The 126 gallery on Queen Street will be forced to close it doors unless the Galway City Council, which is a stakeholder in the gallery, can provide it with full rental support of €15,000.
This is the view of the 126 board, which has written to Uachtarán na hÉireann Michael D Higgins, Galway TDs, and the city’s 15 councillors, calling on them to demand that City Hall provide the full rental cover.
According to the 126 board, the gallery relies on public funding to cover its costs. This year, The Arts Council provided €10,000, but this money can be used for programming and not for other items such as rent. The city council was asked for €15,000 in rental support. Until now, the city council has provided full rental support of €15,000.
The board says that it also received “verbal assurances” that the council would provide 126 with the rental support. However there was “no written notice of what we might receive since applying for the city arts grant in June”.
On Monday, the gallery was informed by City Hall that its funding for 2012 was €4,000. This is in addition to the €1,500 in funding secured in August
“The proposed rental support of €4,000 represents a 64 per cent cut in total funding from the city council,” a statement to the Galway Advertiser from the 126 gallery read. “While we understand that the overall arts budget may have been cut by 10 per cent, a 64 per cent cut in our rental support seems largely out of proportion with reasonably expected reductions in funding. The percentage is in relation to the full €15,000 being awarded.”
The board said it is “grateful for this financial assistance” but that €5,500 is “insufficient and will lead to the closure of 126 Gallery”. It has asked the council to review the decision.
The gallery said the €15,000 in rental cover is justified both on economic and cultural grounds. The statement read: “By providing €15,000 in rental support, the council have benefited from the full-time work of eight committed unpaid gallery technicians and administrators that programme and manage a critically acclaimed exhibition space, whose combined labour would otherwise cost the city council at least €80,000 in wages.”
The gallery has also pointed out that it serves a valuable cultural service to the city, pointing out that since 2008, it has hosted an extensive programme of free to the public exhibitions of the works of 407 national and international artists and that the gallery has championed emerging artists and that many curators have started their careers there.
In response City Hall said it would arrange a further meeting with the gallery to discuss the situation. It also said that “in the severe economic climate that now exists, the cultural budget is not immune to the effects of budget restrictions”. However it acknowledged that 126 gallery “is a valued cultural experience” but that “the extent of the financial support unfortunately must be curtailed in order to spread the financial support to cover other similar organisations.”
