Gallery ends second year $259K in red
Year saw dip in membership, visitors along with management upheaval
The Remai Modern art gallery finished its second full year of operations $259,000 in the red amid declining admissions and membership sales, as well as higher expenses.
However, the museum’s interim chief executive said she was “pleased” with the financial results and attributed the 2019 deficit to “unique costs” not expected to resurface this year.
“While we didn’t reach the levels of our blockbuster opening year in 2018, these figures represent what we feel will be more typical of the organization going forward,” Lynn Mcmaster wrote in an email.
The museum reported 311,826 visits last year, down from the higher-than-anticipated 421,434 admissions it recorded in 2018, according to its latest annual and financial reports.
While the Remai Modern expected revenues from admissions and membership to decrease after its opening year, both failed to meet targets set out in its 2019 budget.
Lower attendance resulted in admission revenue falling to $320,910 in 2019, less than the $450,000 budget target and the $431,406 it collected at the gate in 2018.
Membership sales also declined last year, to 4,696 from 7,052 in 2018, resulting in revenue sliding to $233,267 from $308,815 in 2018. The budget target for membership sales was $480,000. Admissions and revenues are projected to fall again in 2020 and 2021.
Mcmaster said both admissions and memberships were expected to decline after the museum’s “extraordinary” first year of operations, and suggested early forecasts can be tricky.
“With any new business, setting realistic goals is complex, so the data we collect in subsequent years will help us more accurately predict what a normal year is like for the museum,” she wrote.
Both exceeded business plan projections, she added.
Overall revenues — including a $5.51 million grant from the City of Saskatoon — for the gallery came in at $9.61 million, up slightly from 2018. Expenditures came in at $9.87 million.
The Remai Modern spent significantly more on salaries and benefits last year than it did in 2018; that cost rose almost half a million dollars to $4.58 million.
Last year was a challenging one for the museum, which had to contend with the departure of its first chief executive amid a now-stayed human rights complaint.
The Remai Modern also dealt with a major shakeup of its board of directors after half of them resigned in February following city council’s decision not to reappoint the chair and secretary.
It also dealt with the departure of a high-profile curator, who quit in January.
Mcmaster acknowledged that 2019 was “a year of transition,” but said she does not believe it had an effect on the gallery’s financial results, as the “vast majority” of visitor feedback was positive.
“Our staff did an incredible job of maintaining an engaging and inspiring experience for guests throughout these changes, and that’s what shone through,” she wrote.
Mcmaster, who was appointed to the post just over a year ago, is expected to be replaced this summer by Aileen Burns and Johan Lundh, who will serve co-ceos.