Capturing the Outcomes
of Hub Museums’
Sustainability activities
Non-Renaissance case study report
March 2011
The document title: The document sub-title all set in 10pt Arial
Contents
1 Introduction
2
2 Environmental sustainability at the Natural History Museum
Innovation points
Context
What happened and how
Future plans
Success factors
Research sources
4
4
4
4
7
8
8
3 Mainstreaming sustainability throughout the National Trust
Innovation points
Context
What happened and how
Future plans
Success factors
Research sources
10
10
10
11
13
14
14
4 Mobilising networks and contacts at the Whitechapel Gallery
Innovation points
Context
What happened and how
Future plans
Success factors
Research sources
15
15
15
16
18
19
19
5 Project Hope at the Watts Gallery
Innovation points
Context
What happened and how
Future plans
Success factors
Research sources
20
20
20
21
22
23
24
1
The document title: The document sub-title all set in 10pt Arial
1
Introduction
The following four in-depth case studies demonstrate best practice for
sustainability outside of the Renaissance programme. The case studies provide
some indication of how the wider sector is progressing with the sustainability
agenda, and they add further examples of best practice to the case studies of
Renaissance projects.
The case studies were chosen in close consultation with the MLA and the Advisory
Group. They are:
•
Environmental sustainability at the Natural History Museum
•
Mainstreaming sustainability throughout the National Trust
•
Project Hope at the Watts Gallery
•
Income generation at the Whitechapel Gallery
These four case studies were selected to represent:
•
Environmental and economic sustainability, as volunteering is well documented
by existing research (the exception is the National Trust case study, for which it
was felt to be appropriate to examine the Trust’s comprehensive ‘triple bottom
line’ approach);
•
Innovation in terms of the interventions made and the partners and funding
sources accessed;
•
A variety of sizes of institution: very large (Natural History Museum, 4,000,000
visits per year) to small/medium (Watts Gallery, 25,000);
•
A variety of statuses: one national museum, two independent institutions and
one national charity operating multiple sites;
•
The museum sector as well as relevant parts of the arts sector;
•
Projects which read across to specific Renaissance case studies: for example
estate improvements at Natural History Museum read across to the two
London Sustainable Museums projects, while the transformation of Watts
Gallery reads across to the transformation of the Russell-Cotes;
•
More general transferability to the wider museum sector.
Each case study follows a standard template. This specifies:
•
2
Innovation points, i.e. what the institution is doing which is innovative
The document title: The document sub-title all set in 10pt Arial
•
Context for the interventions made
•
What happened and how it was achieved
•
Future plans to further develop sustainability approaches
•
Success factors according to relevant project leads
•
Research sources used to prepare the case study
While each institution profiled is unique, some shared success factors that emerge
from the case studies:
•
Leadership is inspiration plus perspiration: the Whitechapel and Watts
Gallery Directors seem to take a particularly hands-on approach to fundraising
and income generating events.
•
Consult and engage staff to break down routine rigidities, examples being the
NHM’s Green Group and Green Publishing Group and the staff surveys that
informed NT’s Going Local strategy;
•
Take a fresh look at assets, working with outsiders and ‘loose tie’ networks.
Watts Gallery’s Project Hope was masterminded by a new Director; the
Whitechapel is mobilising its capital campaign contacts for Future Fund and
mobilises its art world contacts for the Collecting Contemporary Art course; and
the NHM is working closely with its suppliers and licensees, who now generate
ideas for new projects.
•
Be willing to take risks and encourage experimentation by staff. The NHM
was quick to sign up to and utilise ESCo, ISO 14001 and the CIBSE 100 Days
initiative while Whitechapel’s ArtPlus events and Limited Editions. The NT has
embarked on a massive devolution of responsibility to local managers within
‘Going Local’.
•
Write sustainability into decision-making to create legitimacy and new
routines. NHM’s commitment is firmly embedded in its policies, and
departmental energy targets, and the NT’s ‘Going Local’ policy is very explicit
in its pursuit of triple bottom line sustainability.
3
The document title: The document sub-title all set in 10pt Arial
2
Environmental sustainability at the Natural History Museum
Innovation points
• ‘Early adopter’ from 1990s onwards leading to the Museum’s present wide and
deep engagement with environmental sustainability;
•
Cross-departmental programme influencing virtually all aspects of the
museum, from estate management to exhibition design to retail;
•
Exploitation of unusual funding sources: Invest To Save and ESCO;
•
Collaboration with other South Kensington cultural institutions.
Context
In 2003 the Museum became the first in the UK to receive ISO 14001
accreditation. This recognises the pioneering work to green the Museum that
gathered momentum through the 1990s, and it provides a framework for the
ongoing efforts to drive up energy efficiency.
