The Economics of Art

The days of plentiful, dependable government funding for art galleries are long gone.

When I began my career in the cultural sector, the Canadian economy was entering a recession. I remember the comments of my more senior, been-around-the-block colleagues who waxed sentimental about the large research projects they had previously organized and the resulting exhibitions that they toured nationally and even internationally. They spoke of government funding that could be counted upon for adjunct curatorial positions that enabled institutions to add new voices and diverse expertise to their teams. Like hearing the glowing stories of my older siblings who had grown up a decade before me, and had been teenagers in the golden years of the late 1960s, I felt professionally I had been born too late. I had missed the “Woodstock” of the museum scene it seemed.

I have managed to ride the ups and downs of this sector for two decades and today find myself as Chief Curator at the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria (AGGV) in British Columbia in the middle of a very serious economic crisis. While economists speak of an eminent recovery, in our sector we fear that the worst of it is still ahead.

It hit home a year ago for the AGGV when we were informed that our endowment funds had tanked. These were funds to which countless dedicated donors had contributed, believing they were establishing an untouchable legacy. While every year we wait with baited breath to find out what less-predictable government agencies will be giving, we thought our endowment funds were nothing short of guaranteed income. This year, they were reduced to zero.

When you piece together a budget from numerous unpredictable sources, the failure of a sure thing is devastating. As a result, the Art Gallery in B.C.'s capital city has been forced to cut staffing – the only area where we can reduce costs without overtly threatening cuts to our basic mandate. We are now five people less than we were last year – a reduction of 20 per cent of our full time staff.

Hobbled, our workloads are more burdensome. Each member of the gallery has absorbed the duties of their fallen comrades. Things fall through the cracks, deadlines are missed, exhibitions stay up longer, perks for members are reduced, and fewer programs are on offer. But the quality of our face is maintained as staff members go above and beyond, buoyed solely by dedication to the absolute necessity of culture to our lives.

And we are not the only ones. The same story repeats itself across the country. Last week the Glenbow Museum in Calgary laid off five full-time workers and reduced 13 others to part time. Even our flusher sister the Vancouver Art Gallery is not immune, with cuts to staff hours earlier this year and their major building project now on hold. Fewer travelling exhibitions are available, curators no longer travel for research, and educational outreach programs are on the block everywhere.

British Columbia in particularly suffers. While B.C. has the most artists per capita of any province, the Professional Arts Alliance of Greater Victoria (ProArt) says that B.C. has the lowest per-capita investment in the arts. Added to this sorry statistic is that fact that in September, B.C.'s government projected a whopping cut to their investment in the arts, from $48 million last year to $3.6 million in 2010-11. No, that is not a typo – there is actually a projected reduction to arts funding of 85 per cent next year.

What that means to the AGGV and other non-profits is not exactly known. It is almost too large to believe. We already fund approximately two thirds of our budget through non-government sources. The likelihood of increasing that piece of the pie is slim. Currently, several solid corporate sponsors have informed us that they can no longer support exhibitions. Our private donors are standing up for us, but membership is down – how can a family that is struggling to make rent or mortgage payments in one of Canada's most expensive cities justify membership to an art gallery? Donors who have for years been able to give substantial cheques have told us sob stories of needing to direct any extra cash to their adult children who have lost jobs.

A constant topic around water coolers, if not boardrooms, is the effect the Olympics will have on culture in B.C. However, this is rarely referenced in the traditional media. It seems more than coincidental that as the budget for the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics balloons astronomically beyond projections that culture gets cut. My co-workers find it hard to banish rumours of a direct correlation as they sit in the shadows thrown by the torch as it passes through town this week.

About the only benefit of the downturn that came to AGGV this year was a result of the struggling art markets. While the gallery has a modest legacy specifically earmarked for art purchase that cannot be used to augment operating budgets, over the years we have failed in our attempts to use it to buy Emily Carr's work at auction. Until this year, none of her major paintings were within reach of our budget. But with prices dropping and less people competing at sales, this spring at Heffel's in Vancouver we were successful in obtaining a much desired oil on paper for just over its minimum bid. While the excitement of adding a significant work to our Carr permanent display was palpable in the gallery, it soon wore off when we realized we no longer had the staff component dedicated to writing the press release, producing the new wall label, or building the work a new frame.