$1M donation lets gallery offer free admission days
Saskatoon residents will get free access to the Remai Modern art gallery six times a year thanks to a donation of $1 million from Rawlco Radio.
The donation, which will cover five years, was announced at an event outside the Remai Modern building on Thursday as work continued inside to meet an opening date expected sometime later this year.
A public lounge on the third floor of the gallery will be named after Rawlco owners Gordon and Jill Rawlinson to mark the donation.
Rawlco owns and operates three radio stations in Saskatoon, three in Regina and one in Calgary.
“We want to have even more access that is without charge beyond what Rawlco has generously done here today,” Herb McFaull, the gallery’s fundraising chair, said in an interview.
McFaull said the donation marked the start of a fundraising campaign called Making Our House a Home.
The campaign will focus on three areas: engagement through programs, greater free access and visitor experience.
The campaign has not set a dollar amount, but McFaull said he is optimistic the “unique” nature of the gallery will convince donors to contribute, despite a challenging economic period.
Ellen Remai, who donated more than $30 million toward the construction and operation of the art gallery that bears her name, attended Thursday’s event.
Gregory Burke, the gallery’s executive director and CEO, called the Rawlco donation “just fantastic.”
Burke said the gallery will continue to look for sponsorships for free admission opportunities, but will no longer pursue having one free evening a week, as was touted when the gallery’s business plan was released in 2015.
Unlike the Mendel Art Gallery, which closed for good nearly two years ago, people will have to pay admission to see the art at the Remai Modern. The new gallery will also offer paid memberships for access.
Burke said he’s confident the gallery will open in 2017. The plan is to move staff in by June and start moving the art shortly after that, he said.
“That’ll be a long process, if you can imagine, 8,000 piece of art.”
The gallery board has said it will take eight months after the building is substantially complete to prepare for opening to the public.
Burke said the gallery is looking “very hard” for additional savings in light of the tough provincial budget, which created a $9-million shortfall for the city in 2017.
“Of course, we’re very sensitive to the budget situation that the City of Saskatoon faces at this point and we’re doing everything we can to look at our own spending in that regard,” he said.
He defended the gallery ’s spending on advertising, including ads in newspapers and on radio and billboards.
City council heard Monday that $50,000 of the gallery’s $200,000 marketing/advertising budget for 2017 has been spent so far this year.
Advertising spending forms part of the gallery’s business plan to produce greater revenues, Burke said.
The city owns the Remai Modern Art Gallery of Saskatchewan building; the gallery is operated by a board appointed by city council.