ON WOBBLY GROUND
Cash woes for Len Lye Centre
Less than two years after it opened the $11.5 million Len Lye Centre in New Plymouth is struggling to pay for the cost of keeping its big kinetic sculptures twisting and turning.
One of Len Lye’s biggest pieces, Blade, is out of commission and there is no resolution on how to pay to get it back up and working.
The issues of paying for and carrying out the work involved in the conservation, running repair and creation and recreation of Lye’s kinetic sculptures is includd in the latest Len Lye Committee meeting agenda under ‘‘challenges’’.
The challenges outline how the centre does not have a dedicated budget or the staff resources to look after its sculptures. The centre is paying for maintenance of the sculptures with funds earmarked for exhibitions.
Another ‘‘challenge’’ outlined in the agenda is that one of the long metal twister ribbons of Lye’s Trilogy sculpture broke on December 15 while people watched.
Again there is no agreement yet between the Len Lye Foundation and the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery as to who pays for the cost of the monitoring and maintenance of this massive piece.
New Plymouth District Council funds the gallery and Len Lye Centre to the tune of $4.16 million a year. The gallery itself raises about $650,000 a year. That could rise next year with some hire fees at the centre set to double.
Hiring the Todd Energy Foyer is set to go from $300 an evening to $600, while a full day at one of the education studios will go from $200 to $400, or $300 to $600 to use both at the same time.
There are many positives in the report to the committee, including more visitors over Christmas than expected, with an average of 900 visitors a day between December 26 and January 8.
Centre director Simon Rees said the kinetic sculptures were machines and just like motor vehicles needed regular maintenance. ‘‘It’s an ongoing process.’’ There’s a volume of work, he said, because their engineers repair and do maintenance on Len Lye’s sculptures all around the world. And, while the other institutions pay for the work, there is limited staff resources.
New Plymouth district councillor Shaun Biesiek said there was a difference between repairs and maintenance. ‘‘We need to maintain and oil and grease, but that’s different than when they’re breaking down. A break is a fault, it shouldn’t be on the ratepayer.’’