Arts sector ‘facing its own form of long Covid’

Museums, galleries and theatres ‘need sustained support’ as reserves run out,  warns the Art Fund
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Last month, the Royal Opera House sold a David  Hockney portrait of its former general administrator, Sir David Webster, at auction for £12.8 million.
AFP via Getty Images
Robert Dex @RobDexES13 November 2020

Museums and galleries are facing their own version of long Covid with a potential wave of closures in the next two years, according to the head of a major arts charity.

Art Fund Director Jenny Waldman said “sustained support” was needed as the arts faced “rough seas”. She called the second lockdown a “real blow” for galleries, museums and theatres after the “catastrophic” impact of the first.

But Ms Waldman said the real effect of the crisis might not become clear for several years, adding: “For us what is a real worry is what happens next year and the year after.

“If you can imagine if everyone’s funding reserves have been used up in this period they are going to be highly vulnerable. What we really need now is some very sustained support.”

Ms Waldman, whose charity helps arts institutions around the country and has previously raised over £45 million to save works for the nation, also warned against the “quick fix” of selling treasures to cope with the crisis. She said: “Museums are the custodians of their collections for current and future generations to enjoy and we are strongly opposed to deaccessioning any item for financial reasons except if those funds will be used directly to benefit the collection and acquire other works of art.”  

Last month, the Royal Opera House sold a David  Hockney portrait of its former general administrator, Sir David Webster, at auction for £12.8 million. Ms Waldman said: “Deaccessioning for financial reasons is a quick fix.”  

Responding to her call for more support, a spokeswoman for the Department of Culture, Media and Sport said: “We are making the biggest ever one-off investment in the cultural sector through our £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund.  

“Hundreds of millions of pounds have already been awarded to the capital’s museums, theatres, music venues and independent cinemas and we will continue to do all we can to support the sector throughout the pandemic.”

The Covid-19 crisis has affected the biggest arts institutions in the capital.

Here is a look at how some are dealing with it now and how it has affected their future plans.

The National Portrait Gallery shut in March, three months before its planned closure for a major refurbishment project. Since then it has received extra funding and has not made redundancies. A spokeswoman said its refurbishment was “broadly on schedule” and the gallery hoped to reopen as planned in 2023.The Victoria & Albert Museum launched “a collective consultation process” about redundancies in September and expects to announce details in a few weeks. It hopes to reopen in early December and said it is still “fully committed” to plans for an east London outpost in Stratford. Construction paused during the first lockdown, which could affect its 2023 opening date.The Tate galleries have not made any redundancies but 300 jobs were lost at commercial subsidiary Tate Enterprises, which runs the shops, restaurants and cafes.

The Science Museum has lost around £23 million in expected income this year and says it will be “several years before we can return to a position of strength”. A spokesman said it has “no choice but to reduce the scale of our organisation”. Details are expected this month. It hopes to reopen on December 3.  

 

The Barbican says it will “continue to review” operations but currently has no redundancy plans. Its partnership with the Guildhall School of Music and Drama for a planned Centre for Music “remains an aspiration” and “would be a valuable contribution to the cultural life of London”.

 

The Natural History Museum says government grants have helped it “protect jobs so far” but it remains under “significant ... financial pressure”. Its plans for a multi-million-pound urban nature education centre have not been affected — planning permission was granted last month.

 

The Old Vic theatre got £3 million from the Culture Recovery Fund, which it said was “crucial to safeguard our immediate future”. It said there had been “a very small number of redundancies” and it was preparing for the  possibility it will “need to exist without income for much of 2021”.

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