Written Evidence Submitted by Turner Contemporary Turner
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Written evidence submitted by Turner Contemporary Turner Contemporary is a visual arts organisation based in Margate, Kent. Since opening in 2011, the gallery has welcomed more than 3.5m visits and has been a catalyst for the social and economic regeneration of Margate, a once thriving seaside resort that suffered a serious decline in the late 20th century. In spite of Margate’s transformation over the past decade, the town still has some of the most deprived wards in the UK with high levels of unemployment and poor health. Turner Contemporary receives investment from Kent County Council and Arts Council England (ACE) through the National Portfolio organisation scheme. In addition, we generate about 60% of our own funds through earned and fundraised income. In autumn 2019, we hosted the prestigious Turner Prize exhibition which attracted over 140,000 visits and was the second most visited Turner Prize exhibition in the prize’s 30 year history. On 18 March 2020, Turner Contemporary closed to the public and remains closed until further notice. Whilst we are aware that the impact of Covid-19 has affected all areas of life in the UK, the safety of our audiences and staff was our primary consideration. Closing the gallery, however, has had a significant impact on the gallery’s business model and on the wider regeneration of Margate. Normally, the gallery attracts thousands of visitors to Margate over the Easter holidays whilst the season from May – September usually brings 150,000 visits who spend money in the gallery and in the town. Over the past few weeks, we have had to furlough most of our staff and leave a landmark and very costly exhibition, We Will Walk; Art and Resistance in the American South, in our gallery unseen by audiences. To date, we have already lost out on around 70,000 projected visits to our current exhibition. Our café, retail offer and venue hire business have also closed. We have had to review all our future programmes, delay many of them until next year, and even cancel some of them, which has added to our costs. Our ability to fundraise has been seriously curtailed and this will have significant long-term implications for the gallery. The museum and gallery sector is hugely important to the UK’s economy and is a fantastic learning resource but also drives creativity, social and economic regeneration and tourism, as well as creating civic pride and well-being. Institutions across the country operate on limited budgets to deliver world-class experiences with many front of house staff on minimum wage and zero hour contracts supported by volunteering. The immediate impact of Covid-19 is massive for the sector but we are concerned about the medium and longer- term for Turner Contemporary’s future viability. We first approached ACE for advice on Covid-19 late in February, we were surprised that none was available. Since then, we have been impressed that the furlough scheme has been put in place and that we have been able to use it. Our Arts Council Relationship Manager has been helpful but our peer networks e.g. Plus Tate, Contemporary Visual Arts Network etc have been incredibly useful. Whilst we welcome ACE’s Emergency Funding package it is a relatively small amount of funding to go to a sector that is currently facing unprecedented challenges. Following a review of the criteria for an application, it appears that the approach is to bail out those organisations who are faced with real financial hardship. At Turner Contemporary we have managed to build a reserve and an endowment through astute financial management but have concerns for our longer-term future. We note that the German Government has made 50 billion euros available to the cultural sector. In our view the UK Government needs to consider a similar type of scheme for the UK’s cultural sector which is the envy of the world. Turner Contemporary is one of the major employers in a small town where unemployment remains high (5.7% in Thanet in March 2020, 2.6% higher than the national average). We commission independent research from Canterbury Christ Church University that demonstrates Turner Contemporary’s economic impact as in excess of £80m whilst our social value is also high. Even if the current restrictions on movement are lifted, social distancing measures will be in place for quite some time which will provide the gallery with some operational challenges and may mean that opening is delayed until next year. We’d like to see the DCMS offering more support for smaller-scale organisations outside of London who contribute to the economy by working with local suppliers, creating jobs, and driving tourism to towns and cities around the UK. Whilst we are not funded centrally as a national institution, our ground-breaking work has had a national impact alongside us providing access to world class art to our locally based audiences. Victoria Pomery Director, Turner Contemporary 30 April 2020.