Community Services Committee
09 February 2017
File: (17/178)
Report
no: CSC2017/1/3
Activity Review -
Museums
Purpose
of Report
1. The purpose of this report is to outline the results of a review of
the Museums activity.
|
Recommendation
It is recommended that the
Committee:
(i) notes
the information contained in this report;
(ii) notes
that this review also meets the intent of section 17A of the Local Government
Act 2002; and
(iii) agrees that a full section 17A review should not be undertaken at
present for the reasons outlined in the report.
|
Background
2. Activity
Reports provide regular information about Council activities, so that
activities can be analysed and their future direction considered. They also address the requirements of section 17A of the Local
Government Act 2002 (LGA) that regular reviews be undertaken of the
cost-effectiveness of current arrangements for meeting the needs of communities
for good-quality local infrastructure, local public services, and performance
of regulatory functions.
High-level
description of Activity
3. Museums
is a Community Services Group activity managed in-house with service delivery
provided by the Museums Division and asset management functions facilitated by
the Community Facilities team.
4. Museums
incorporates the provision of:
· The Dowse Art Museum (exhibitions, events, education, collection
care, venue hire, retail)
· Petone Settlers Museum (exhibitions, events, education, collection
care)
· Community Arts (advice, support, events)
· Little Theatre venue hire
Reason
for the review
5. This
review is required because two years have passed since this Activity was last
reviewed.
Rationale
for service provision
6. The
strategic documents which guide the delivery of services for this activity are
the Leisure and Wellbeing Strategy 2012-2032; the Community Services Group
Strategic Plan; the Arts and Culture Policy 2016-2021.
7. Common
goals across these strategic documents that inform the delivery of the Museums
Activity are:
· To deliver the best core local government public services in New
Zealand.
· To renew and revitalise Hutt City’s network of community
facilities.
· To improve the quality of life and wellbeing of those living in high
deprivation communities.
· To promote and facilitate urban growth and economic
development
8. The
Museums Division has also been active in the Making Places CBD Urban Renewal
strategy and projects.
9. These
services where possible should be delivered in an integrated manner, working in
partnership with other Council services, community organisations, government
agencies and/or the commercial sector.
10. The
Museums Division works frequently with Council teams including Libraries, City
Promotions, City Safety and Economic Development; with community organisations
such as Rotary clubs; with central government organisations such as the
Ministry of Education, Ministry for Culture and Heritage, Creative New Zealand
and Te Papa; and with commercial sponsors for various activities, including
Dulux and Format Print.
Governance,
funding and service delivery
11. Hutt
City Museums is a division of Council. The Director, Museums is a
Divisional Manager within Council.
12. Hutt
City Museums comprises two institutions, The Dowse Art Museum and the Petone
Settlers Museum; the Little Theatre; and Community Arts activity for Council.
13. The
Museums Division contributes significantly to Hutt City’s vision of
“a great city to live, work and play” by providing high quality and
affordable recreational facilities, events and experiences. These services help
make Lower Hutt an enjoyable place for residents, and an attractive destination
for visitors to the Wellington region and people seeking to relocate.
14. Hutt
City Museums contributes to the following community outcomes:
· Actively engaged in community activities
· Strong and inclusive communities
· A strong and diverse economy
· An accessible and connected city
· A safe community
· A healthy and attractive built environment
15. Providing
museums enables people to freely access cultural and social experiences that
enrich, inspire, and offer a range of lifelong learning opportunities.
Museums act as a focal point for the community, enhance cultural life and
diversity, and promote civic pride and community cohesion. Museums are safe and
stimulating public spaces, which can be used by individuals, families and
groups. Museums collect, preserve and share our cultural and social
histories: they are storehouses for the community’s shared cultural
wealth. Our museums are local leisure sites, as well visitor attractors for
Lower Hutt.
16. Providing
facilities like the Little Theatre meets the needs of community groups and
cultural organisations for space to present their work, and provide local and
visiting audiences with cultural and social experiences.