The Museum’s interest goes beyond ‘off the peg’ and typical solutions (though it
does use these where relevant). It is keen to discover innovative new ways to
reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions to the lowest practical levels,
whilst meeting the operational standards of the museum. This necessitates
working within the constraints posed by the Grade I listed main building: clearly,
solar and wind energy, or rainwater harvesting are not possible. The Museum also
has to manage a degree of unavoidable energy consumption, for instance to
maintain the cool temperatures needed within the Darwin Centre to conserve the
fragile insect and plant collections. The Museum’s current DEC rating is ‘D’, an
improvement on its previous ‘E’.
What happened and how
Estates
In 2006 the Museum was the lead partner for the South Kensington Cultural and
Academic Estate’s successful bid for HM Treasury’s Invest to Save funds, to
reduce carbon emissions across the estate (the Museum plus Imperial College,
the V&A and Science Museums, and the Royal Albert Hall). The £2.85 million
funded a masterplan to help all the partners to reduce their carbon emissions by
seven to ten percent by 2010.
The Museum’s main intervention under the masterplan was replacing its outdated
and expensive heating system with a new CHP system, shared with the V&A. The
deal was structured as an energy service company (ESCo) with Vital Energi.
Under the terms of the ESCo, Vital Energi designs, builds, finances and operates
the new system for 15 years while the Museum is guaranteed to save at least
4
The document title: The document sub-title all set in 10pt Arial
£579,000 annually over the 15- year contract. This is possible as CHP typically
achieves 80% fuel efficiency compared to 30% for conventional power generation
and draw-down. By securing investment from Vital Energi, the Museum also saved
the £3 million that it had set aside to replace the old system.
Chillers attached to the new CHP system
The Museum treated the construction of the £78 million Darwin Centre, as a
further opportunity to develop sustainable approaches. When the Museum’s old
entomology building was demolished, around 95% of the materials were re-used in
the Darwin Centre and elsewhere. The Centre consumes a large amount of
energy, which is unavoidable, but it is designed to be as efficient as possible. The
concrete ‘cocoon’ structure acts as a heat reservoir to insulate against external
temperature changes. This helps to stabilise the environment and to reduce use of
heating and air conditioning. The rooms that do not have people in them very often
are allowed to have a variable temperature, so energy is not wasted on heating or
air conditioning them unnecessarily. To avoid over-heating, the glazing on the
west side of the building is etched, to reduce the amount of the sun’s heat that
gets inside.
Accompanying these major capital works is a focus on back office areas and staff
behaviour, for example to maximise recycling. In 2007 the Museum joined the
Chartered Institute of Building Services Engineers’ (CIBSE) initiative ‘100 days of
Carbon Saving’. Each year, during the 100 days, employees are encouraged to
switch off lights and appliances when not in use. It leads to reduced energy use
each year.
5
The document title: The document sub-title all set in 10pt Arial
Suppliers and commercial operations
The Museum works closely with its suppliers and commercial partners to
collectively improve their sustainability. One example is a partnership with Philips
that replaced 60 external floodlights with 30 LED units, which are far more energy
efficient.
An unusually thorough approach is taken to embedding sustainability within retail
and licensing operations. The Museum has typically taken the lead in setting the
standards it wants to achieve, but its suppliers and licensees now also come
forward with new ideas. Some of the improvements made include reducing
packaging, moving from plastic to paper bags, coordinating orders and deliveries
with the neighbouring Science Museum, and using recycled paper for virtually all
of the 80,000 postcards the Museum sells each year. The Museum occasionally
vetoes products which would be successful but have poor environmental
credentials, such as PVC-based Oyster card wallets. But it also has to meet its
commercial imperatives: for example organic cotton T-shirts were discontinued as
shoppers did not want to pay the £5 extra that these cost over less sustainable Tshirts.
Benugo was selected to be the Museum’s catering partner, partially because of its
commitment to sustainability.
Public programmes
Claire Methold, the Museum’s Environmental & Sustainability Officer, is quick to
point out that the museum’s mission is to “maintain and develop our collections
and use them to promote the discovery, understanding, responsible use and
enjoyment of the natural world” –it is not a “museum of climate change” per se.
Nonetheless the Museum does address environmental sustainability issues within
its exhibitions and public programmes, as follows:
•
Permanent exhibitions – the ‘Earth Today and Tomorrow’ gallery on themes of
sustainability and living within the Earth’s resources, and the Climate Change
interactive wall exhibit within the Darwin Centre.
•
Temporary exhibitions – often include a panel discussing environmental
aspects of the exhibition topic (for example declining fish stocks, in The Deep)
or the museum’s environmental credentials. The Museum trials new
sustainable materials for exhibition construction and recycles where possible
(for example, panels are re-used each year for the Wildlife Photographer of the
Year show).
