Connecting with Community: Part Two

People are busy. Money is tight. The second story in our two-part series looks at what visitors pay at public art galleries.

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Until recently, the MacKenzie Art Gallery in Regina was the only large public gallery in Western Canada to offer free admission every day to all visitors. But in June, the MacKenzie started charging non-members over the age of 17 a $10 admission fee.

At the same time, the cost of an annual membership, which now includes unlimited free visits, dropped to $30 from $50 for individuals and to $55 from $75 for couples.

A major goal in moving to mandatory admission fees from a pay-what-you-wish system was to double the gallery's membership to 800 people, says communications director Deborah Rush.

"While mandatory admission fees – rather than by donation – will generate more revenue, it was more about working to enhance experience and increase memberships," she says.

The cost of admission is often the only thing people know about the financial arrangements of public art galleries, which also earn revenues from memberships, donations, gift shops and the like. Funding also comes in the form of grants from federal, provincial and municipal governments.

Entry fees vary widely at major galleries in the four Western provinces. Each institution has its own financial strategy and offers different value for money, depending on its size and the number and type of shows it offers.

For instance, a regular adult ticket to the Vancouver Art Gallery, the most expensive gallery to visit in Western Canada, will set you back $24. That may help explain the hefty membership of some 37,000 people reported for the gallery's last fiscal year. That is, by far, the highest membership of any public gallery in Western Canada.

Memberships to galleries typically include free entry and a menu of other benefits, like discounts for workshops or purchases at gift shops, so they are a good deal for budget-minded folks who visit regularly.

At the Vancouver Art Gallery, an individual would have to visit four times in a year to offset the $90 annual membership fee. The annual "household" rate of $132 is an even better deal.

Meanwhile, more modest entry fees of $12 are charged at both the Winnipeg Art Gallery and Saskatoon’s Remai Modern, while the Art Gallery of Alberta in Edmonton weighs in at $12.50. These galleries have smaller memberships, ranging from about 3,800 to 7,100 people.

Annual attendance also varies widely between institutions. The Vancouver Art Gallery recorded more than 600,000 visits to its exhibitions and programs, including public art sites, in its last fiscal year. The MacKenzie, meanwhile, reported about 74,000 visits, with other galleries coming in somewhere between the two.

Attendance numbers provided by different institutions are not always seamless comparisons. For instance, galleries may use different tracking methods. Counting visitors or visits, for instance, can shift the numbers, and ditto how that information is gathered, whether by door counters or someone at the front desk.

Some attendance figures might include people who come into the building for a coffee or to buy a gift, even if they don’t visit an exhibition. Another variable is school programs, which can boost attendance significantly. The Glenbow's website, for instance mentions that about 1,000 school students visit the Calgary gallery every week during the school year. 

Of course, it's no surprise that Greater Vancouver, with a population of more than 2.5 million, generates more memberships – and visitors – than Regina and Saskatoon, both with fewer than 300,000 residents.

And a new gallery like the Remai, which opened in late 2017, almost certainly experiences a novelty boost in its first few years as both local residents and tourists check out the new digs.

Some people argue that galleries subsidized by taxpayers should offer free entry to all, both to expand and diversify art audiences beyond middle-class visitors with disposable income, and as a service to communities where people may be struggling financially.

For instance, New York Times critic Roberta Smith drew a comparison between museums and public libraries in a 2006 column, pointing out that most people would be appalled if libraries started charging admission.

But free entry to public galleries would deprive institutions of substantial revenue streams.

The Vancouver Art Gallery, for instance, earned almost $5 million from admission fees in its last fiscal year, about a quarter of its total operational revenues of $21.4 million. The Glenbow, meanwhile, generated about $1 million from entry fees, about 12 per cent of its total annual revenues. 

When the Art Gallery of Ontario announced changes to its admissions policy in May, the gallery's director, Stephan Jost, told ArtNews it would cost $12 million to cover all the costs of a free-admission system.

Instead, anyone 25 or younger can now enter the Toronto gallery at no charge. Those over 25 can purchase a new annual pass for $35 that provides unlimited access to the gallery. The single adult entry fee was boosted to $25, up from $19.50.

The pass is cheaper than a regular membership, which costs $110 per year and includes other benefits such as early access to exhibitions, free coat checks and discounts at the café.

Jost said the changes would help the gallery understand who is visiting and how to engage new audiences.

“We often spend money marketing to upper middle-class people who’ve been to the institution in the last year,” he said. “If we can communicate directly with those people, then I can deploy my marketing money in the Mandarin-speaking suburbs of Toronto, for example.”

While institutions generally offer lower entry fees to children and seniors, some go further by offering free admission on a weekly or monthly basis, often with the support of corporate sponsors.

Free nights can have a festive atmosphere, with a sense of urgency that ignites both the fear of missing out and the thrill of a deal. 

At Calgary’s Glenbow, which normally charges $18 for adults, the first Thursday of each month is free from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. It’s a token effort that increases access, although the time isn’t particularly friendly for families. The average monthly attendance in the first seven months this year was 2,456, easily making first Thursdays the gallery's busiest days.

"We continue to be thrilled at the response every month to free Thursday nights from Calgarians," says Jenny Conway Fisher, the Glenbow's marketing and communications manager. "When we were originally planning for this admission program, we projected visitation would be 500 people each month."

Meanwhile, the Vancouver Art Gallery offers admission-by-donation every Tuesday from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Visitors go to the front desk for a ticket, where they are encouraged to donate $10. At times, the lineups can stretch down the street.

The Art Gallery of Alberta is free on Thursdays from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., while the Remai Modern offers free admission six times a year – the next day is Oct. 20. The Winnipeg Art Gallery doesn’t have regularly scheduled free days, but sometimes offers the public complimentary entry for special events. ■

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