Why Should Admission Not Be Charged to Art Galaries
Public Art Galleries: To Charge Or Not To Charge?
Until recently, Regina's Mackenzie Fine art Gallery was the only major public art gallery in Western Canada to offer free admission - to everyone, all the time. But starting June 10th 2019, it too started start charging - a $10 access for non-members over the age of 17.
Deborah Rush, Director of Communications at the Mackenzie informed me the primary reason for moving to a mandatory admission fee rather than past donation (pay what you wish) as had been the example prior, was NOT to generate more revenue, just to promote and increase memberships. Their goal is to double their membership to virtually 800, which will give them a stronger base to gather company feedback on existing and hereafter programming.
Memberships are $30 (individuals) and $55 (doubles). This gets you unlimited visits to 10 exhibitions per year, likewise as to numerous events (e.g. exhibition openings, artists' and curators' talks).
They are lined up out the door and down the street on Tuesdays afternoons waiting for 5 pm when admission is by donation.
Calgary'southward Glenbow Museum is packed on Complimentary First Thursday nights.
Mandatory vs Donation vs Free
Access and membership fees to Western Canadian public galleries are all over the map. This shouldn't be surprising given each has a dissimilar funding construction and offers members a different number of exhibitions, programs and amenities. I'll spare you a cost per square pes or per exhibition assay of access fees and memberships across Western Canada.
Some would argue any institution receiving public funding should offering free access to the public on a regular basis. Others would argue that if you make it free, you lot devalue the experience. Surely, in that location must be a happy centre ground.
For Calgary'southward Glenbow Museum, the middle ground is offer free admission to everyone the First Thursdays of each calendar month from 5 to 9 pm. While this token try is appreciated, it is very restrictive and isn't very family-friendly. Why not offering a free Saturday or Lord's day per month in addition to an evening?
The Glenbow'due south costless nights (sponsored by Servus Credit Union) attract, on boilerplate, 3,000+ people, making information technology the busiest 24-hour interval of the calendar month and documenting at that place is a pent upward need to visit the museum if the toll is right.
The Edmonton's Fine art Gallery of Alberta offers free access EVERY Thursday from 5 to 8 pm, while the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria offers gratis admission all day the beginning Tuesday of every month, as well equally gratis admission to indigenous people at all times. In Saskatoon, the Remai Modern's main floor gallery is always gratis and Rawlco Radio Ltd. sponsors free admission six times a year. Surprisingly, the Winnipeg Art Gallery doesn't offering any weekly or monthly free admission to the public.
The Vancouver Art Gallery (VAG) has the most liberal costless public access of any Western Canadian public gallery. It offers admission by donation every Tuesday (from 4 to 9 pm), as well as the commencement Mon of every calendar month to seniors 65+ from 10 am to 1 pm. While technically y'all can get in gratis, you must go to the admission desk to get a ticket. No merely dropping your coin in the donation box when you lot enter or leave the galleries. It is difficult to give nothing when everyone else is donating. While the suggested donation is $ten, you can requite a little or equally much as you wish. I saw people giving loonies and twonies, but most people were giving $5 per person.
The VAG'due south "by donation" plan is a huge success with line-ups out the door and downwardly the cake most Tuesdays evenings - even in the rain. What does this tell VAG gallery assistants? It tells me the regular access toll of $24 for an adult and $twenty for a senior is too high and $5 is probably closer to the right amount.
When I emailed VAG media relations re: how long the Tuesday admission past donation has been happening, they said "at least 12 years, simply nobody knew for sure." When I asked how much in total visitors donated on Tuesday nights and Monday mornings compared to other days of the week and what the average donation was, I was told "we do not share this information at this time."
Obviously, the whole free/donate vs paid admission is a sensitive subject area for gallery administration. The popularity of the "free or donation admission" programs demonstrates the existing fee construction is a barrier to public visitation.
Admission fees are a disquisitional source of revenue. The Glenbow generated a one thousand thousand dollars in admission fees in 2018, which represented almost 12% of its almanac revenues. VAG, with its huge tourist population, generates over $iii meg in admissions (or about 25% of its annual revenues). This revenue would be difficult to replace.
VAG patron checks out the art on Seniors' Mean solar day.
Not every Beginning Thursday at the Glenbow is packed.
Festival Feel
In chatting with VAG'south gift shop staff on a Tuesday night (where the line-up was too long for me to wait to arrive), they thought people liked the lively festival atmosphere the gallery has on donation nights, when it is full of people who animate the galleries, rather than the sombre atmosphere of the gallery most days.
An experienced gallery patron (who prefers to remain anonymous) thinks having only a few free/donation nights creates a sense of urgency to go to the Gallery on those nights. He idea y'all would lose the "thrill of the deal" if you have multiple free/donation nights/days.
Zoltan Varadi, Communications Specialist at the Glenbow told me many people come up on Costless Thursdays but can't go far to see the blockbuster exhibition then they return another time, paying full admission and oftentimes bringing family members or friends with them. I think they call that a "loss leader" in the retail world.
The Glenbow'south galleries accept on a different feel on First Thursdays with lots of people milling well-nigh.
New York vs Toronto
Western Canadian public art galleries are not alone in this mandatory fee vs donation access debate. Major museums like New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art moved to mandatory admission fees in 2018 later 48 years of a "pay what yous wish," policy, i.eastward. donation.
In early on May, the Art Gallery of Ontario announced a mega modify to its mandatory admission fee policy – anyone 25 or younger now gets in Gratuitous while anyone over 25 tin can purchase an almanac pass for $35 which includes unlimited admission to the galleries and special exhibitions. It is important to notation the almanac pass doesn't include other membership benefits like costless coat check, discounts at the café and gift shop or early on admission to the exhibitions.
It volition be interesting to see how many of Agone's current 100,000 members (more than all of the Western Canadian public fine art galleries combined) will opt to keep their private memberships ($110/yr. vs the new $35 pass).
Equally well, the AGO is free every Wednesday night (from 6 to ix pm) for collections galleries merely with discounted admission fees to the special exhibition galleries and they offer costless full general admission to all Indigenous Peoples.
Last Word
I tin't help but wonder, "Is there a sweet spot where art galleries can maximize their number of visitors and their admission revenues?" I realize there is no "one admission policy fits all."
Personally, I like the "admission-past-donation" policy. I don't think admission should always be gratis. I too retrieve in that location should be a minimum of 1 evening and one weekend day per month where access is by donation.
Note: An edited version of this weblog was published on line past Galleries Westward Magazine .
If you like this blog, you volition like these links:
Glenbow's Fabulous Gratis Showtime Thursdays
Montreal Museum of Fine: The Homo Hand
SAKS: Section store or fine art gallery
Source: https://everydaytourist.ca/city-planning-101/2019/8/4/public-art-galleries-to-charge-or-not-to-chargenbsp
0 Response to "Why Should Admission Not Be Charged to Art Galaries"
Post a Comment