Contents Introduction | The Cultural Capital | Year in Review | Performance Highlights | Auditors Report | Service Performance | Financial Statements | Wellington Museums Trust Annual Report 2013 Annual Report Museums Trust Wellington 1 Contents Introduction | The Cultural Capital | Year in Review | Performance Highlights | Auditors Report | Service Performance | Financial Statements | ONTENTS Introduction, Trust Institutions and Vision 3 Contributing to the cultural capital 4 The year in review 6 Performance highlights: click on a topic C here, or use the top Capital E 21 panel to navigate City Gallery Wellington 23 your way around Museums Wellington 25 Museum of Wellington City & Sea 25 Carter Observatory 27 Cable Car Museum 28 Colonial Cottage 29 Auditor’s report 30 Statement of service performance 31 Financial statements: Statement of financial position 35 Statement of comprehensive income 36 Statement of changes in equity 37 Statement of cash flows 38 Notes to the financial statements 39 Governance report 52 Our supporters 53 List of Exhibitions/Events/Publications/Tours 57 Directory 60 2 Contents Introduction | The Cultural Capital | Year in Review | Performance Highlights | Auditors Report | Service Performance | Financial Statements | Introduction The Wellington Museums Trust operates Trust institutions Our vision six institutions on behalf of the Wellington Capital E Trust institutions City Council and has a management City Gallery Wellington agreement with the New Zealand Cricket Museums Wellington Museum. Our onsite, online and outreach Museum of Wellington City & Sea experiences encompass visual and (including Plimmer’s Ark in the Old performing arts, heritage, culture, social Bank Arcade) history, science and creative technology. Carter Observatory The Trust was established by Council in Cable Car Museum 1995, and is dependent on Council for Colonial Cottage Museum long-term financial sustainability and to The Carter Observatory (Carter) has been operate as a going concern. managed under a licence agreement with Council since 1 July 2010. The Trust is a Council Controlled The Trust also has a management agreement Organisation and this Annual Report is with the New Zealand Cricket Museum presented in accordance with Section 67 Incorporated to provide in kind support, of the Local Government Act 2002. including financial management, to the Museum. Our vision is that Wellingtonians and visitors to the city experience new ways of seeing arts, culture, heritage, creativity, space, science and Wellington: Our visitors are engaged in thought-provoking experiences that achieve high standards of quality, critical acclaim and public participation and appreciation. We build on individual strengths, including city and harbour locations, to maximise opportunities to deliver great visitor experiences across the city. We make a compelling contribution to Wellington as the cultural capital. Our organization is financially sustainable; we break-even or better each year and depreciation is fully funded. 3 Contents Introduction | The Cultural Capital | Year in Review | Performance Highlights | Auditors Report | Service Performance | Financial Statements | Contributing to the cultural capital HIS was a year of highs and challenges. We have big plans for 2013 – 2014: Our Team The Trust as a whole comfortably exceeded its visitor We are reviewing what programmes the Our Supporters target – we welcomed more than 649,000 visitors to Trust should offer for, by and with children Looking Forward our institutions. Our institutions won critical acclaim and young people, whilst re-establishing Tand accolades – the Capital E National Arts Festival for children provision for children and young people attracted a record audience; Carter Observatory won an award for its by Capital E in interim premises. on-line presence in the tourism sector; the Museum of Wellington The City Gallery is developing a three- City & Sea was named one of the best 50 museums in the world (the year-rolling exhibition strategy to create only one in New Zealand and one of only two in Australasia); and greater certainty around programme there were many more. The Trust broke-even after funding balance, and optimise audience diversity depreciation, as it had promised it would. and repeat visitation. But there were serious obstacles to manage and overcome, quite The Museum of Wellington City & Sea has apart from the need to consistently deliver excellent visitor launched Welcome to Wellington: 100 experiences on tight, and tightening, budgets. For example, Capital E years of Wellington Moments its new tall had to move its public programming out of its building urgently when screen film (in collaboration with the New the building was discovered to be earthquake prone. This caused Zealand Film Archive) and will continue enormous disruption and made it impossible for Capital E to achieve with stage 1 of its re-development. its visitor or financial targets. The fact that Capital E was able to Carter Observatory is, and will be, the go present any public programming and the Arts Festival at all is a credit to place for space and space science. to them. The Colonial Cottage was closed to strengthen the chimney We will meet the challenge of funding and the Carter Observatory had to close temporarily when damaging constraints and ever rising costs leaks were discovered. 