Two separate news items this week made for an interesting contrast. In New York, cultural institutions are mulling or justifying entry fee increases in the face of decreased funding from the city. In London, similar institutions are squirming under a new deal with the government to keep their entry free for another three years.
In both cases, arts organizations are making a direct connection between government subsidy, and their ability to provide low-cost or no-cost access to cultural works.
In New York, the 34 city-owned arts facilities known as the Cultural Institutions Group heard directly from the mayor about required cuts to their operations — matching similar cuts to other city agencies. In the face of sluggish economy, lower endowments, reduced giving, and other elements of ‘the perfect storm’ of cultural management, the only element left in their arsenal, it seems, is entry fees.
In London, the government has a heavier hand in cultural enterprise, and basically mandated free entry to museums, offering some increased compensation to some museums that had charged admission.
Of course, the challenge in both cases is the volume of visitors. There’s not much discussion in New York (at least not published) about how price-sensitive cultural attendees actually are. If they are very sensitive, a higher price will dramatically impact attendance, leading to a net loss in revenue. If they’re not price-sensitive, it will be a ride on the gravy train.
In London, the common understanding (and the evidence of the past few years) is that admission and attendance are dramatically inter-related. Attendance at London museums is up quite a lot in many cases. But that increase leads to higher operational costs — maintenance, cleaning, security, and so on. So, the loss of a variable revenue stream like admissions can again lead to a net negative impact on the budget.
And then there’s that pesky element of mission, the bane of the cold-hearted revenue calculation. Even if the majority of attendees are not price-sensitive, odds are there’s an element of any community that can’t afford the expense. Arts organizations are usually quite smart about playing this particular card when discussing government subsidy. But when the government is struggling to keep up garbage collection and sewer lines, access to Renoirs and Greek sculpture doesn’t always ring as essential.
NOTE: In news updates today, the UK government announced freezes and cuts to the bulk of subsidy and support for arts organizations. While the national museums fared reasonably well, the rest of the NGO cultural ecology are gnashing their teeth.
