Art gallery’s cash crunch calls for creativity
Four years after the Art Gallery of Alberta opened in a new $90-million building on Churchill Square, the organization is relying on a special three-year injection of city funds to keep its operations in the black.
The gallery cost about $6.3 million to run in 2013, with revenues coming mainly from government grants, fundraising, and operations.
The city-backed Edmonton Arts Council will boost the gallery’s budget by roughly $300,000 each year over the next three years while the AGA comes up with a new strategic plan to keep its budget balanced.
“I’m sure we’re going to find a solution over the next several years,” said Barry Zalmanowitz, chairman of the AGA’s board of directors, after speaking to council’s community services committee Wednesday.
“The ideas percolating are building our self-generating revenue, increasing our corporate sponsorships — we have made progress there.”
Zalmanowitz noted that galleries such as the AGA will always rely on government for about 50 per cent of their revenues.
The AGA received almost $3 million from government in 2013, while more than $1.6 million was raised through fundraising, and another $1.6 million came through operational revenues, such as admissions, programs, and private rentals.
Some city councillors questioned whether the federal government has kicked in enough cash to keep Alberta’s premier art gallery running. The federal government provided about $200,000 in 2013, compared with about $1 million from the province and $1.625 million from the city.
“With the federal government, there are some questions I have about the adequacy of funding through the Canada Council (for the Arts) to many Alberta institutions,” Mayor Don Iveson said after the meeting.
During the meeting, councillors also asked about the 6,000 pieces of art permanently stored at the gallery.
Zalmanowitz said selling those pieces would not be an easy or even beneficial tactic, despite the expense of keeping them.
“One of the problems is that if you decided … yes, we’re going to start selling these off …nobody’s going to continue to give you art,” he said.
“The difficulty is (also) that what I might think is not worth saving now might be something of incredible value 50 years from now.”
Councillors also asked whether the gallery might have to consider scaling back its programming, which has seen big-name and bigcost exhibits such as the Andy Warhol exhibit that was brought to the gallery in 2011. The AGA is hosting until March 9 Italian Masters, 500 years of Italian Paintings from the Glasgow Museum.
In the meeting, Zalmanowitz noted quality exhibits drive admissions. Corporate sponsors also back the major exhibits welcomed to the gallery. Reducing programming would be a “waste” of a special building, he said.
“It would be a different institution … it was a $90-million building, it has all of the environment and security qualifications to get these shows. You would have made this capital expenditure and you’re not giving the benefit to the community. We don’t want to do that.”
The AGA reduced ongoing operating costs by $200,000 in 2012, and managed a onetime savings of $600,000 in 2011.