York | Archive | 2000 | February | 5
From the Evening Press, first published Saturday 5th Feb 2000.
Before rejecting the suggestion of charging for entry to the City Art Gallery as "unprincipled and wrong" ('Art Free For All Is The Only Way', January 29), you may be interested to know the outcome of research on this subject.
Numbers visiting traditional art galleries and museums are in long-term decline, and those which do not charge are declining faster than the average.
When we ask potential visitors why they do not visit these attractions, they say that there are a lot more interesting things to do. When we ask why they don't go to free attractions, they say "if they don't charge, it must be rubbish".
These days, the public are becoming more astute. They recognise that public money is not just given away, and they know it costs money to provide entertainment and display precious art.
People want to see new exhibitions and new displays - indeed, this is the imperative to visit - and they expect to pay for anything new because they know resources have been put into creating new attractions.
Residents would expect discounted access for certain residents (though not for tourists), but they also expect the vast majority to pay something, and £2 would be considered reasonable by most.
You argue for "art for all" but this can only be truly achieved by generating a demand to go with the supply. With the right structure of charges, it will be possible to attract more users and that way we can widen participation in the arts.
Paul Vittles,
Bramble Dene,
Woodthorpe, York.
...I READ your article on the plans to charge "tourists", an entry fee to visit the City Art Gallery with some perturbation.
This seems to be an ongoing process of increased charges for people who live outside the York city boundary.
Quite apart from any detrimental effect on visitor numbers to York, the assumption seems to be that there are two species of people, York residents and pleasure-seeking tourists.
I wish to draw attention to the existence of a sizeable third group - those living in and around the Vale of York but outside the city boundaries.
York is more than a self-contained city, it is the cultural and economic centre of a larger area.
Its shops, museums, art gallery and theatres are our local facilities. We are already penalised by car parking charges and an inability to benefit from citizen's privileges such as free entry days.
Any extension of such differentials is of concern and an injustice to those of us who have York as our nearest sizeable town.
There are others I am sure whose interests are dependant on a healthy influx of tourists and I leave them to make their objections to a process which will inexorably lead to a slackening of numbers and consequently decline of business. My plea is for consideration to be given to local residents who live outside the city boundaries. We are the forgotten people.
Jean D Dawes,
Hull Road,
Barmby Moor,
York.
Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.
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