness they selected a tried and trusted bonsai exponent with experience. congratulations.

[Chris H]

Congratulations Leigh.
Look forward to a celebratory Beer on the weekend.

[Mojo Moyogi]

Congratulations. I echo the sentiments of those above, but I would also like to extend commiserations to the many talented unsuccessful applicants from all over Australia.

Cheers,
Mojo

[Grant Bowie]

Congrats Leigh!
Every time I've spoken to you either at the collection or at one of the CBS meetings you have always been very helpful.
I wish you all the best!

Does this make any purchases I made from Leigh any more valuable?

Grant,
Are you going to be able to step back now and take that break? Or will you find yourself up at the collection as a volunteer....every day?

Yes I will be having some time off to study Bonsai funnily enough.

I wish to improve my own skills and do some experimenting with certain species.

I am also going to China in September as an international demonstrator at a convention in Jintan China.

I will also be a volunteer at the collection but sparingly. The collection is in good hands with Leigh and the next assistant curator.

Grant

[Shane]

Congratulations Leigh and to the NBPCA for securing him. I look forward to a time when I can get to Canberra to see the collection. Positive you will continue the great work I've heard of.

[kcpoole]

Top Stuff Leigh
good to see responsibility for the collection passing to a good Candidate

also that you to Grant for your Service and efforts

Ken

[Sean M]

Well now that Leighs top dog. Who is the new assistant curator?

[eddieperth]

Congrats Leigh! I've never met you, but I'm planning to get to Canberra in the next year or so to visit the National Collection. I wish nothing but continued growth and success for you and the NBPCA!

[Leigh Taafe]

Thank you very much to all of you who have taken the time to congratulate me. I really appreciate the support. The response from my friends and colleagues has been overwhelming.

Those who have mentioned that Grant's shoes will be big ones to fill are surely right. Grant has done a tremendous job with the Collection to date, and will be a valuable asset to the Collection in other capacities in the future. We, as the bonsai community need to congratulate Grant and thank him for the tireless effort he has put in, and his contribution to the history of bonsai in Australia.

The job of Curator of the NBPCA is a very diverse role, one that needs breadth and depth in a variety skills, not only bonsai. I will be the first to say that I am not Australia's best bonsai artist, and I have never placed myself in that ilk anyway. I do however, take pride in my skills at the care and maintenance of the wonderful bonsai that we have and have had in the Collection. As Assistant Curator for over 3 years, my major responsibility was the care and maintenance of the bonsai and penjing within the Collection, this task took a massive two thirds of my time. So yes, I would sit for whole days tending the trees in the Collection to make them as beautiful as you see them now.

Keeping this in mind, my role now, as Curator of the Collection, is so much more than bonsai. My proven skills in business and management will now be utilised to ensure that the NBPCA is taken forward in a direction that favours all stakeholders involved, including the ever important bonsai community. Another point I would like to make is that ultimately, the NBPCA is so much bigger than just a curator, it is a Collection that Australia and the bonsai community should be proud of and feel that they are a part of.

I look forward to having your support to make the Collection an asset that we can be proud of, one with international recognition.

If any of you are coming to the AABC Convention this weekend, please dont be shy, come and say g'day! I am very approachable and will be happy to have a chat.

Cheers,
Leigh.