17. Providing
community arts support brings vibrancy and connection to Hutt City’s
social environment, supports the development of local arts practitioners and
organisations, and enables other parts of Council and the community to benefit
from engaging with arts, culture, and cultural organisations.
18. Council
provides these services because participation in recreation and cultural
activities positively affect people’s lives. Providing these high quality
services at low user cost makes them available to the whole community.
Museums act as a focal point for the community, promote civic pride, and
attract attention to the city nationally and internationally. Quality
recreation services are critical factors contributing to resident’s
quality of life in Hutt City.
Description
of services
19. Hutt
City Museums comprises two institutions, The Dowse Art Museum and the Petone
Settlers Museum, which are open to the public at no charge.
20. The
core business of both museums is the development and delivery of quality
exhibitions and related visitor programmes aligned to the needs and
expectations of local and visiting audiences. Both museums also care for,
develop and make available collections of local and national significance.
21. Museums
education programme is part-funded by a Ministry of Education LEOTC
contract. These contracts are provided to cultural organisations that can
deliver curriculum-related programmes in enriching environments. Hutt City
Museum’s programme is focused on the social sciences curriculum, and runs
across both museums. Our target for 2014-2016 was 8,500 students attending
programmes per year. Our 2017-2020 target is 5,500 students per year. A reduced
target has been agreed between Hutt City Museums and the Ministry to ensure
meaningful relationships are developed with schools and students, and that
schools that are not accustomed customers for this service can be prioritised.
22. Hutt
City Museums oversees maintenance and development, and manages venue hire, for
the Little Theatre in the War Memorial Library complex.
23. The
Museums division delivers the Community Arts portfolio for Council. This is
unusual: other Councils usually have stand-alone Community Arts units (or
simply do not provide this service). One full-time staff member is
employed in the Community Arts Advisor role.
24. Revenue
generating activities in the Museums division include:
· Venue hire of Little Theatre
· Venue hire at The Dowse
· Retail at The Dowse store and Petone Settlers Museum
· Café leases at The Dowse and in the War Memorial Library
complex.
25. One
full-time staff member is employed to manage venue hire. The retail
manager role is combined with the Front of House team leader role in a single
full-time position.
The Dowse
Art Museum
26. Established
in 1971, The Dowse is widely recognised as one of New Zealand’s leading
contemporary art galleries and as New Zealand’s top craft and applied art
institution.
27. The
Dowse runs a programme of temporary exhibitions, which run for between 3 and 6
months. Working across 6 different gallery spaces The Dowse typically
offers between 15 and 18 exhibitions per year.
28. Exhibitions
are accompanied by public programme events, which range from creative workshops
to expert talks. A new programme introduced in the past year has
facilitated weekly visits by Taita and Stokes Valley libraries customers.
29. Nuke
Tewhatewha, the historic pātaka associated with Naenae and Te Atiawa chief
Wi Tako Ngatata, is the only item permanently on display at The Dowse. It is
our most unique and most significant treasure. Of the 7 such pataka carved in
support of the Kīngitanga (Māori King) movement in the 1850s, this is
the only one to survive.
30. The
Dowse cares for a collection of over 3,200 objects, including what are probably
New Zealand’s most comprehensive contemporary jewellery and ceramics
collections. More than a third of exhibitions each year feature works from the
collection.
31. Both
our face to face visitor surveys and the annual Communitrak survey show high
repeat visitation to The Dowse (over 70%). In 2016 our face to face survey
showed an increase in first-time visitors, from 19% to 29%.
32. In
2016 our face to face surveys indicated approximately 65% of visitors came from
outside Lower Hutt. Of these, 65% said visiting The Dowse was their main reason
for visiting Lower Hutt. Approximately 60% of non-Hutt visitors were from
the Wellington region, and 40% were from further afield.
33. Major
exhibitions over the past three years include Legacy: The Art of Rangi Hetet
and Erenora Puketapu-Hetet, Liu Jianhua (international art from China),
Seraphine Pick: White Noise, and Wunderrūma: New Zealand Jewellery.
There have also been two iterations of SOLO, the biennial exhibition of new
work by Wellington region artists, and two Shapeshifter sculpture festivals.
