A National Art Gallery for Jersey – it’s time for the industry to respond.

On Friday last, Jersey’s Education Sport & Culture Minister, Senator Mike Vibert, published his Strategic Plan for a National Gallery for Jersey and requested interested parties to respond with comments on the proposal. You can download a copy by clicking here

Along with the Strategic Plan, the Minister published yet another report from Locum Consulting (the third of substance from these consultants in two years – Jersey has served them well!). This Concept and Impact Assessment Report outlines the cost of building the Gallery (almost £10million) and offers solutions as to how this capital cost together with the annual running costs of c. £500k will be financed – without asking taxpayers to cough up.

Leaving aside the benefit to the local community – it is difficult to argue against this – I would focus attention on the Gallery as a contributor to the visitor economy. Locum has produced various revenue projections based on different admission charges, ranging from free entry to a £9.00 entry fee. Based on current staying leisure visitor numbers, they suggest between 28,000 and 50,000 visitors would put the gallery on their ‘must see’ list in one year – plus a few more day trippers, business visitors and even 2000 visiting yachtsmen! This would make it the third most popular attraction for visitors after Durrell and the Jersey War Tunnels.

Locum go into a huge amount of detail in their projections and suggest that the Gallery will even produce additional visits to Jersey from tourists, as images of the Gallery will ‘tip the balance’ in favour of a visit.

Readers of this blog will know that for some time I have been advocating the construction of a purpose-built conference centre on the Waterfront (click here to refresh your memory). From a purely visitor economy perspective, the Gallery will in no way provide the benefits that a conference and events centre, capable of holding 1000 delegates and hosting concerts and sports events as well as corporate meetings would have for all of the stakeholders in Jersey’s tourism industry.

I hope that our trade representatives, Jersey Hospitality, will consult with its members before formulating their response to this proposal. Please take time to read the documents and make your views known to the JHA or direct to David Greenwood, Assistant Director – Culture and Lifelong Learning at ESC, who is responsible for managing the consultation.

One thought – what about combining the Gallery with a Conference and Events Centre and creating a building that will benefit both residents and visitors alike?

£6 million to invest. Art Gallery or Conference Centre?

I know where I would put my money.

Last Saturday the Jersey Evening Post revealed that it would cost £5-6 million to build a new art gallery at The Weighbridge. On top of that it is suggested that there will be an annual running cost of up to £500k. And would you pay £10 to visit the attraction? No – nor would I! Surely Jersey doesn’t need its own art gallery? We have some fabulous works (such as this depiction of Mont Orgueil by Ian Rolls). However there are plenty of existing sites for displaying art, including existing locations such as The Barreau Le Maistre Art Gallery at The Jersey Museum. The gallery will be too small to attract exhibitions from elsewhere - the cost of transporting and insuring collections versus the likely size of audience simply won’t add up.

Now those that read this blog regularly will know that a while ago I advocated the building of a new conference & events centre to compete with the myriad of new venues across the UK. Fort Regent is simply no longer good enough and with so many new 4 star hotel rooms, the 500-1000 delegate conference market would prove extremely helpful to the whole industry. It would also provide a smart new venue for islanders to enjoy concerts and other large-scale events.

I won’t go back over all the old arguments – read about them here. In the past the idea has been rejected for not providing a big enough return on investment. Well, a plea to our politicians – look at the commercial arguments for a new conference & events centre over an art gallery before you sign away £6 million.