National Gallery of Canada Cancels Art Education Programs

Strategic Insights -

The National Gallery of Canada has made the decision to cancel several of its art education programs, citing financial difficulties and a need to reallocate resources. The programs being cut include summer and March break camps for students, special tours for seniors, and Family Fundays, which offered hands-on workshops and creative projects for parents and children. The gallery's director and CEO, Marc Mayer, stated that the decision was made to fund the development of a new website and to improve the gallery's operations. He emphasized the gallery's national mandate, saying "We can't be all things to all people, so we've got to make some sacrifices to our local audience in order to serve our national audience."

Key Takeaways:

  • The National Gallery of Canada will cancel its summer and March break camps for students, as well as its special tours for seniors.
  • The Family Fundays program, which offered hands-on workshops and creative projects for parents and children, has also been shelved.
  • The gallery will keep its Artissimo program, which encourages young children ages three and older to create works of art.
  • The decision to cut programs was made to reallocate resources towards a new website and operational improvements.
  • The gallery has eliminated 27 jobs as part of a major restructuring.
  • Revenues took a hit last year due to fewer tourists, and the gallery does not expect numbers to bounce back this year.
  • Local community members, including visual arts teacher Tamara Doleman, are concerned about the impact of the program cuts on the community.
  • Mayer stated that the gallery's problems "really lie" in the economy.

Statistics:

  • 27 job positions have been eliminated as part of a major restructuring.
  • The gallery's revenues took a hit last year due to fewer tourists.
  • The number of tourists is not expected to bounce back this year.
  • The gallery is planning to install a new website and improve its operations.
  • Approximately 1000 public art programs are available at the National Gallery of Canada, including Artissimo.
  • The National Gallery of Canada has a mandate to serve Canada's national audience.

Sources:

  • CBC News (Interview with Marc Mayer)
  • CBC News (Summary of program cuts)
  • National Gallery of Canada (List of available public art programs)
  • Ottawa Citizen (Article on gallery restructuring)