34. In
addition The Dowse facility offers a range of venue hire services for events
such as corporate events, community meetings and weddings; food and beverage
services through a café lease (a separate commercial operation); and the
MINE gift shop.
35. The
Dowse’s primary revenue generating activity is hireage of three venue
spaces. In the 2016/16 FY hireage was at 74% of capacity.
36. Following
a tender in 2016 in 2017 a new local operator is taking over the lease on the
café space at The Dowse. The café will be closed for a period for
an extensive refurbishment. A name and opening date are still to be
announced at the time of submitting this report. During the refurbishment a
temporary service will operate.
37. Work
is also taking place to improve the entrance to The Dowse. Currently, the
entrance way is poorly located and difficult to detect for new visitors looking
at the front of the building. The front entrance will be re-located and a new
wooden structure added to the front of the building to provide shelter and to
visually identify the entranceway. CAPEX funding of $148,000 is allocated to
this project. It is timed to coincide with the café refurbishment.
Work is scheduled to take place in May 2017.
38. The
Dowse will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2021.
39. The
most significant future CAPEX development for The Dowse is $800,000 scheduled
for collection store development in FY 2021/22.
Petone
Settlers Museum
40. The
Petone Settlers Museum, established in 1977, collects, cares for and shares the
social history of Petone and the lower Hutt Valley, with a special focus on
early Maori and European settlement. It is a repository of the local
community’s memories and history and makes these available to people of
all generations.
41. Petone
Settlers Museum is housed in the Wellington Provincial Centennial Memorial
building on the Petone foreshore, opened in 1940. The building has a
commemorative Hall of Memories and two small wings that originally served as a
bathing pavilion.
42. The
museum has historically centred on the story of early Māori and European
settlement of the Pito-one area, but other stories of the environment, industry,
sport, culture and settlement are also told.
43. In
2016 an extensive external refurbishment of the building restored original
features and the original colour scheme, and opened the view out onto the
harbour again.
44. At
the same time the static exhibition at the museum (which had been in place
unchanged for 5 years) was overhauled. The new display has an approach of
many ‘modules’, which can be more easily updated on a regular
basis. For example, there is a new ‘Street’ module, in which a
different Petone street’s history and contemporary culture will be
researched and displayed.
45. Extra
funding was approved in 2016/17 for a fixed-term one-year Community Curator
role for the museum, along with a small amount of programme funding. This
initiative has been highly successful, with many new partnerships formed, new
exhibitions planned, and community groups engaged. (Attached as Appendix
1 to the report.)
46. Monthly
visitation to Petone Settlers Museum has increased by an average of 42% since
reopening in late April 2016.
47. The
Petone Settlers Museum collection consists of just under 3,000 items, of which
approximately 40% are photographs. The collection is securely stored, but much
work is still to be done on correctly cataloguing and housing it, and on
ensuring we are adding contemporary objects to the collection for future
generations.
Community
Arts
48. In
July 2013 a Community Arts Advisor position was added to the Museums
division. This role acts to facilitate between the Council and community
arts groups / local art practitioners (across all forms) to enrich the
city’s cultural life, build community connections through art activities,
and assist local artists and arts groups to develop sustainable
careers/business models.
49. The
Community Arts Advisor administers Council contracts for local art groups;
works with other parts of Council on a mural programme designed to engage
youth, reduce graffiti and increase community pride; and supports and
coordinates a mentoring programme and a local artists network.
50. Events
core-funded by the Community Arts budget and managed by the Community Arts
Advisor include the annual Summer in Dowse Square performing arts programme;
two iterations of the Common Ground temporary art festival (2015 and 2017) and the
forthcoming Winter Festival (mid 2017). These events are designed to increase
opportunities for local practitioners to present their work, to help build the
local arts infrastructure, and to increase access to arts experiences for the
Hutt community. The Community Arts Advisor works with several Council units to
produce these events.
51. The
Community Art Advisor has been extensively involved in facility developments,
including the Walter Nash Centre (commissioning community art projects and
works by local artists for the building, including the motifs on the exterior
concrete panels) and the Stokes Valley Hub project.