6
The document title: The document sub-title all set in 10pt Arial
•
Website – which contains several pages dedicated to climate change, as well
as downloadable versions of the Museum Environmental policy and the
Museum Energy & Emissions policy.
The Climate Change wall in the Darwin Centre
Future plans
The Museum’s successes have been recognised by:
•
CIBSE Best Carbon Saving campaign award in 2008;
•
Platinum Award in the Mayor of London's Green500 carbon reduction scheme
in 2009. This was due to the CHP scheme and to the museum’s success with
the CIBSE initiative;
•
Leading role in funding bids (particularly, the Invest to Save bid)
•
Two DCMS ‘climate change’ case studies about the museum.
The Museum’s future plans include:
•
Gradually replacing out-of-date plant with energy efficient alternatives;
•
Continuing to replace conventional lighting with LEDs at the South Kensington
site;
•
An ESCo for the other Museum sites in Tring and Wandsworth;
•
Continuing to raise awareness with suppliers and licensees.
7
The document title: The document sub-title all set in 10pt Arial
Success factors
• Buy in at the top: the Director and the Director’s Policy Advisors take an
active interest in making the museum greener. The Board of Trustees receives
energy management reports within the main budget reports.
•
Explicit responsibilities: are written into the Museum Energy & Emissions,
and Environmental, Policies. These show clear lines of responsibility down
from the Directors Group to all departments.
•
Passion of staff: especially in the Estates team, who lead and coordinate
environmental sustainability efforts. Claire Methold’s responsibilities include:
◦
Internal audits with each department;
◦
Working with the procurement team on purchases;
◦
Advising on travel options and cycling (the Museum also runs two hybrid
cars in its fleet);
◦
Data collection and management.
•
Trickle down: Museum staff are engaged from the outset in their induction
talk, and then kept in the loop via intranet postings. The Environmental Focus
Group represents all departments, and turnover of its members is encouraged
in order to reach beyond the self-selecting and to achieve wider representation.
There is now a spin-off Public Engagement Green Group that focuses on
publishing and exhibitions.
•
Trickle out: to the Museum’s suppliers, neighbours and sponsors.
•
Attention to detail: as illustrated by the current discussion on whether the
museum logo’s white background restricts the grade of recycled paper which
can be used.
•
Eyes open: for external networks and groups to join, such as the Mayor of
London’s Green500 scheme, or the government’s Carbon Reduction
Commitment (CRC) and Energy Trading schemes.
Research sources
• Interview with Claire Methold, Environmental & Sustainability Officer for the
Natural History Museum;
•
Interview with Jeremy Ensor, Head of Retail and Licensing for the Natural
History Museum;
•
Combined Heat & Power: Natural History Museum DCMS Climate Change
Case Study 003, accessed via the DCMS website;
8
The document title: The document sub-title all set in 10pt Arial
•
100 Days of Carbon Savings at the Natural History Museum DCMS Climate
Change Case Study 004, accessed via the DCMS website;
•
Natural History Museum Tri Generation Case Study, accessed via the Vital
Energi website;
•
Museum Environmental policy and the Museum Energy & Emissions policy,
accessed via the Natural History Museum website.
9
The document title: The document sub-title all set in 10pt Arial
3
Mainstreaming sustainability throughout the National Trust
Innovation points
• An all-round strategic organisational approach to ‘triple-bottom line’
sustainability through the Trusts’ ‘Go Local’ strategy for 2010-2020
•
Groundbreaking solutions to adapting renewable energy technology to the
conditions of historic buildings
•
Combination of strong leadership drive with devolving central control and
responsibilities
Context
The National Trust has a strong track record for advocacy and action on
environmental sustainability. This is exemplified by the Trust’s target of reducing
its carbon emissions from energy use by 45 per cent over the next ten years,
which exceeds the Government target of 34 per cent.
The Trust increasingly locates its commitment to the environment within a
comprehensive ‘triple bottom line’ approach that also embraces the social and
economic aspects of sustainability. This new approach goes hand in hand with a
transition to a devolved operating model under which the corporate sustainability
goals will be delivered by each property manager developing their own local
solutions. ‘Going Local’, the strategy for the Trust over 2010 to 2020, makes this
explicit. The strategy calls for "a new mindset and a new way of working" while
reemphasizing a reconnection with the original vision for the Trust.
Going Local’s main themes are:
•
Sense of Belonging: increasing access for existing members and nonmembers and offering greater involvement in Trust decision-making;
•
Time Well Spent: championing the simple pleasures of life via more
opportunities to access Trust land, volunteer and grow food – and working with
neighbours to use energy and resources efficiently;
•
Bringing places to life: creating fresh approaches to interpretation and
activation of Trust sites thereby increasing user enjoyment.
