Inside the $1m Gormley deal
Rising prices, vandalism fears and backlash worries – all to bring some high-quality art to Christchurch.
The purchase price of two Antony Gormley sculptures for Christchurch rose by more than $280,000, new documents show.
It rose by 54 per cent from an early estimate of $525,000 to the final cost of $807,000, the emails, minutes and memos reveal.
The Christchurch City Council documents, released under official information legislation, also show that ratepayers and taxpayers had to stump up an extra $91,000 for the sculptures as the falling New Zealand dollar pushed up the purchase price. They also reveal fears of a public backlash against the works and council moves to keep their full cost under wraps.
The purchase of the two Gormley sculptures for the city was announced in September last year. The first was installed in the Avon River that month and the second in the Christchurch Arts Centre a few weeks ago. They were the first works created for New Zealand by Gormley, known for his monumental Angel of the North sculpture in Britain and smaller, human-scale statues in dramatic natural landscapes and cities.
Art experts say Gormley sculptures attract tourists and help revitalise small towns across the globe. The Angel of the North transformed Gateshead in the north of England from a post-industrial town to a revitalised arts destination, while 100 Gormley sculptures installed on a beach in another English town have had a similar effect.
Gormley cut the purchase price of the two sculptures by half from $1.6 million to about $807,000.
The council contributed $502,500 towards the purchase, while the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority (Cera) put up $338,000. SCAPE Public Art festival raised money and found sponsorship to cover the balance of about $160,000 for other costs such as shipping and installation. The total cost, including legal fees, shipping and insurance, was just over $1m.
The falling value of the New Zealand dollar against the British pound inflated the purchase cost from an estimate of $525,000 in October 2014, to the final of $807,183 in June 2015. This meant the council had to contribute an extra $52,500 and Cera an extra $38,612 to cover the shortfall.
The financial contribution from the council’s Public Art Advisory Group
(PAAG) grew over the course of the project. Its contribution rose from
$300,000 in underwriting in December 2014 to a $450,000 grant and an underwrite for the currency fluctuations of
$52,500 by the end of the project.
The documents also reveal that one PAAG member raised fears of a public backlash.
PAAG member and Christchurch Art Gallery director Jenny Harper raised concerns in February 2015. ‘‘There were multiple priorities within council at this time and many councillors found art problematic,’’ she said in the meeting, according to PAAG minutes released by council. The documents show that an agreement with Gormley to keep the purchase price confidential meant the public and councillors were not told the full cost of the project when it was first announced. Only the council contribution of about $500,000 was made public, with the Cera money revealed months later.
Gormley did not want his 50 per cent discount on the Christchurch artworks to be made public as it may have affected the price he could get for similar sculptures, according to local sources.
On the day the sculpture purchase was made public in September last year, Canterbury Museum director and PAAG chair Anthony Wright emailed fellow PAAG member Harper.
‘‘Is there any way of stopping any information on value and A Gormley’s costs going out. I understand the agreement with him precludes this information going out. I understand our agreed line is that the cost of the artworks themselves is commercial in confidence.’’
A council communications adviser wrote to the council general manager with responsibility for culture, Michael Aitken, on the day of the announcement. ‘‘I’m aware there is an agreement with Antony Gormley not to disclose the total cost of the works and the preferred line is that the cost of the artworks themselves is commercial in confidence. However, we are obligated to share the council’s contribution. We won’t be sharing total cost or other groups’ contributions.’’ The full cost was also removed from a memo to councillors and the mayor from council general manager Michael Aitken. Information provided to council by Harper said the total cost of the Gormley sculptures was $1.7m, which includes the full purchase price of the sculptures, without the 50 per cent discount, and extra costs such as installation and legal fees. This figure was removed from the notes before they reached councillors. In an email to Harper, Aitken wrote: ‘‘I have sent . . . a slightly modified version of your answers . . . removing the total price.’’ The documents also show that, before the purchase, concerns were raised within council that installing a Gormley statue in the Avon River could lead to maintenance problems. The statue has acted as a weed catcher since it was installed there.
A council staff member wrote in May 2015 that maintenance costs for the river sculpture were not known.
‘‘At this stage we have no idea what the maintenance for this artwork is likely to consist of. However, a number of concerns regarding graffiti removal, maintenance in a river environment etc have been raised,’’ she wrote.
Art experts say Gormley sculptures attract tourists and help revitalise small towns.