52. The
Community Arts Advisor also administers the Creative New Zealand (CNZ) Creative
Communities programme. CNZ allocates funding to local government, which is
distributed to arts groups and practitioners undertaking community art
projects. Decisions are made by a panel of local arts practitioners and
representatives.
53. The
current funding for Community Arts is $65,000, plus one full-time role (the
Community Arts Advisor) and supplementary funding for identified projects
provided through the annual planning process.
54. The
Arts and Culture Policy objectives are:
· Provide opportunities for participation and access to arts and
cultural activities
· Foster cultural enterprise / secure Hutt’s creative future
· Create,
preserve and enhance public places and nurture public art, heritage and culture
55. The
Community Arts and Culture Advisory Group (CACAG) have provided community input
on Community Arts projects and needs, including input of the Arts and Culture
Policy update. In 2017 the CACAG will be replaced by the Arts and Culture
Subcommittee, made up of four elected officials and five community
representatives.
56. From
the 2017/18 financial year forward we see the emphasis of Community Arts
shifting from organising and delivering events and programmes to supporting
groups and individuals in the community to develop and present their work,
match professional arts practitioners with community groups to deliver
community led cultural development projects, build audiences and increase
audience access, and develop skills and career opportunities.
Little Theatre
57. Little
Theatre is a 300 seat proscenium arch performing arts theatre, part of the War
Memorial Library complex.
58. Fees
at the Little Theatre are purposefully kept low to enable use by the community.
In the 2015/16 FY hireage was at 57% of capacity.
59. CAPEX
work this year is planned to bring Little Theatre in line with health and
safety standards and improve the experience for users and audiences. A group of
community users was assembled by last term’s Councillor Branch to provide
guidance on users’ needs and expectations for this refurbishment. The
majority of health and safety concerns were addressed immediately. We are
currently waiting on quotes/proposals for the wider refurbishment work,
including resurfacing the stage and improve sound and lighting infrastructure.
Current
and future risks likely to have a significant impact on this activity
60. Any
changes in central government priorities and strategies that reduce funding to
arts organisations, including Ministry of Education (funding to the Learning
Experiences Outside The Classroom (LEOTC) programme which funds education
programmes in museums and galleries), Ministry for Culture and Heritage (funds
capital projects and commemorations such as WW100) and Creative New Zealand
(funds artist projects, publishing and professional development).
61. Reduced
mainstream media arts coverage (especially in daily newspapers) reduces ability
to reach a general audience and increases need for paid advertising.
62. Changes
in Health & Safety legislation with flow-on costs for venue hirers, e.g.
likely to require mandatory technician support for Little Theatre hire.
63. Extreme
weather events and earthquakes: particularly affecting maintenance, visitor and
staff safety, and opening hours for Petone Settlers Museum; and risk to
collections and items on display, particularly at The Dowse.
64. Rising
costs for maintaining and operating a heritage building and a specialist
building, and storing collections appropriately.
65. Lack
of staff resource and budget to digitise and put collections online means
community is not fully benefitting from these resources.
66. Growing
expectations of immersive, interactive and digitally-delivered experiences at
museums, which are costly to create and maintain.
67. Growing
expectations of direct community involvement and partnership with museums,
which require significant staffing availability.
68. Potential
pressure on venue hire revenue with more hireage going to the new events
centre.
Current
performance against KPIs compared to historical and peer benchmarks
69. Hutt
City Museums performance against KPI measures
|
Measure
|
Target
|
Results
2016
|
Results 2015
|
Results 2014
|
|
Number of museum visits per year (combined)
|
200,000
|
226,946
|
216,447
|
205,874
|
|
Residents’ satisfaction with the Dowse Art Museum*
|
≥ 93%
|
95%
|
95%
|
96%
|
|
Residents’ satisfaction with Petone Settlers Museum
*
|
≥ 93%
|
97%
|
98%
|
96%
|
|
Annual number of visitors to The Dowse from outside Lower
Hutt^
|
100,000
|
142,250
|
122,643
|
100,000
|
|
Percentage
of the art collection on display.
