Guess Who's Going to the Gallery? launched last Friday

From Left: Michael Huxley, Finance & Administration, M&G NSW, The Hon. Virginia Judge, Minister for the Arts and Fair Trade, and Michael Rolfe, CEO, M&G NSW

As someone involved quite closely with gallery audiences over the past few years it was genuinely exciting in my new role as CEO of M&G NSW to introduce NSW Minister for the Arts , Virginia Judge, as she launched our much anticipated gallery audience evaluation study  Guess Who’s Going to the Gallery , in Sydney on Friday.

Three years in the making, with over 7000 responses across 41 public galleries, the report’s key findings confirm that galleries offer an accessible, stimulating and engaging form of cultural activity for people from all walks of life – in communities throughout NSW.

In short, the research reveals that if you have 10 people standing in front of an artwork in a public gallery, it is likely that:

·        At least one will speak a language other than English

·        Two will be under 35 and at least three will be aged between 35-54

·        At least five will live in the local area

·        Three will be first time visitors

Significantly, survey results also highlight the importance of cultural tourism to the gallery audience base, with over 20% of all visitors describing themselves as a tourist. I would expect that this figure is also reflected in museum visitation – adding impetus to calls for Tourism NSW to sharpen and renew its focus and support for regional cultural tourism campaigns and strategies.

Strong connections are also being made locally. In Regional NSW for instance, some 72% of audiences live within the local government area of the gallery visited.  Statewide, 13% of audiences are from culturally diverse backgrounds, a figure which rises to 20% in metropolitan Sydney, and across age groups, income levels, education and work commitments, visitors express an overall 98 % satisfaction rating of experiences had.

It must be remembered that all this happens within an extremely competitive market for all sorts of leisure and general recreational pursuits. Reinforcing (for those that didn’t already know) that cultural activity is a significant and important part of many peoples lives – indeed it just might be a driving force!   

Follow the link below for access to the detailed report (which we hope might inspire a bit of blogging in response)!

http://mgnsw.org.au/resources/guess_whos_going_to_the_gallery_the_nsw_state_report/

To view the ABC Story click here: www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/01/28/3124239.htm?section=justin

To view the SMH Story click here: www.smh.com.au/entertainment/art-and-design/art-galleries-draw-the-young-the-old-and-most-of-those-in-between-20110128-1a8dg.html

 I look forward to talking to you soon.  

Michael Rolfe

CEO

M&G NSW

Disaster response- introducing Q-Dis

It seems that 2011 is starting out the way that 2010 ended- floods and driving rain!

In a moment of great insight, our colleagues in Queensland started a disaster discussion list on the MANexus website late last year, Q-Dis . The site has become a great reference point for updates on how museums across Queensland are faring with the current flood crisis, as well as providing a good range of information on disaster response and recovery. It's well worth a visit.

Discussions with colleagues in various parts of NSW indicates that while a number of places have had heavy rain and some communities have been isolated, the museums and galleries have not been flooded in this recent round of rain. Sadly, the news in Victoria is not so good with a number of museums flooded, some for the second time in less than 6 months.