Also, from the sound of the VAG’s desire for an iconic structure, that doesn’t seem like it will have streetfront retail at pedestrian scale around its perimeter (whether an external perimeter or an internal courtyard). Neither the ROM or the AGO in Toronto have that – and neither does the Guggenheim in Bilbao, Centre Pompidou or even the Louvre. I suspect that we may see a largely blank facade with tourists walking the perimeter in search of the entrance. At best you may get another Gallery Cafe and a VAG Souvenir Shop.

Are admission prices too expensive?
Museum and gallery officials struggle with their costs and what people can afford to pay
by Anne Kingston on Wednesday, February 3, 2010 10:10am – 5 Comments

When Edmonton’s Art Gallery of Alberta, or the AGA, opens its glass doors this weekend, lineups are expected to mimic the steel ribbons furling around the building’s exterior. Ten thousand free-entry tickets for the first two days have been snapped up by locals keen to check out the $88-million reno. The response echoes the excitement surrounding Frank Gehry’s revamped Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO), which drew 68,000 on its free first weekend in November 2008, and continues to attract 1,500 to 2,000 to its no-charge Wednesday evenings.

The spectre of crowds clamouring for gratis access to gawk at Goya and Degas reflects a modern Catch-22 with more twists and turns than the AGA’s bold new facade: on one hand, there’s a decided hunger for the public gallery experience, reflected in strong emerging 2009 attendance numbers. As Kelvin Browne, the vice-president of marketing and major exhibitions at the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM), puts it: “In a virtual age, the power of real things increases.” Yet there’s also resistance (and inability) to pay the admission these institutions must charge to cover budget cutbacks and still create the “Wow!” spaces and quality exhibits required to attract audiences fed a diet of virtual spectacle. Adult admissions to the country’s major institutions vary widely: the AGA is raising its to $12 from $10, due to higher costs of running its expanded space and an ambitious new programming push, says executive director Gilles Hébert. “It’s a thing of value,” he says. Post Gehry redo, adult entry to the AGO rose to $18 from $15, an increase that prompted the architect’s quip, “highway robbery.” Ottawa’s National Gallery charges $9. The Vancouver Art Gallery (VAG) charges $19.50 (winter), $20.50 (summer). And at the ROM, it’s $22.

….Calculating admission prices is an “art and science,” says Sue Bloch-Nevitte, head of AGO public affairs. “Research says you never ask, ‘How much would you be willing to pay?’ ” Among other considerations, galleries do due diligence to ensure rates are in line with similar local venues, says Dana Sullivant, the VAG’s director of marketing and communications (the VAG measured itself against ski resort Grouse Mountain, $37.95, the Aquarium, $22, and Science World, $18.75).

Pricing admission to induce people to take out a membership is a less overt gambit. This delicate tipping-point practice is explicit in the ROM’s entry, where a sign announces it’ll cost $74 for two adults and two children, $104 for two adults and four children, but a (relatively) mere $139 for an annual membership offering unlimited access.

Paradoxically, offering free access can be a gateway drug that makes people come back for more. Last year, the Toronto library system began offering almost-impossible-to-procure free passes to cultural institutions, including the AGO and ROM. People who live two hours away from the venue by public transit line up for hours, says board spokesperson Linda Hazzan. Many end up taking out memberships.

—— I argue for free for all, and a special welcome to out-of-towners (a free coffee and cake?) [to compensate for the poor exhibits not on the Michelin guides (that's the UBC MoA)]

A recent selection
http://www.vanartgallery.bc.ca/press_releases/news_about_annual.html
But the latest posted is 2008-2009
http://www.vanartgallery.bc.ca/pdfs/Annual_Report_2008_2009.pdf

96 pages (yawn) about one quarter illustrated (Herzog alert on fourth page and 56th ) and lots and lots of ‘names’
Donors (assumed cash) down to the $500 level. Donors of art (always controversial) start on page 77. Accounts start on page 79

@evilfred // Mar 10, 2010 at 11:41 am
Fiona Morrow story from May 19 2009 Globe and Mail
EvilFred quotes “and membership has grown from 9,000 in 2001, to 50,000 this
year – with an annual operating budget of just $13.3-million.”

But 2008-2009 Memberships $816000 / 50,000 members = $16 Oh?
Is there a discrepency? 816000 / $70 = 11,600 individual members

but note Note 17 (always check the notes)
” [Note] 17. PRIOR YEAR RESTATEMENT:
In prior periods, the Association recognized revenues from annual memberships when the memberships were sold. During the current year, the Association changed its accounting policy to more appropriately recognize the revenue from annual memberships over the life of the memberships. The change in accounting treatment has been applied by management on a retroactive basis with the impact of decreasing 2009 opening net assets by $370,205 (2008 – $389,735), decreasing memberships revenue by $104,852 (eighteen months ended June 30, 2008 – increasing memberships revenue by $19,530) and increasing deferred memberships revenue by $475,057 (2008 – $370,205). The prior year comparative figures have accordingly been restated.”

The north side of Georgia is sunnier than the south. An art museum / gallery will generate more daily foot traffic than the QE Theatre, which is tied primarily to evening performance schedules, especially if the space is animated by restaurants and outdoor performances. And a plaza enclosed on three sides with the above amenities will cut the wind.

Moreover, I think Georgia Street is ripe for a revamp given how badly it’s been treated so far. Remember, this was supposed to be our Grand Ceremonial Way. The reality is that it became little more than a traffic conduit with poorly executed open spaces and architecture (with the exception of the Rattenbury and the Bay) at its edges.

Especially at the post office and the QE theatre, there is no reason to casually walk through the plaza in front. But there is also no reason to enter the library plaza except to go to the library. And this space has other problems: it is in shadow nearly all day, and though it is partially enclosed it lacks buildings across the street to face onto it.

Incidentally, the plaza in front of the QE theatre covers 1/3 of the block.

Georgia is an ode to modernism on a monumental scale through a dead zone some like to call our cultural precinct. For those who value consistency, another block-sized monument with a windswept plaza is a fitting last piece in this puzzle. There is no space for both a Washington Square and an art gallery. And I’m having trouble picturing Place d’Armes across from the Sandman Inn.

My desire is for a more human scale, but it is a compromise that tries to fit into the theme on Georgia. It includes a mixture of uses on the site, a small plaza enclosed by cafes and restaurants in the mid-day sun (Georgia/Cambie), maybe the entrance to the new gallery itself, and a shortcut through the block that gives people no reason at all to be there. It includes the monument, but one that is adapted to the space around it.

Every one of the outdoor spaces you cited were treated as merely left over spaces, wasteful and empty (except for cars at the PO.

Well, maybe if one of them looked like a smaller version of this….

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Washington_square_park.jpg

….you’d have a different perception of what is possible with public open space and its influence on adjacent streets and city life.

I can’t think of a better complement to an art museum than Vancouver’s own “Washington” Square, albeit covering only a third of a block.

It’s what you put in the spaces that counts.