|
5%
|
5.15%
|
6%
|
12.3%
|
|
Number of
new exhibitions held at The Dowse and Petone Settlers Museum.
|
18
|
15
(The Dowse)
Full
exhibition refurbishment PSM
|
17 (The Dowse)
0 (PSM)
|
21 (The Dowse)
0 (PSM)
|
|
Number of participants on school and community education
programmes.#
|
11,000
|
11,168
LEOTC: 8,640
|
11,535
LEOTC: 8,323
|
12,075
LEOTC: 8,798
|
|
Satisfaction with school and community education
programmes. +
|
90% satisfaction
|
100%
|
100%
|
100%
|
* Hutt City Council
Communitrak Survey, % of 'Very / Fairly Satisfied' excluding the 'Don't Knows'
^ Based on
voluntary face to face visitor surveys
# Students and
children participating in Museums education and outreach programmes
+Based on Learning
Outcomes Outside The Classroom (LEOTC) evaluation forms
70. Resident
satisfaction comparison (based on publicly available figures for other
Wellington region cultural institutions)
|
Organisation
|
Target 2015/16
|
Result 2015/16
|
|
The Dowse Art Museum
|
Resident satisfaction is ≥ 93%*
|
95%
|
|
Petone Settlers Museum
|
Resident satisfaction is ≥ 93%*
|
96%
|
|
City Gallery Wellington
|
An average of 90% of visitors rate
the quality of their experience as
good or very good
|
89%
|
|
Wellington Museum
|
An average of 90% of visitors rate
the quality of their experience as
good or very good
|
89%
|
|
Expressions
Whirinaki
|
90% of respondents are satisfied or very
satisfied
|
97%
|
|
Pataka
(Porirua)
|
Maintain community satisfaction with levels of service across all
groups of activities provided by the Council
|
98%
|
* Hutt City Council Communitrak Survey 2016, % of 'Very
/ Fairly Satisfied' excluding the 'Don't Knows'
71. Benchmarks
against peer institutions (based on publicly available figures for other
Wellington region cultural institutions).
72. Note:
· This Council
is the only Council in the Wellington region to include Community Art in its
Museum division/unit.
· This Council
is the only Council in the Wellington region to include a stand-alone facility
like Little Theatre under its Museums activity (although Expressions in Upper
Hutt is a purpose-designed dual performing and visual art centre).
|
Organisation
|
% Council expenditure
|
Visitation 2016
|
Number of exhibitions 2016
|
Collections
|
|
Hutt City
Museums
|
2.3%
|
226,946
|
15 exhibitions at The Dowse; full refurbishment of Petone Settlers
Museum
|
The Dowse art collection and Petone Settlers Museum social history
collection
|
|
Expressions
Whirinaki (UHCC)
|
2%
|
148,000
|
Not
reported
|
Small art collection
|
|
Pataka
(Porirua)
|
Not available^
|
392,523
|
22
|
Small
art collection; small social history collection
|
|
City Gallery
Wellington (WCC)*
Wellington
Museum (WCC)*
|
2%
|
178,228
|
15
|
No
collection
|
|
133,470
|
2 temporary exhibitions; development of ‘The Attic’.
|
Social history collection, approx. 55,000 items
|
^ Community
and Leisure Services (including arts and heritage, libraries, sports field and
cemeteries, accounts for 28% of PCC’s budget. No further breakdown is
available.
*
Wellington City Council is a core funder of Experience Wellington, the trust
that manages City Gallery Wellington and Wellington Museum. Approximately 2% of
WCC’s annual expenditure supports the provision of museums in the
Experience Wellington portfolio, excluding Te Papa and Carter Observatory.