Above all, Going Local seeks to put Trust properties back at the centre of
communities. Director-General Fiona Reynolds explains:
“In the end, if we're to truly fulfil our original, radical purpose, we have to reach out
in this way – to local residents, to people who feel the National Trust isn't for them.
We have to make contact with people in a new way."
10
The document title: The document sub-title all set in 10pt Arial
What happened and how
Each National Trust asset is unique and – under Going Local – is managed to
respond to its unique needs and opportunities. This research focuses on three
Trust properties that exemplify the Trust’s approach to sustainability, and that
might suggest lessons for museums.
Dunster Castle: PV cells on a Grade I building
The Trust will meet its carbon reduction target by cutting energy use by 20 per
cent while introducing micro and small-scale generation using wood fuel (some
sourced from its own estates), solar, heat pumps, hydro and wind. The Trust
expects most of its schemes to break even over the next 10 years, helping to
reduce its £6 million annual energy bill.
Dunster Castle in Somerset is the first Grade I listed building the Trust has
installed solar panels on. Sited discreetly on a south-facing roof, the 24 panels
provide electricity to power 100 low-energy light bulbs. Rob Jarman, then the
Trust's head of sustainability, explains:
"These panels will demonstrate how we can harness renewable energy even from
hugely important conservation sites without affecting their special character."
The main challenge of the project was to find a solution for safely mounting the PV
cells on the roof of Dunster Castle. Installing the cells directly would have required
making holes in the lead roof (which could have potentially caused leakages).
Instead, the cells were mounted on the parapets but – given the Grade 1 listed
status – this required approval from English Heritage, which was ultimately
received.
Dunster Castle joins around 140 other renewable energy projects at Trust
properties around the country. Together they represent a valuable learning
resource for managers of other historic sites. According to Sarah Staniforth,
Historic Properties Director at the National Trust, the most important lesson is that
– while often challenging – it is possible and important to find environmentally
friendly solutions and to use renewable energies in a way that minimises the
impact on historic buildings.
Seaton Delavel: community in the driving seat
One of the National Trust's newest acquisitions, Sir John Vanbrugh’s Seaton
Delavel Hall is probably the finest surviving example of the English Baroque. The
acquisition was unique: it came about only after the trust had consulted 100,000
people, and when locals had raised nearly £1m of the £3m needed. In all, more
than 11,000 local people (many not Trust members) came to four fundraising
11
The document title: The document sub-title all set in 10pt Arial
events that they themselves organised. The community is also influencing the
plans for Seaton Delaval Hall’s future. These include developing, over time:
•
Exhibitions and performances in the Main Hall, inspired by the Delaval family’s
love for drama, music and practical jokes;
•
A Fourth Plinth-inspired competition where groups and individuals can bid to
take over the Salon for a temporary exhibit or activity;
•
The Walled Kitchen Garden to include gardening plots used by local schools,
community groups and visitors;
Liz Fisher, Assistant Director of Operations, sums up the approach:
"Basically, we're going to open and see what happens. In the past we would have
come in, a big national organisation with a big high-level cultural project. Here the
community will help decide on practically everything. This is going to be a work in
progress for 20 years."
The project is an ideal fit with the ‘Going Local’ strategy, in particular with regards
to building support and a sense of ownership for the local property within the
community. For the Trust, encouraging local membership is a way of ensuring a
more sustainable future of their local properties. While it is too early to draw
conclusions about the long-term take-up and engagement, within the time since its
acquisition, Seaton Delavel Hall has emerged as a real community space – a ‘local
village hall’.
To-date, the Trust’s experience of properties with strong community leadership
has been very positive. Striking a balance between providing access and ensuring
that the property’s conservation needs are met is obviously relevant. However,
Sarah Staniforth does not believe that incorporating innovative, community driven
ideas for animating the property is more challenging than in cases where
programmes are conceived by the property manager.
Attingham Park: volunteer-powered restoration
The 18th century house and estate are both undergoing conservation works, for
example to restore the walled garden and laundry house as well as interiors within
the main house. Volunteers are playing a key role in all works, alongside experts
and Trust staff. Some 40,000 volunteer hours were donated in 2010, which is
equivalent to over 20 full time staff. The volunteer positions being advertised at the
time of writing illustrate the range of skills that are being employed: front of house
staff for the shop and cafe, a cartoonist and calligrapher, several education and
event roles; as well as outdoor activities that range from managing fishing licenses
to hedge-laying, coppicing and helping to start a firewood business on-site.
