Museum of Contemporary Art Australia.
Andrew Taylor, MCA attracts as many visitors as Art Gallery of NSW at a fraction of the cost, The Sydney Morning Herald, 12 December 2015
The Museum of Contemporary Art Australia will receive about the same number of visitors as the Art Gallery of NSW despite receiving just a fraction of its government funding.
NSW Premier Mike Baird was at the MCA on Monday to welcome the millionth visitor to the museum in 2015, which has just opened its summer blockbuster show Grayson Perry: My Pretty Little Art Career.
The museum expects 1.05 million visitors to pass through its doors in 2015, placing its annual attendance figures almost equal with the 1.07 million onsite visitors to the Art Gallery of NSW in 2014-15.
MCA director Liz Ann Macgregor said the boost in attendances had been achieved “with very limited public funding”.
The MCA received $4.74 million in taxpayer’s money, according to its 2014 annual report – 25 per cent of its funding.
In comparison, the Art Gallery of NSW received $33.8 million from the taxpayer – 50 per cent of its funding.
Figures prepared for the MCA also suggest it provides the best value for money for the taxpayer – the museum receives just $4.11 in government funding for each visitor.
In comparison, the AGNSW receives $26.38 in government funding for every visitor. Each visitor to the Powerhouse Museum costs more than $45, while Australian Museum the taxpayer coughs up almost $85 for every person that walks in the door.
The MCA’s impressive attendance figures mirror Carriageworks, which expects to leapfrog the AGNSW and Powerhouse Museum to become one of Australia’s busiest cultural institutions by 2021 with 2 million visitors, despite receiving far less public funding.