4 Contents Introduction | The Cultural Capital | Year in Review | Performance Highlights | Auditors Report | Service Performance | Financial Statements | Our Team after 14 years, as Finance Manager. We the many grant giving agencies that I thank my fellow Trustees for their wish him all the best in retirement. As well, support our activities including the Pelorus contributions during the year. They bring Elizabeth Caldwell joined the Trust, as Trust for its continued support of the diverse skills and passion for the work of Director City Gallery. Already Elizabeth has Carter Observatory and the ASB the Trust to a united Board. We have made positive changes to the way the City Community Trust for its contribution of worked hard and enjoyed our work. Gallery operates. $20,000 to the Capital E National Theatre Jo Bransgrove resigned on 31 December We also pay tribute to, and thank, all the for Children this year. 2012, as she was moving away from volunteers who freely give their time to Many in the community assist the Trust in Wellington to pursue a business our institutions, and to our Friends different ways and we are grateful for that opportunity. Philip Shewell and Alick organisations for their support. assistance. Shaw’s respective terms on the Board ended on 30 June 2013. I record the Our Supporters Looking Forward Board’s thanks to them all for their service First and foremost we thank the Each year seems to be a big one, and the and friendship. Wellington City Council for its on-going coming year is no exception. But we will Rachel Farrant and Jill Wilson joined the support. The Council provides around 70% re-open programmes by, for and with Board on 1 July 2013 and we look forward of the Trust’s operating budget and children and young people in new interim to working with them. provides support in other ways as well. premises; we will break-even after funding depreciation; we will continue to re- The Trustees thank the Chief Executive, Creative New Zealand continues to develop the Museum of Wellington City & Pat Stuart, and all her staff for the support Capital E’s National Theatre for Sea; and above all we will continue to offer tremendous effort, loyalty and capability Children and its National Arts Festival and Wellingtonians and visitors to Wellington which they bring to their work. Often this the Ministry of Education subsidises our visionary, challenging and entertaining is above and beyond the call of duty. The curriculum aligned education experiences which offer them new ways of skills, imaginations and passions of its staff programmes. ANZ has continued its seeing, and enhance Wellington Smart are, by far, the Trust’s greatest asset. The support of City Gallery by sponsoring Capital. Board acknowledges and respects the several exhibitions including Moving on contributions made by staff. Asia: Toward a New Art Network; and Len During the year John McCormick retired, Lye: Kaleidoscope. We are also grateful to Quentin Hay, Chair 5 Contents Introduction | The Cultural Capital | Year in Review | Performance Highlights | Auditors Report | Service Performance | Financial Statements | The year in review ELLINGTON Museums Trust institutions achieved Financial performance 649,021 visits as at 30 June 2013 compared with a Visitor Experience target of 620,000. This is 29,021 better than target Education and over 41,000 better than for the same period last Visitation – Access and Diversity year, resulting in a Council subsidy per visit of $12.46 Digital EngagementWcompared with a target of $13.04. Heritage Collections City Gallery Wellington, Museum of Wellington City & Sea, and the Organisation Effectiveness Cable Car Museum all exceeded their visitation targets. City Gallery achieved 161,681 visits (143,000), the Museum of Wellington City & Sea 98,605 (93,800) and the Cable Car Museum 235,866 (227,000). Capital E 100,329 visits (102,000) Carter Observatory 48,820 (50,000) and the Colonial Cottage 1,825 (2,100) all experienced building issues that directly affected the visitor experience and visitor numbers. The most significant issue was the Capital E building being assessed as earthquake prone in November