12
The document title: The document sub-title all set in 10pt Arial
The success of attracting and managing such a large pool of over 300 volunteers
at Attingham Park is primarily driven by the property manager. Communicating the
value of volunteers and making them feel as an integral part of the organisation
has been a key factor in ensuring a rewarding experience for both volunteers and
other staff in the organisation.
Compared to other cultural heritage organisations and museums, Sarah Staniforth
feels that the National Trust has overcome old preconceptions (e.g. volunteers
taking away paid employees’ jobs) many years ago. Rather, volunteers are seen
as a great resource to the Trust, much enhancing the property’s capacity, but who
also need to be invested in through training and support.
Volunteers are also considered as part of the organisation’s wider thinking around
what is called the National Trust’s ‘supporters’ journey’, which is conceived as a
continuous progression from visiting via membership to volunteering, and beyond
this to becoming a financial supporter, donor or legator. Although inevitably,
people don’t always follow such a linear progression pathway (e.g. not all
volunteers are members), building loyalty between supporters and the National
Trust is a key objective of the organisation’s thinking around their sustainable
future.
Future plans
Going Local ushered in a radical restructuring at the Trust during 2010. Under the
new system, property staff and volunteers are free to interpret how best to ‘go
local’. This means exploring the uniqueness of their property and its special value
to the community, bringing the property to life and engaging people more deeply in
what happens there.
The business plan for each property is generated by its property manager then
agreed with regional Assistant Directors (for example, 75% of property visitors
report a very enjoyable experience, or growth in local membership). In all over £35
million worth of budget is transferred away from the Trust’s central office and to
property managers. The central office and radically slimmed-down regional teams
will continue to supply ‘back office’ functions like financial management, IT, legal
services and specialist conservation advice. Its experts now act as consultants to
the property teams.
According to Sarah Staniforth, the process of increasing the ownership of property
managers – in particular in view of making the properties more sustainable – is
‘transformational’. Inevitably, there are differences in terms of the success of this
process to-date, but ‘all the stepping stones are now in place and the direction of
travel is clear for everyone.’
13
The document title: The document sub-title all set in 10pt Arial
Success factors
The key success factors for the Trust’s new approach to sustainability under Going
Local are:
•
An strong leadership approach by the Executive Team (including Fiona
Reynolds, Sarah Staniforth and the appointment of the Sustainability Director
post) and the conviction that it is not enough to rely on ideas being developed
bottom-up
•
Focus on triple-bottom line approach to sustainability and property managers’
awareness of the importance of social and environmental sustainability, in
addition to economic performance.
•
Innovation ideas and the will of local managers to engage with the
sustainability agenda
•
Risk taking: devolve central control and responsibility in order to drive the
Going Local strategy and the recognition that in order for property managers to
be innovative, they need to take risks but also have the assurance that they
are ‘allowed to make mistakes’
•
Embedding sustainability within internal decision-making, for example as one
consideration for the Project and Acquisitions Group (which operates at both
national, regional and local levels of the Trust)
•
Making sustainability part of the visitor experience: show the technologies
working and provide tips for visitors’ own homes.
Research sources
• Interview with Ben Cowell, Assistant Director for External Affairs for the
National Trust; and Sarah Staniforth, Historic Properties Director for the
National Trust
•
Going local – Fresh tracks down old roads – Our strategy for the next decade,
National Trust, 2010;
•
Energy – Grow Your own, National Trust, 2010;
•
How the National Trust is finding its mojo, The Guardian, 10 February 2010;
•
The 1.000 year old castle fighting climate change, The Guardian, 7 February
2008
•
Solar panels and wind turbines on National Trust properties, the Telegraph, 11
February 2010.
14
The document title: The document sub-title all set in 10pt Arial
4
Mobilising networks and contacts at the Whitechapel Gallery
Innovation points
• Commercialising curatorial expertise to run short courses;
•
Inviting artists to create and donate bespoke works for sale;
•
Appealing beyond art enthusiasts to music, dance and poetry;
•
Building an endowment to provide a measure of budget stability.
Context
The Whitechapel Gallery re-opened in 2009 after an £13.5 million expansion that
almost doubled its gallery space. As a result of the expansion, visitor footfall
increased by 120 per cent.
The Gallery was founded to bring art to the people of East London. It remains
committed to free entry and to offering learning opportunities in what remains a
very deprived area. The Gallery is also energetically developing earned income
streams and fundraising to meet the cost of its expanded operations. It is making
particularly effective use of its networks and many contacts around the East
London art world.
This means encouraging people who already have a relationship with the Gallery
to contribute more regularly, over a longer period, and via a greater range of
opportunities. At the heart of this are the Gallery’s 2000 Members and 200 Patrons
(many of whom joined in the recent recruitment drive post-expansion). The
Member and Patron schemes are particularly important as they provide the
opportunity to support the Gallery in lieu of paid admission. Membership costs are
graduated to enable a wide range of people to be involved, including those getting
a foot on the ladder – students and practising artists pay just £20. Many of the
Gallery’s other products are discounted for Members to encourage them to start
supporting the Gallery in multiple ways. In parallel, the Gallery is also putting its
networks ‘to work’ to develop further products that the Gallery can sell, and to put
on fundraising events.
