Max Frethy/LDR
The Suter Art Gallery might have to close on public holidays to cover costs unless it can get extra funding.
The Suter Art Gallery has warned that it may have to close on public holidays without some extra funds from Nelson City Council to ensure it can continue to pay its staff the living wage.
“We have concerns about having adequate funding to maintain our levels of service,” said Julie Catchpole, the Suter’s director.
The gallery built its statement of intent to council on the belief the living wage would go up by 6 per cent, but the recent recalculation of the rate will see the wage increase by 10 per cent from $23.65 to $26 on 1 September.
One cost mitigation option put forward by the Suter would be to close on five additional public holidays – currently, the gallery only closes on Christmas, New Year’s Day, and Good Friday.
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“But as a key tourist destination, that’s a problem for visitors coming to Nelson Tasman,” Catchpole said. “What we’d really like to do is to remain open on the public holidays but with a little assistance.”
The Suter asked council for an additional contribution to the gallery’s operating grant of $15,000 in addition to the budget it submitted in its draft statement of intent.
On advice from council, the gallery’s draft statement of intent assumed it would receive no inflation adjustment from Nelson City Council for the coming financial year given the difficult economic environment council finds itself in with rising costs and flood recovery.
However, the Suter also notes that it’s received no inflation adjustment of its grants from Tasman District Council over the past five years.
Councillor Mel Courtney acknowledged that the Suter is taking “a step back” by submitting a draft statement of intent without an inflation adjustment but added that was proposed to be the same situation for all community grants council planned to give over the coming financial year.
However, he did say there was an issue of “fairness” when looking at Tasman’s unadjusted contributions to the gallery of the past years.
MARTIN DE RUYTER/STUFF
Gabrielle Hervey at the Suter Tasman Art Walk launch in Richmond.
Mayor Nick Smith described the Suter as a “wonderful asset” for the region as it tries to rebuild its tourism industry post-Covid and agrees that Tasman District Council should provide some more funding for the gallery for that reason.
“We need to lean a little bit more on our neighbours because it is very much a regional facility.”
When asked why the gallery couldn’t close on regular days as opposed to public holidays, Catchpole said doing so would come with “all sorts of issues” by impacting school programmes and its lessee, the Suter Café.
Suter chair Steve Green also said that because public holidays are the most expensive days to open, the gallery might have to close two or three regular days to save an equivalent value.
“What we want to do is be open when the people want us to be open, but actually that’s the most expensive time to be open.”
