2019 - 20 Performance Report Leicester City Council: Arts, Museums, Festivals and Events Service 0 Contents INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................... 2 ARTS & MUSEUMS STRATEGIC VISION ................................................................................................. 5 VISION 2018-2023 ......................................................................................................................... 5 STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES 1 .............................................................................................................. 5 STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES 2 .............................................................................................................. 6 STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES 3 .............................................................................................................. 7 IN THE CITY - ACHIEVEMENTS .............................................................................................................. 9 FESTIVALS ..................................................................................................................................... 9 EXHIBITIONS ................................................................................................................................. 11 DIGITAL ........................................................................................................................................ 14 BRANDING .................................................................................................................................... 15 COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT ........................................................................................................... 16 KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS ...................................................................................................... 21 MUSEUMS & FESTIVAL VISITORS ................................................................................................... 21 VISITOR NUMBERS ................................................................................................................... 21 USER FIGURES FOR FESTIVALS & EVENTS ................................................................................. 22 VISITS TO MUSEUMS AND HERITAGE SITES ................................................................................ 23 NO: OF VOLUNTEERS IN ARTS & MUSEUMS ................................................................................ 24 NUMBER OF SCHOOL CHILDREN VISITS ....................................................................................... 25 CITY PRIMARY SCHOOLS ENGAGEMENT ...................................................................................... 26 CUSTOMER SATISFACTION – MUSEUMS/FESTIVALS .................................................................... 27 NO OF TEMPORARY EXHIBITION VISITORS (LEICESTER MUSEUM & ART GALLERY) ........................ 28 DIGITAL PRESENCE AND COMMUNITY ............................................................................................ 29 NO OF PEOPLE ENGAGED IN OFFSITE MUSEUM ACTIVITIES ........................................................... 29 NUMBER OF WEBSITE SESSIONS - MUSEUMS STATS .................................................................... 30 NUMBER OF DIGITAL SUBSCRIBERS ........................................................................................... 31 NUMBER OF ORGANISATION/INDIVIDUALS SUPPORTED TO DELIVER FESTIVALS AND EVENTS ........... 32 NO OF USERS OF VISIT LEICESTER ............................................................................................ 34 FINANCIAL .................................................................................................................................... 35 INCOME AS % OF REVENUE SPEND FOR OVERALL SERVICE ......................................................... 35 INCOME AS % OF REVENUE SPEND FOR MUSEUM SERVICE ......................................................... 35 MONEY LEVERED BY CULTURAL AMBITION FUND ........................................................................ 36 INCOME FROM GRANTS AND SPONSORSHIP ................................................................................ 37 1 Introduction Leicester City Council’s Arts, Museums, Festivals and Events Service operates the City’s five museums, two heritage venues, the King Richard III Visitor Centre incorporating the Visit Leicester tourist information centre, and a dedicated museum store. It also delivers and supports a city-wide programme of festivals and events throughout the year, supports the City’s arts sector, and manages and promotes Leicester’s culture and heritage. Our Service includes: Leicester Museum and Art Gallery, the city’s flagship, family friendly museum with significant exhibitions of Picasso Ceramics, Palaeontology, German Expressionism, Victorian Art, Arts & Crafts and Ancient Egyptian Abbey Pumping Station, museum of science and technology located a magnificent Victorian building with decorated beam engines which can be seen in steam on event days that was a former sewage pumping station Newarke Houses Museum incorporates the Museum of the Royal Leicestershire Regiment and the museum of contemporary Leicester, comprised of two historic houses, Wygston's Chantry House and Skeffington House Leicester Guildhall is the oldest civic building in Leicester one of the best-preserved medieval timber framed halls in the country and is a popular performance and wedding venue and is the city’s medieval museum Jewry Wall Museum is currently closed for redevelopment. The grounds contain one of Leicester’s most famous landmarks, the Jewry Wall, part Roman Leicester’s public baths. It is one of the tallest surviving pieces of Roman masonry in the country The King Richard III Visitor Centre became part of the Service in December 2019 and it tells the story of England’s last Plantagenet king as well as displaying the grave uncovered back in 2012. The Centre has recently become the new location for Visit Leicester, the city’s tourist information centre, souvenir shop and ticket office The management of and care for the City’s museum and art collections and stores 2 We manage and deliver a number of festivals throughout the year; St George’s Day Festival, Riverside Festival, the City Festival, Eid, Diwali, Abbey Park Bonfire and the Christmas Light Switch On and this year the Always and always facing towards the light spectacular as part of Centenary Cities Providing advice and support to festival organisers across the city, including financial support to events such as the Caribbean Carnival, the Leicester Comedy Festival, Belgrave Mela, Sparks Children’s Arts Festival, Black History Season, Leicester Pride, and Leicester International Music Festival et al Leicester Festival and Events have continued a successful Touring Network Partnership with consortium Without Walls promoting artistic excellence and supporting the delivery of innovative new work. The second partnership with Global Streets also enhances the offer of creative work and outdoor art to the people of Leicester Providing advice to arts practitioners in the city, including the provision of financial support via the Cultural Ambition Fund Promoting Leicester’s 2000 years of history through heritage interpretation panels, providing access to buildings such as our heritage venues, Belgrave Hall and the Magazine Gateway, and co-ordinating the city’s Heritage Open Days and Heritage Sundays programme 3 Following on from the implementation of a new staffing structure in the first quarter of the year, a recruitment exercise was undertaken to appoint a number of community engagement focused posts. A Heritage and Engagement Manager was recruited along with a Children and Young People’s Officer, Community Engagement Officer, Outreach Officer, Digital Assistant and Collections Access Officer. Four of these posts were made possible through the Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation (NPO) grant awarded to Leicester Museums and Galleries. The Service has continued to deliver its four year NPO business plan and this second year included the development of a new brand identity for Leister Museums and Galleries together with a new website. The new website represents a major step forward in our online presence and enables potential visitors to easily find out information about our sites, their history, exhibitions, open hours, and their events programme. Information is also included about other aspects of our service, such as our learning provision, volunteer programme and an exhibition archive. Progress has continued with the Service’s major capital programmes and further funding was awarded in the 2020/21 capital bidding round, including funding delivery of the Jewry Wall Museum redevelopment and an initial phase of works at Leicester Museums and Art Gallery. A procurement exercise has been completed for the Phase I works at Jewry Wall, but unfortunately due to the Covid 19 pandemic progression to works commencing on site has been delayed as costs have been revised in light of social distancing requirements. Due diligence reviews of the revised costings have been undertaken and a contract has been entered into. Phase I works are expected to commence shortly. A programme of works at Leicester Museum and Art Gallery is in the development phase and will aim to create additional gallery space, including the creating of a new modern art gallery.