This case study focuses on four specific initiatives which are both innovative, and
might be successfully adapted for a museum context.
15
The document title: The document sub-title all set in 10pt Arial
The expanded Whitechapel Gallery on Whitechapel High Street
What happened and how
Collecting Contemporary Art course
This short course is designed to share the Whitechapel’s expertise with
prospective art collectors. The course has run successfully for several years,
though it remains a rare example of a cultural institution commercialising its
curatorial expertise in this way. The course capitalises on the Whitechapel’s status
as a respected ‘neutral’ venue (i.e. it has no commercial interest in collectors’
purchases); as well as its role as a hub at the heart of the East London art world.
This means that the Whitechapel can introduce course participants to a wide
range of its contacts. Each session focuses on a different perspective within the
art world: curators, artists, dealers, collectors and auctioneers. The culmination of
the sessions is a guided tour of the Frieze art fair, one of the world’s leading art
fairs, which takes place in London every October.
The participants learn in a small group and benefit from the personal involvement
of the Whitechapel’s Director Iwona Blazwick OBE. The course is priced at £650
and so targets those with a serious interest in collecting. The Whitechapel sees
the course as not just a cash generator but as an opportunity to build closer
16
The document title: The document sub-title all set in 10pt Arial
relationships with the participants, who may for example become Patrons or
donors.
The Gallery also offers a one day course on curating, collecting and handling
contemporary art, again featuring the Director alongside a range of art world
perspectives. It is priced at £150 including lunch.
Limited Editions
£2.5 million of the £13.5 million expansion budget was sourced from an auction of
artworks donated by artists. Since the expansion, the Gallery has focused on
building its Limited Editions, affordable artworks that are created by exhibiting
artists and sold to benefit the Gallery. The incentive for exhibiting artists is the
artistic challenge, the publicity, and the opportunity to give back to the Gallery.
At the time of writing, prices range from £25 to £7,000 for one of 50 Bridget Riley
screenprints. Members receive 10% off all Limited Editions as well as advance
notice of new Limited Editions being introduced – with some selling out very
quickly. Gallery staff have identified regular Limited Edition collectors are
considering how to further appeal to them.
The Gallery expects to generate around £100,000 per year from the initiative.
Other leading contemporary art galleries, such as the Serpentine and the ICA offer
similar schemes, and interestingly the Whitechapel does not see them as
competition. Rather, it has co-exhibited with the ICA at two international art fairs to
date: this creates greater visibility than one venue working on its own, and allows
crossover of customers.
Art Plus events
The Gallery has run annual Art Plus events for several years. These glamorous
events have a different ‘plus’ each time: 2011 is Drama, 2010 was Music. The
performers (and audience) usually include celebrities who have existing links to
the Whitechapel or to the East London ‘scene’ – while also allowing the Gallery to
reach people with a serious interest in other artforms besides contemporary visual
arts. Tickets cost £145 and many sell to existing or potential Patrons and donors.
Art Plus is effective at attracting corporate sponsorship, and includes an auction of
donated artworks. In all, an Art Plus event can raise up to £100,000.
Sue Evans, the Whitechapel’s Development Manager, advises that:
“Whitechapel Gallery commits significant resources to producing such a high
profile, high quality evening, bringing a dedicated team on board several months in
17
The document title: The document sub-title all set in 10pt Arial
advance of the event. Art Plus is a unique event and concept, developed over time
and relevant to Whitechapel Gallery’s remit, mission and audience.”
Invitation to Art Plus Drama event
Future plans
The Whitechapel’s current fundraising focus is a £10 million endowment: Future
Fund. This is an attractive means to create stability within the budget and to allow
planning ahead with confidence. It would also increase the Gallery’s selfsufficiency at a time of public sector cuts.
Future Fund originated with the capital fundraising campaign, which left the
Gallery with an expanded and ‘battle hardened’ fundraising team and network of
supporters. Future Fund aims to maintain momentum and offer existing and new
supporters a further opportunity to support the Gallery ‘forever’. Happily, the
campaign coincides with renewed interest in endowments within government and
its agencies. In late 2010 Arts Council England awarded the Whitechapel £2.7
million towards Future Fund. Arts Council England sees the Gallery as a test case
for how an arts organisation can run sustainably following a major expansion and
how an endowment can help to maintain artistic excellence during operational and
organisational changes. The Gallery is also keeping a close eye on the
government’s new £80million matching fund for endowments, and hopes to
benefit.
