Jobs at risk in arts sector shakeup
A major restructure proposal at Wellington Museums Trust has blindsided senior staff and alarmed the capital’s arts sector.
The proposal – if it goes ahead – will have serious implications for the future of several key Wellington cultural institutions and could see people who have held roles for years lose their jobs.
At a meeting on Wednesday, the trust (also known as Experience Wellington) – which operates the capital’s City Gallery Wellington, Capital E, Wellington Museum, Cable Car Museum, Nairn Street Cottage and Space Place at Carter Observatory – informed staff about the proposal.
It is not known how many of the 147 staff spread across the six organisations would be affected.
However, Stuff understands they could include City Gallery director Elizabeth Caldwell, City Gallery chief curator Robert Leonard and Museums Wellington director Brett Mason.
‘‘It is all just sinking in now – it is a bit fresh,’’ Leonard told Stuff over email early yesterday, adding that he was ‘‘taking stock’’.
Caldwell has held the role of director of City Gallery since 2012, while Leonard is one of New Zealand’s most respected curators of contemporary art, having worked at City Gallery since 2014.
Experience Wellington chief executive Sarah Rusholme said staff received a confidential consultation document on Wednesday, which proposed changes to Experience Wellington’s organisational structure.
‘‘We are seeking to achieve two key changes which are part of our wider strategy – embracing te ao Ma¯ori, or adding a Ma¯ori dimension to everything we do, and Mahitahi, bringing together our teams to further enrich our cultural institutions,’’ Rusholme said.
‘‘This is a proposal only, and we are engaged in consultation with our staff and supporting them at this time.’’
While no action had been taken as of yesterday, news of the proposal made its way through Wellington’s tight-knit arts community quickly.
Capital-based arts writer and Stuff contributor Mark Amery said any restructure could be a way to get rid of staff. Leonard and Caldwell were two of the most experienced gallery directors and curators in New Zealand, he said. ‘‘They have been around a long time and are highly respected.’’
Because Experience Wellington was funded by Wellington ratepayers via the city council, quiet concern had been raised over the years of the gallery’s role in the context of the wider city, he said.
‘‘It is a difficult model, it always has been,’’ Amery said of the Experience Wellington umbrella operating various institutions simultaneously.
Under Leonard and Caldwell’s leadership, City Gallery had become a place to push ideas and was not shy of being provocative, he said.
While Amery was worried about possibly losing some of the gallery’s cutting-edge, intellectual and critical contemporary art focus, he said diversity in ideas and change in leadership could be a positive thing for any cultural institution.
Concerns had been raised previously about a lack of biculturalism at City Gallery, Amery said. ‘‘They might argue that [Wellington’s] a very different city than what it was 10, 25 years ago . . . In a way it is a surprise to me but it doesn’t surprise me at the same time.’’
The main funder of Experience Wellington – and its sub-organisations – is Wellington City Council.
City councillor Nicola Young, who holds the arts portfolio, declined to comment, citing managerial reasons.