The Regional Galleries of Australia comprise about 90 art galleries located
in cities as small as 10,000 people up to major centres like Sydney. The
Regional Galleries range from very small organisiations with one or two
staff to larger complexes with up to twenty full time staff..

Most of the Regional Galleries have strong funding links with Municipal
Government, but various models of this relationship exist - including
Operating Agreements, acting as a City Department  to partnership agreements
of various kinds.

Many  regional galleries developed in response to community demands for a
good gallery space, and also to  the need to store and conserve the growing
collections of Local Government. Others, particularly the private trust
galleries, developed from University collections or from the bequest of a
collector.

I think  probably the majority of  Australian Regional Galleries are  wholly
owned departments of Local Government, and receive the great majority of
their funding from this source, but also receive  funding of around 5 to 20%
of their budgets from the relevant State Governments, and also occasional
grants from the Australia Council and other Federal government agencies
whose charter is to support the arts.

I would think that a fairly typical model of a Local Government owned
regional gallery would be funded between fifty to eighty percent of its
overall budget by Local Government.

Others are owned by private trusts, and receive very little funding from
Local Government. Others are owned by Local Government but run privately
under an operating agreement - the extent of local government funding really
depends on the historical circumstances of the formation of the institution,
and of course, whether the local municipality is interested in supporting
the arts. Some receive no direct funding support, but in kind suport and
peppercorn rentals etc.


Further information, and accurate statistics,  can be sought from :
The Australia Council (good for statistics and fact sheets, they once
published a Local Government Support for the Arts survey right across
Australia) http://www.ozco.gov.au/.
The NSW Ministry for the Arts http://www.arts.nsw.gov.au/ for NSW state
information.
Australian Museums on Line http://amol.org.au/index.html have links to many
Regional Galleries.


Alan Sisley
Director
Orange Regional Gallery
Orange NSW Australia 2800
Phone 61 02 63615136, Fax 61 02 63615100
mailto:[log in to unmask]
http://www.org.nsw.gov.au


-----Original Message-----
From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On
Behalf Of Kyle Biggerstaff
Sent: Tuesday, 3 August 1999 8:58
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Museums with municipal governance or operating agreements


Our museum is currently investigating ways to partner with city government.
I am trying to find art museums who have formed successful relationships
with municipal government either through operating agreements, as a
Department of the city, or other partnership arrangements.  I am trying to
find successful models for organizational structures, as well as budgetary
information, such as what percentage of the institution's budget is from
city support.  We are a newly establhished art museum in a medium sized city
(150,000-200,000 residents).  You may respond directly to me at
[log in to unmask]

Thank you,

Rachel Biggerstaff

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