The campaign will ‘go public’ in 2012 following in 2011 a period of research and
targeting of corporate donations. The plan is to work with existing supporters
before widening the net – the Gallery is particularly interested in building
18
The document title: The document sub-title all set in 10pt Arial
relationships with technology firms arriving in East London as part of the
government’s ‘Tech City’ initiative.
The Gallery is keeping an open mind as to how it invests Future Fund – either
going ‘solo’ or inputting to a joint fund. An Investment Committee composed of
Trustees and staff, is being set up to oversee this.
Success factors
According to staff consulted, some of the general success factors underpinning
income generation at the Gallery are:
•
Very hands-on involvement by Director Iwona Blazwick OBE in all income
generation initiatives – she is felt to be key to the success of the expansion
capital campaign and to the maintaining the Gallery’s international profile;
•
Mainstreaming income generation awareness and responsibility throughout all
teams following the expansion project. In particular exhibition and education
staff now generate ideas for income generation (which was not part of their
roles before). The fortnightly team leader meetings are one forum to discuss
these ideas;
•
Using Gallery Trustees and Patrons who have influence within specific
networks;
•
A willingness to innovate, building on the Gallery’s credentials as the first
public art gallery in the East End as well as the first major venue to show many
artists who subsequently became household names.
•
Above all, a commitment to high artistic quality in all initiatives.
Research sources
• Interviews with Whitechapel Gallery staff:
•
Sue Evans, Development Manager
•
Rummana Naqvi, Senior Development Officer
•
Sophie Hayles, External Relations Officer
•
Jo Melvin, Senior Editions Officer
•
A guide to buying art, The Guardian, 13 October 2010;
•
Arts Council England invests Lottery funds in London to build arts resilience,
Arts Council England press release, 15 December 2010;
•
Documents accessed via the Whitechapel Gallery website.
All prices quoted are correct at the time of writing, but may change
19
The document title: The document sub-title all set in 10pt Arial
5
Project Hope at the Watts Gallery
Innovation points
• Ambitious organisational transformation plus £10 million building restoration to
deliver sustainability for the next 100 years;
•
Focus on self-generated income via increased admission charges plus
enhanced Friends scheme, retail and catering;
•
Use of unusual measures such as a collections review leading to deaccessioning of ‘non-core’ works, and an endowment.
Context
The Watts Gallery is an art gallery in the village of Compton in Surrey. It opened in
1904 to house the works of Victorian era painter and sculptor George Frederic
Watts, and as such is one of the few galleries in the UK devoted to a single artist.
Following contributions from his wife, his adopted daughter and other private
donors, the collection has grown to over 6000 diverse objects including over 250
oil paintings, 800 drawings and watercolours, 130 prints, 200 sculptures, and 240
pieces of pottery as well as unique ephemera and memorabilia related to GF
Watts, Mary Seton Watts and the history of the Gallery.
By 2004, the anniversary of both Watts’ death and of the opening of the Gallery,
the building was in a poor state of repair. A leaking roof and faulty sewage system
were threatening the collection and making the gallery less appealing to visitors.
The total visitor numbers at that time were approximately 11,000 which reflected
the limited marketing of the Gallery and the infrequent new exhibitions.
Shortly after the appointment of Perdita Hunt as the Gallery’s Director, the
decision was taken to embark upon a major restoration of the Gallery to ensure its
sustainability for another 100 years – Project Hope. The decision was taken
because the Trustees strongly believed there was sufficient public demand to
merit significantly raising the profile of Watts’ work and of the Gallery as the
principal venue in which to view it.
The delicate balance that such a major restoration had to achieve was highlighted
by Maev Kennedy, Heritage Correspondent for the Guardian:
“The challenge of Watts Gallery is to preserve its quality of mystery and wonder,
while preventing the building from physically falling to bits. It is a precious place.”
20
The document title: The document sub-title all set in 10pt Arial
Watts Gallery prior to restoration
What happened and how
One of Perdita Hunt’s first actions as Director was to restructure the board of
Trustees to build its capacity to oversee Project Hope. Perdita states:
“We needed to have only active Trustees: we couldn’t afford for people to be
passive, so we recruited Trustees with the skills required to guide the project
including project management, finance, fund raising and marketing.”
Project planning started in 2005. The ambitious aims for the restoring the Gallery
were tempered by the desire to return to the original vision of the gallery, which
was ‘art for all’, and its original mission, which was to promote the work of G. F.