Financial
73. Museums
account for 2.3% of all Council expenditure
74. Museums
Financial Summary
|
Account Type
|
2013/14
|
2014/15
|
2015/16
|
2016/17
|
|
Description
|
Actual
|
Actual
|
Actual
|
Budget
|
|
Revenue
|
|
|
|
|
|
User Charges
|
241
|
275
|
206
|
273
|
|
Other Revenue
|
312
|
428
|
189
|
282
|
|
Total Revenue
|
553
|
703
|
395
|
555
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Expenditure
|
|
|
|
|
|
Employee Costs
|
1,318
|
1,466
|
1,435
|
1,444
|
|
Support Costs
|
640
|
1,016
|
1,015
|
1,304
|
|
Operating Costs
|
1,152
|
1,134
|
1,242
|
1,032
|
|
Interest
|
71
|
94
|
35
|
62
|
|
Depreciation
|
487
|
524
|
583
|
565
|
|
Total Expenditure
|
3,668
|
4,234
|
4,310
|
4,407
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Net Surplus(-) / Deficit
|
3,069
|
3,531
|
3,869
|
3,752
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Capital Expenditure - To Replace Existing Assets
|
113
|
160
|
499
|
391
|
|
Capital Expenditure - To Improve Levels of Service
|
198
|
379
|
163
|
659
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total Capital
|
311
|
539
|
662
|
1,050
|
75. The
prospective income statement is attached as Appendix 2 to the report.
76. The
financial statement for projects planned is attached as Appendix 3 to the
report.
Adjustments
that could be made to user charges and service levels to increase or decrease
these by 5%
77. Options
for service delivery cuts if 5% less rates funding was provided for this
activity are:
· Reduce number of Community Arts programmes
· Reduce number of exhibitions at The Dowse
· Reduce events and outreach programmes
· Freeze exhibition changes and collection care work at Petone
Settlers Museum
· Reduce opening days for Petone Settlers Museum
· Increase charges for venue hire
78. Options
for increased service delivery if 5% more rates funding was provided for this
activity include:
· More international exhibitions at The Dowse. With the new hotel and
event centre underway, 2018-2020 would be the ideal time to invest in higher
profile exhibitions aimed at attracting out-of-region visitors.
· Digitisation of The Dowse and Petone Settlers Museum collections
· Increase national and international awareness by marketing both museums
to domestic and international tourists
· Increase outreach work from The Dowse and Petone Settlers Museum
with schools, Libraries and community groups
· Provide more community art events and programmes, with a focus on
enlivening the CBD, community hubs and suburban centres
· Create a new position focused on Māori history, art, language
and community outreach: to support education and exhibition programmes; improve
kaitiakitanga of Nuku Tewhatewha; to grow relationships with marae, schools,
kohanga reo, kura kaupapa.
· Begin proactive collecting for Petone Settlers Museum (currently all
additions to the collection are donations, and tend to be historical items: new
resourcing could enable the creation of a collection that reflects contemporary
life in Petone and the Hutt Valley)
Comparison
of any significant fees or charges against peers
79. Comparison
of entry fees and charged special exhibitions (with other Wellington region
museums and galleries)
|
Institution
|
Free
general entry (Y/N)
|
Charged
art exhibitions past 3 years
|
|
The Dowse (HCC)
|
Y
|
0
|
|
Petone Settlers Museum (HCC)
|
Y
|
0
|
|
Pataka (PCC)
|
Y
|
0
|
|
Te Papa (WCC and central govt)
|
Y
|
0
|
|
City Gallery Wellington (WCC)
|
Y
|
1
|
|
Wellington Museum (WCC)
|
Y
|
0
|
|
Expressions Whirinaki (UHCC)
|
Y
|
0
|
80. Touring
shows (Dowse exhibitions hired by other museums/galleries) are charged at
between $3,000 and $18,000 per venue with $3000-$5000 being a typical fee
range. Prices are commensurate with peer organisations. Revenue
fluctuates according to suitability of touring shows and national demand. Dowse
will also “swap” shows with other galleries, in which case fees are
not charged.
81. Venue
hire charges at The Dowse and Little Theatre are matched against other Hutt
facilities, with an emphasis on keeping HCC venues within the reach of
community hirers. From 2018 we will see what impact the new Event Centre and
reopened Town Hall have on demand and pricing for venue hire in the CBD.
