Tackling the Difficult Art of Getting the Price Right In politics, the price of life-saving equipment is regularly weighed against the cost of, say, an old master for the national collection. The hospital scanner wins the argument every time, while art lovers desperately argue that a life without the arts is far less worth living. With brutal government cuts on the table, the question is now, more than ever, a stark reality. I always argue that any civilised budget must save a slice for the arts, but in the last month, I have been forced to question whether the principle applies to my own household budget. Early in August, I visited the Fringe box office, where I produced a list of five children’s shows and asked for available Saturdays. As the prices were reeled off, I realised I hadn’t fully prepared myself. Wee Calum would require an £11 ticket to see Charlie And Lola’s Best Bestest Play, and I would require another £11 ticket to chaperone him. That £22 price tag would come with the ever-present risk that something would offend him within the first five minutes and we’d be trampling our way to the door in wild panic. I couldn’t bring myself to do it. In the end, I chose two of the cheaper shows on my list and wheeled off, feeling like a bad mother. The rest of the festival would be spent soaking up the atmosphere, and coaxing Calum and his baby sister into countless art exhibitions. As an art critic I can ignore admission fees for most exhibitions, but, still raw after my box office experience, I became keenly aware of the prices printed on my free tickets. Impressionist Gardens, the show everyone wants to take their mum to, is £10 a head. The City Art Centre is charging £8 for joint entry to their two photography exhibitions. In these months of austerity, when like so many others I am struggling to tighten the purse strings, I have to ask myself, would I stump up the cash? And if a culture vulture like me wouldn’t, who would? Somebody would. Fringe sales have come close to breaking the two million barrier, and Impressionist Gardens, I’m told, is on target for the festival period. Charlie And Lola didn’t do so well, barely breaking even with around 60% of seats filled, but its producer, Chris Wallis, is convinced that cheaper tickets are not the answer. “I did a lot of flyering,” he tells me, “and met very little price resistance.” He is confident that £10 per head for a weekday ticket is a fair price, and one that people will pay. “It’s not our job to make it so cheap that everybody can come,” Wallis says. “It’s our job to price it so as many people can come as possible, and we stay in business.” At 26 years since their last visit, the producer puts slow sales down to inexperienced marketing. At the National Gallery Complex, with ticket prices in double figures for the first time, staff are quietly confident. In its first four weeks, Impressionist Gardens has drawn half of its projected numbers for an 11-week run. To me that sounds a touch less blockbusting than it might be, but the galleries are positive. “We are extremely pleased with the response” says Director, Michael Clarke. “While the ticket prices reflect the substantial costs involved in mounting a major show,” he continues, “we believe that we compare extremely favourably to events and performances in the other festivals”. This is true, but exhibitions, more than any other art form at the festivals, tend to be free. The Fruitmarket Gallery is among the key non-charging institutions in Edinburgh, and their quirky Martin Creed exhibition has pulled in nearly 10,000 visitors a week: that’s 20% more than this time last year. “Gallery research indicates that being free is a factor in the Gallery’s popularity,” explains Director, Fiona Bradley. “Being free enables the Gallery to take risks with its programme, and to encourage artists and audiences to take risks”. Good point. The Impressionists are guaranteed an audience, but the man famous for turning the light on and off in an empty room would be a turnoff to most punters at £10. Across the road at the City Art Centre, the UK’s largest ever Edward Weston show is a thing of quiet beauty, but it’s almost empty when I visit. Reopening after 15 months, the art centre made the risky decision to charge its highest ever entry fee. “It was debated long,” says Curator David Patterson. “We took comparisons with other galleries, not only in Edinburgh but also other parts of the UK.” “But, like everybody,” Patterson admits, “we are undoubtedly feeling the pinch. I think the festival is pricey enough for any family; certainly we feel that ticket prices at the fringe are steadily going up each year, and people are being a bit more circumspect as to what they spend the limited amount of money they have in their pockets on.” Interestingly, like Wallis, Patterson puts his finger on marketing as a key factor. The council-run art centre has a meagre marketing budget and instead of blowing it all at festival time, they decided to spread it across the exhibition’s full three months, to serve their key demographic of local residents. It seems it’s a Catch 22 for curators and producers: if they want to charge high prices to cover their costs, they need to throw money at marketing. When the Con-Dem cuts filter down to public arts bodies, and no one has any money to buy tickets, we’ll be lucky to be left with lights going on and off in an empty room.
|