Watts in the context of the 19th Century. It was also felt that previous management
teams had aimed to achieve too much change too quickly. By contrast, Project
Hope would represent an evolution, not a revolution. The following objectives were
drawn up to guide Project Hope:
•
Marketing: raise awareness of the Gallery and its collection;
•
Conservation: save the building and collection;
•
Develop social history and arts education programmes;
•
Develop the Gallery’s audience and levels of income generated;
•
Develop the 4.5 acre estate;
•
Develop the organisation and make it fit for the next 100 years.
The budget for Project Hope was set at £10.1 million. In 2006, the Heritage Lottery
Fund (HLF) granted a £4.3 million award to the project. This gave the project
21
The document title: The document sub-title all set in 10pt Arial
credibility and was crucial to helping leverage further awards from other donors. In
2006 the Watts Gallery received a further boost: it was placed second in the final
of the BBC TV series ‘Restoration Village’. This made a huge contribution towards
raising the profile of the Gallery. Following the TV show visitor numbers increased
significantly and the Gallery still receives visitors who learned of it first through the
2006 show. Perdita attributes the exposure to an intense focus on marketing and
persistent “pestering of the BBC”.
The restoration work began in February 2009. However, the contracted builder
went bust shortly afterwards, costing the Gallery an extra £1 million in fees and
causing significant delay while a new contractor was found. The Watts Gallery has
now raised both the original £10.1 million required for the full restoration and, with
further support from the HLF, has almost raised the additional £1 million needed to
cover costs relating to the change in building contractor. Just £70,000 is still to be
raised at the time of writing.
The restoration work will complete in summer 2011, at which point the Gallery will
re-open, having been closed throughout. The restored building will offer more
attractive public spaces, greater access for those with disabilities, more space for
the collection and better collection care controls. The existing retail and catering
facilities will also be enhanced.
Watts Gallery restoration works underway
Future plans
When the gallery closed for restoration in 2009, visitor numbers had already risen
from 11,000 to 25,000, which represented the original target set at the beginning
of Project Hope. The number of Friends of the Watts Gallery also rose from only
17 to approximately 15,000.
22
The document title: The document sub-title all set in 10pt Arial
Despite these useful early increases in donors and visitors, the Watts Gallery is
also introducing a number of further, major, steps to ensure its future economic
sustainability. On-reopening in late spring, admission fees will increase from £3 to
£7, with free access for Friends and cheap entrance every Tuesday. The charging
of entrance fees is in keeping with the original vision for the Gallery as fees have
been charged since 1904 when it first opened. Acting on professional advice, the
Gallery’s legal structure has been changed to become a limited company
registered for VAT. This enables VAT charged by contractors for the renovation of
the building to be reclaimed.
Lastly, the Watts Gallery announced in 2010 that it was de-accessioning two noncore works from the collection in order to raise a further £1.5 million for the
Gallery’s endowment. The endowment is dedicated to the long term care of the
collection. The Gallery is budgeting for an average of 3.5% interest per annum on
the endowment, which will yield £150,000 per year in perpetuity for the
conservation and restoration of art-works in the Gallery’s collection.
The decision to sell items from the collection was not taken lightly. Working closely
with the MLA and AMA, the Watts Gallery went into ‘listening mode’, seeking the
views of trustees, volunteers, visitors and the local authority on the proposal. The
collections committee audited the collection to identify the works least central to
the core collection and therefore most appropriate for sale. Despite encountering
pockets of resistance, the outcome of the consultation was agreement that the
paintings, currently in storage, were suitable to be sold since this would ensure
that the paintings would be seen, and would raise the funds required to care
properly for the rest of the collection. The Gallery also sought legal advice, which
confirmed that although the paintings were originally a bequest there was no legal
obligation to keep them.
Success factors
According to Perdita, the Watts Gallery’s huge progress towards becoming
economically sustainable is underpinned by:
•
An enduring and relevant founder’s vision;
•
Robust governance and committed Trustees;
•
The support of a lead patron right at the outset of the appeal;
•
The use of challenge funding to entice donors who feel that their money will go
further;
•
Leadership and reinforcement of training, professional and personal
development of the staff;
23
The document title: The document sub-title all set in 10pt Arial
•
Constant and powerful communication;
•
An army of volunteers;
•
A unique building and collection.
Research sources
• Interview with Perdita Hunt, Director of the Watts Gallery, and subsequent
information received via e-mail;
•
24
Documents accessed via the Watts Gallery website.
Museums, Libraries
& Archives Council
T +44 (0)121 345 7300
F +44 (0)121 345 7303
Grosvenor House
14 Bennetts Hill
Birmingham B2 5RS
info@mla.gov.uk
www.mla.gov.uk
Leading strategically, we promote best
practice in museums, libraries and
archives, to inspire innovative, integrated
and sustainable services for all.
Third party
logo
ISBN 000-0-000000-00-0
© MLA 2010-03-03
Registered Charity No: 1079666