The Waiheke Community Art Gallery also receives funding for Sculpture in the Gulf along a 2km coastal walkway. Photo / Supplied
The Waiheke Community Art Gallery also receives funding for Sculpture in the Gulf along a 2km coastal walkway. Photo / Supplied
The Super City is still a blank canvas as far as Auckland's community art galleries are concerned, operating an old funding model that favours some galleries over others.
The Te Uru Waitākere Contemporary Gallery in Titirangi receives $17.53 per visitor and at the other end of the scale the WaihekeCommunity Art Gallery receives just 14 cents per visitor.
This is because Auckland Council is still funding community art galleries under funding models used by the former councils before the Super City was created in 2010.
Sue Wood, who chairs the Waiheke Community Art Gallery, said it is inconceivable the gallery is still funded under the old Auckland City Council model nine years into the Super City.
In the last financial year, the gallery received $11,019 from council's arts and culture fund and had 77,492 visitors.
Te Uru had less than half the number of visitors - 36,799 - and received $645,054 from council.
Wood said the Waiheke gallery had to raise 95 per cent of its funds to stay afloat, placing enormous strain on staff and volunteers.
"This is not the case for other community galleries. We simply want a more equitable model and want to know when council will complete this work. The viability of our gallery is at issue right now," she said.
Ian Maxwell, council's director of customer and community services, said councillors would not make decisions on a new funding model as part of a governance framework review until the lead up of the new 10-year budget in 2021.
The new model would require input from the governing body and Local Boards, which currently allocate funding to community art galleries, he said.
The Waiheke Community Art Gallery is seeking a review of the funding model. Source / Waiheke Community Art Gallery
Maxwell said issues of equity, Local Board priorities, community needs and population demographics would be taken into account.
He said art galleries may also receive other funding from Auckland Council and the Government's Creative Communities Scheme.
The council produced figures showing in the past financial year, the Waiheke Community Art Gallery received an extra $8580 from the Waiheke Local Board, a regional grant of $25,000 towards the Sculpture on the Gulf along a 2km coastal walkway and $2000 from the Creative Communities Scheme for arts workshops.
Andrew Clifford, director of Te Uru Waitakere Contemporary Gallery, said using visitor numbers as a measure of subsidy is a pretty crude tool.
He said the gallery was a unique case because it opened in 2014 as part of a $20.8 million upgrade of Lopdell House in Titirangi.
The former Waitākere City Council pledged $850,000 to run Te Uru, but Auckland Council provided about $645,000, which barely covers wages and operating costs, Clifford said.
"A crude analysis of visitor numbers does not come close to recognising the kind of value cultural facilities return to the community."
Clifford said other measures that should be taken into account include educational programmes, workshops, touring exhibitions, publications and benefits to the community.
He agreed with a review, saying every cultural institution is funded differently and the model needs tidying up.
Vickie Bowers, director of Uxbridge in Howick, said all the art galleries are different and the challenge is to make valid comparisons.
Work on display at the Waiheke Community Art Gallery. Source / Waiheke Community Art Gallery
"Uxbridge is not just an art gallery - we have a theatre. We also have art studios and an assortment of rooms and spaces for classes and workshops such as languages, fine art, applied art, lifestyle, bodyworks, dance, etc and we hire out facilities for community purposes so, we can't really be compared with a venue which is just an art gallery," she said.
Who gets what*
Gallery, Funding, Visitors, Cost per visitor
• Te Uru Waitākere Community Gallery: $645,054, 36,799, $17.53 • Corban Estate Arts Centre, Henderson: $571,351, 70,356, $8.12 • Te Tuhi Centre for the Arts, Pakuranga: $569,798, 143,592, $3.97 • Wallace Arts Centre at Pah Homestead: $441,244, 81,839, $5.39 • Uxbridge, Howick: $319,034, 90,676, $3.52 • Northart Gallery, Northcote: $85,764, 14,069, $6.10 • Mairangi Arts Centre: $83,570, 22,310, $3.75 • Depot Artspace, Devonport: $80,931, 19,840, $4.08 • Lake House Arts Centre, Takapuna: $68,096, 58,671, $1.16 • Estuary Arts Centre, Orewa: $66,529, 40,662, $1.64 • Upstairs Art Gallery, Titirangi: $48,614, 9696, $5.01 • Kumeu Arts Centre: $40,000, 13,084, $3.06 • Helensville Arts Centre: $20,000, 10,676, $1.87 • West Coast Gallery, Piha: $15,041, 16,716, $0.90 • Waiheke Community Art Gallery: $11,019, 77,492, $0.14 • Great Barrier Heritage Village/Arts Centre: $10,000, 10,937, $0.91
*Figures are for the 2018-2019 financial year. Source: Auckland Council