Current highlights or issues of
significance to Council
82. As
noted, the operation of the café space in The Dowse has changed hands
(effective 18 February 2017).
83. As
noted, improvements will be made to The Dowse entrance way in early/mid 2017
(aligned with café renovation)
84. In
the 2016/17 Annual Plan $60,000 was allocated for promoting programs and
activities at the recently refurbished Petone Settlers Museum. These
investments have seen visitation at Petone Settlers Museum increase on average
42% per month since reopening; increased visitation has been matched with increased
media interest and community collaboration. A summary of community
engagement to date and exhibition changes for 2017 is attached as an appendix
to the report. Making this additional funding will be crucial to the
ongoing development of the Museum as a community resource and visitor
attraction. Without this additional funding, activities and programmes at
Petone Settlers Museum will likely return to the pre-refurbishment levels.
85. Media
coverage in January 2017 revisited the issue of collections being “hidden
away” in the collection stores of Wellington’s cultural
institutions. As this report shows, Hutt City Museums consistently achieves
KPIs showing The Dowse’s collection. Appendix 4 shows The Dowse’s
2017 programme and notes which exhibitions will feature collection items.
Investing in digitising The Dowse collection and making it freely available
online would be the most cost-effective way of significantly increasing access
to and knowledge of the collection.
Reasonably
practical options for the governance, funding and delivery of this activity
86. This
report identifies potential governance models for the Museums activity.
87. Option
1 is the status quo, with The Dowse Art Museum, Petone Settlers Museum, Little
Theatre and Community Arts managed as a division of Hutt City Council.
88. Option
1 enables direct oversight of Museum activity by Hutt City Council as core
funder. It enables Museums activity to be closely aligned with other
Council activities (from tourism promotion to city safety). It also means
Museums activity has access to in-house Council services, including Finance,
IT, HR, and legal services, saving external costs.
89. Option
1 also makes Museums activity directly accountable to the ratepayer.
90. Option
2 would be to retain provision of Little Theatre and Community Arts by Council;
to transfer The Dowse and Petone Settlers Museum to an external trust or trusts
whilst retaining ownership and responsibility for the museums’ buildings;
and to maintain core funding for the two museums at current levels. This
would create distance between the Museums activity and other Council
facilities, services and projects; increase costs for support services such as
finance, IT and HR; reduce the collaboration between Museums staff and other Council
units; and create a layer of governance between ratepayers and the Museums
activity. Option 2 would potentially create new funding lines for The
Dowse and Petone Settlers Museum if established as a registered charity.
91. An
example of Option2 is Experience Wellington (formerly Wellington Museums
Trust). Experience Wellington is the registered charity that receives the
majority of its funding from Wellington City Council to run six cultural
sites/services including Museum Wellington, City Gallery Wellington and Space
Place (formerly Carter Observatory). Experience Wellington has an independent
board of 5, (including one Councillor) who receive financial
compensation. The organisation employs 6 executive and administrative
staff in addition to three directors managing the six sites, and various levels
of staffing for each site.
92. There
are a number of variations possible for Option 2, such as to reduce core
funding for the two museums below current levels. This would likely make
continuing current service levels untenable; would force Hutt City’s
museums to compete against other local causes for charitable funding; and would
reduce accountability to ratepayers as Council becomes one of a number of
funders.
93. Option
2 would require detailed analysis by an external consultant to determine
whether it offers any advantages over the status quo. No budget
allocation is currently made for such analysis. Option 1 is currently
considered the most cost effective option for governance, funding and delivery
of the Museums Activity for the reasons outlined in section 88 and 89 of this
report.
Appendices
|
No.
|
Title
|
Page
|
|
1⇩
|
Exhibition programme and community
partnerships, Petone Settlers Museum
|
35
|
|
2⇩
|
Prospective Income Statement
|
36
|
|
3⇩
|
Projects Planned: Museums
|
37
|
|
4⇩
|
2017 programme The Dowse Art Museum
|
38
|
Author: Courtney
Johnston
Director, Museums
Approved By: Matt Reid
General Manager Community Services
