Dramatic fall in visitor numbers to Art Gallery of WA

Visitor numbers to the Art Gallery of Western Australia have dropped dramatically, contributing to big drops in revenue in the past financial year.

Gallery Director Stefano Carboni has blamed this on a $7 million cut in funding from the Western Austrlaian Government and an overall slowing of the State economy.

Unfortunately these cuts could deepen even further in next month's mid-year review of Western Austrlaian Government expenditure, which Western Austrlaian Government Minister for Culture and the Arts John Day said would include "adjustments" to the Gallery's budget.

Minister Day told the ABC he expected the cuts would be limited to corporate services and not affect the public.

Figures in the Gallery's 2014/15 annual report showed that visitor numbers have dropped by 25%, with only 289,413 people visited the gallery last year, compared to 346,102 the previous year and 385,230 in 2012/13.

Dr Carboni said the lack of blockbuster exhibitions and rising utility prices had hurt the gallery's bottom line.

As a result, exhibition revenue had dropped from $1.5 million to $210,000.

Income from sponsors, always keen to be associated with big-name exhibitions, has also slumped, from $1.6 million to $632,000.

These drops in revenue can also be linked to the collapse of an exhibition series from New York's Museum of Modern Art exhibition series in November 2013.

The Gallery was forced to cancel the six-stage blockbuster series, which brought works from the New York instituion to Perth, after just three shows because of rising insurance costs and fewer visitors than anticipated.

Dr Carboni stated "the idea was to have six exhibitions as a series over three years as a way of raising the bar and having a higher platform for delivering future programs."

Combined with a cut in funding from the Western Austrlaian Government, Dr Carboni said the gallery was struggling to cover the costs of maintaining and preserving the State Art Collection.

The collection, which includes more than 17,000 of the Western Austrlaian's most important visual artworks, is stored under stringent temperature and humidity settings.

Dr Carboni told the ABC "if utility prices go through the roof, it does not translate into additional operating revenue."

Minister Day said that rising utility costs were an issue for all arts institutions, but especially for the Art Gallery, adding "but I don't think there's a disproportionate pressure on the arts budget compared to a range of other agencies.

"It can be more visible in the arts because there's more engagement with the public."

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