Art Gallery aims for more visitors
A peer review of the Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetu identifies the need to attract more visitors to one of the city’s most admired buildings.
Stephen McArthur, the Council’s General Manager Community Services, initiated the peer review after the Council identified earlier this year insufficient public use of and revenue from the gallery.
Two experts in gallery management carried out the review, the findings of which will be presented at a Council seminar on 6 December. Staff have been advised of the review findings and are providing feedback.
Mr McArthur says the review found that the gallery, a landmark building which opened to great acclaim 30 months ago, still has much to celebrate, including its well trained and professional staff and its very good budget.
“There’s been a settling-in period, but the review identifies falling visitor numbers with the exhibitions and public programmes not expressing anything new,” Mr McArthur says. “The building is such a strong performer that it demands an equally strong, if not stronger, performance from the visitor experience.”
Key recommendations from the review include committing to new audiences, building a new visitor experience and developing the brand.
Mr McArthur says a professional project manager will be appointed to drive the changes, working alongside the gallery’s management team. In the short term, new activity and programme development will be frozen, except for the actual programme that is offered in the galleries for the next six to eight months. Research will be done to identify the needs of potential visitors.
“We need to expand our visitor base, particularly through new product development,” Mr McArthur says. “We want to develop a new personality for the gallery which is inclusive, dynamic, unexpected, interactive, fun, relaxed, cosmopolitan and moderately rebellious.”
That the gallery has already begun diversifying its product is shown in its two latest exhibitions — New Zealand’s first exhibition of Korean contemporary art and a display of legendary American photographer Ansel Adams’ images.
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