Whanganui District councillors push for Sarjeant Gallery entry fee as rates pressure rises

The redeveloped Sarjeant Gallery is due to open later this year. Photo / Bevan Conley

Three Whanganui District councillors are proposing a $15 entry fee at the Sarjeant Gallery for out-of-town visitors.

The initiative is being led by councillor Rob Vinsen, who says the ratepayer pocket is empty and other income sources must be considered.

Also onboard are councillors Ross Fallen and Phillipa Baker-Hogan.

Vinsen said he expected a lot of support around the council table.

“We know about the costs of building the gallery but very few are aware of how much their rate demand goes to it - per average ratepayer, it is $155.35 next year,” he said.

“I don’t see any justification at all for charging locals because they are already paying but visitors shouldn’t be getting in there free.

“Actually, I don’t think they mind paying.”

Vinsen said the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery/Len Lye Centre in New Plymouth added a $15 door charge for out-of-district visitors and $10 for out-of-district seniors in 2018.

In the first year of the gallery’s operations in 2016/17, there were 116,2026 entries.

That dropped to 81,022 in 2017/18 and then to 39,254 in 2018/19 - after the entry fee was introduced.

“Obviously, the charging had an effect but last year there were 84,500 visitors,” he said.

“It comes back.”

Whanganui District councillor Rob Vinsen. Photo / Bevan Conley

Earlier this year, Hamilton Gardens began charging a $20 entry fee to the enclosed gardens for visitors from outside the Hamilton City Council ratepayer boundary.

Entry for those living within the boundary and those who are under 16 remains free.

Vinsen said volunteers filtered the residents from non-residents at the gardens and a similar operation could happen at the Sarjeant.

Sarjeant Gallery Trust chairwoman Nicola Williams said Vinsen’s proposal was “total poppycock” and also used the Len Lye Centre as an example - one that showed an entry fee did not work.

She said visitor numbers more than halved and it took them six years to recover.

“In New Zealand, there are more than 30 significant public galleries and only two currently have a door charge.

“It’s not the norm in New Zealand and nor is it the norm in Australia or the United Kingdom.”

Williams said the Hundertwasser Art Centre in Whangārei required an entry fee and it had been struggling financially due to a lack of visitors.

“If a tourist has been able to visit every other gallery in New Zealand for free, why would they want to pay for our gallery?”

Govett-Brewster Art Gallery/Len Lye Centre director Zara Stanhope said there had been a lot of hard work to get visitor numbers back to 2017/18 levels.

“Obviously, we’ll never know what attendance might have been if ticketing wasn’t implemented,” she said.

“If you’re thinking of introducing something like that you have to think long-term.

“There is the immediate impact of people who decide they can’t afford to come. Will you be able to rebuild that engagement over time?”

Stanhope said she was told by people living outside the district - but in the region - that the fee was a disincentive to visit regularly.

“That’s unfortunate. We are here for the community as well as visitors from elsewhere.”

Sarjeant Gallery Trust chairwoman Nicola Williams. Photo / Bevan Conley

The entry fee at the Len Lye Centre is split, with $5 from each ticket sale going to the Len Lye Foundation and the rest used to offset gallery operational costs.

Stanhope said people liked to know what the fee was going towards.

“If you said it’s going towards renovating the storage space or an acquisition for the collection, people can choose whether they want to support that thing or not.

“That’s another way of looking at revenue raising.”

Both the Sarjeant and the Whanganui Regional Museum are free to enter.

Vinsen’s proposal includes a $5 entry fee at the museum for out-of-town visitors or there could be free entry as part of the $15 gallery ticket.

He said he was a big supporter of the museum and it had “been absolutely starved” of funding.

“I’ve been arguing for them ever since they were savaged under (former mayor) Michael Law’s budget,” he said

“They have never been allowed to recover.”

He said the combined $15 entry fee would be very helpful for both organisations.

“I would hope that if the museum sold on an extra $10 - to upgrade the ticket to include the gallery - they would split it 50/50.

“There could be real co-operation in marketing it together.”

Museum director Bronwyn Labrum said she was open to any ideas about revenue generation but charges, even for out-of-towners, were a double-edged sword.

Earlier this month, the council signed off $250,000 in emergency funding for the museum following rising costs, a lack of fundraising success and an Inland Revenue bill.

“You have to spend time checking with visitors whether they live here or not,” she said.

“For a regional museum, is out of town out of the city? Is it up the river? Is it the region we cover? There are all these sorts of questions.

“Considering the collection has been built up by the citizens of this region and with ratepayer and other public funding, the last thing we want to do is charge them again for something they have already contributed to.”

Labrum said she wanted the greatest access possible to publicly funded collections.

Bronwyn Labrum say entry fees "are a double-edged sword". Photo / Bevan Conley

Visitors have the option of giving a donation when visiting the museum.

“You can’t miss it - it’s right in the doorway where you come in. People who are surprised to find it’s free will often give us a donation of at least a gold coin, if not more,” she said.

Williams said revenue from entry fees was “absolute peanuts” compared to what could be received from donations, sponsorships and bequests.

The gallery’s endowment fund currently sits at $2.5 million.

She said one of the key things benefactors, sponsors and central government asked was: “What are the visitor numbers?”.

“A lot of the money is predicated on visitor numbers.

“Obviously, sponsors want mileage out of their dollar and benefactors want to see a benefit to the community.

“If we are charging school groups from outside the region - that could be thousands per annum - they won’t come. It will affect our visitor numbers and affect our ability to raise money.”

The Sarjeant was a gift and the trust wanted it to be as inclusive as possible - “not elitist”, Williams said.

“We are not going to be small-minded and penny-pinch. We can’t afford to drop the baton now.

“Government has been the major benefactor in the Sarjeant. Taxpayers have already paid so we shouldn’t be charging them again.”

Vinsen said institutions like art galleries and museums needed money and he believed more would be introducing entry fees.

Current projections were for 80,000 annual visitors to the new Sarjeant and 39 per cent of these would be local, he said.

“A rough estimate on that basis means a $15 door charge for out-of-town visitors could bring in over $700,000 per annum.

“I love the gallery and I support the redevelopment 1000 per cent. I think Nicola has done a fabulous job fundraising.

“It’s just got to the stage now where the arts community has got to allow entry charges in some way.”

Mike Tweed is an assistant news director and multimedia journalist at the Whanganui Chronicle. Since starting in March 2020, he has dabbled in everything from sport to music. At present his focus is local government, primarily the Whanganui District Council.