Credit: <\/span>Louise Kennerley<\/cite><\/p>\nThe MCA is the second cultural institution to go public with its financial struggles in the aftermath of the September NSW budget, and as the Minns government prepares to release its arts and creative industries policy to set its priorities for the sector.<\/p>\n
The Art Gallery of NSW this month flagged budget cuts if it failed to secure millions of dollars in extra funding to cover increased staffing, energy, and general operational costs of its new wing which opened one year ago.<\/p>\n
After enduring two years of hard lockdown and cutting its opening days from seven to six, MCA says its rising running costs are outstripping flatlining income from state and federal grants.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe MCA has been unbelievably stoic, but you reach a point, a critical point, where you can no longer ignore the broader financial picture,\u201d said the MCA\u2019s director Suzanne Cotter in a rare interview about the museum\u2019s finances.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a result, we are completely rethinking our financial model and one of the things we are looking at is reintroducing ticketed entry.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is not the desirable option, but it is the responsible one should our very modest funding stream from government not change.\u201d<\/p>\n
MCA chair Lorraine Tarabay said the institution had been chronically underfunded for more than a decade with state government support from Create NSW at $4.2 million, up marginally from $3.5 million in 2012. Federal grants via Creative Australia have fallen by 10 per cent from pre-COVID levels.<\/p>\n
Admission fees are usually an option of last resort for any cultural institution for fear of alienating families and to keep their collections accessible to a diverse group of art lovers.<\/p>\n
Invariably, fees impact visitor numbers and risk further reduction in commercial income from caf\u00e9s and shops on which the museums rely.<\/p>\n
The MCA is an independent not-for-profit established in 1991 by a bequest to the University of Sydney from artist John Power and the building is the size of The Guggenheim in New York.<\/p>\n
Unlike the Art Gallery of NSW \u2013 a state cultural institution \u2013 the MCA relies on commercial revenue, philanthropic donations, and some state and federal grants to showcase its art.<\/p>\n
At the same time, the museum says it is facing increased freight and exhibition installation costs of 30 per cent since COVID and is budgeting for a 40 per cent rise in electricity costs for a new contract in 2024.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s like a ladder in your stocking, it keeps growing until it becomes a hole,\u201d Cotter said. \u201cWe are starting to cut the number of exhibitions, and we\u2019ll be doing fewer exhibitions for longer and cutting engagement programs.\u201d<\/p>\n
Arts Minister John Graham said a new funding agreement with the MCA this year guaranteed indexed funding growth into the future.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe MCA is of great importance to NSW and plays a key leadership role in the arts and cultural sector,\u201d he said. \u201cOne of my first acts as arts minister was on May 7, 2023, to sign off on a new multi-year funding agreement for the MCA that ensures funding grows year-on-year.\u201d<\/p>\n
That contract runs until December 2027 and includes an initial 3 per cent increase for inflation and an ongoing 2 per cent indexed to address increasing costs. Funding for the previous seven years had not been indexed to inflation.<\/p>\n
The Louvre in Paris charges $28 entry but is free to visitors aged under 18 and those aged under 26 from the European Union. Recently, The Guggenheim followed the Metropolitan Museum of Art to increase its admission price to $45, amid criticism that art in the US is becoming increasingly the domain of the wealthy.<\/p>\n
\u201cAccessibility for us is absolutely fundamental \u2013 half of our visitors come from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds \u2013 but we need to be financially responsible so that the museum can keep doing everything we do,\u201d Cotter said.<\/p>\n
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MCA director Suzanne Cotter says entry fees are \u201cnot the desirable option but it is the responsible one should our very modest funding stream from government not change\u201d.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Falvio Brancaleone<\/cite><\/p>\nAfter teetering on the verge of bankruptcy in its founding years, former director Liz Ann Macgregor scrapped the MCA\u2019s $12 general admission fee in 2000 under a long-running sponsorship deal struck with Telstra. The telco has since shifted its support to MCA\u2019s exhibitions and public programs.<\/p>\n
In 2012 Macgregor and philanthropist Simon Mordant raised $53 million to build a new eastern wing, with gallery space and commercial venues from which the MCA could raise income and secure its future.<\/p>\n
Some 30 per cent of its floor space is now leased for commercial activity, including the use of its Foundation Hall which was to have been used for some public programs.<\/p>\n
Visitation numbers have surpassed 2022, with more than 850,000 people expected to walk through its door this year, despite the shift to six days.<\/p>\n
Cotter maintains the MCA\u2019s difficulties are unrelated to the opening of the Art Gallery of NSW\u2019s wing last year and multiple galleries flourish side by side in some of the major cities around the world.<\/p>\n
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Source: Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Save articles for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time. Key points Museum<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":189318,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n
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<\/p>\n