SPONSORSHIP


Promoting the Arts W


ith government grants shrinking, the commitment to free access at many UK national museums and galleries, and the continual drive to keep standards high, sponsorship has become an essential revenue stream, helping a large proportion of museums, galleries and theatres to balance the books.


And the benefits don’t stop at money. “Sponsors not only bring financial support, but help us to promote our work more widely to their clients and staff,” says Naomi Conway, head of development at The Na-


SPONSORSHIP IS A LIFELINE FOR CULTURAL INSTITUTIONS, BUT IT DOES THROW UP SOME CONTROVERSIES. WHAT IS THE BEST PRACTISE, TO MAKE SURE IT WORKS FOR ALL PARTIES? KATH HUDSON REPORTS


tional Portrait Gallery in London. According to Caroline Reid, senior development executive at The Science Museum in London, the part- nerships also add value through expertise, volunteering and advocacy.


National Portrait Gallery – criticised for BP funding www.attractionshandbook.com


SELLING OUT However, there are a few pitfalls to avoid. In this tough economic climate it’s becoming increasingly competitive to find sponsors. Sponsorship isn’t a charity handout: it’s an investment on which institutions are expected to deliver. Then there is the issue of maintaining curatorial control, and being seen by the public to maintain this. Did the Texas-based Perot Museum of Nature and Science lose sight of this when it accepted a US$10m (£6.6m, €7.5m) sponsorship from Exxon-owned Hunt Petroleum and went on to celebrate fracking – widely regarded as environmentally destructive? One of the exhibitions features a drill cutting into rock. The Guggenheim and New York’s Met- ropolitan Museum have previously been criticised for selling out when they featured exhibitions about companies – Armani and Alexander McQueen respectively – which had the featured companies as the principal sponsors. Both needed buy-in from the companies to stage the exhibitions, so did this matter? The museums argued not, but some critics believed so.


Naomi Conway, National Portrait Gallery, points out that sponsors help them to promote their work


PUBLIC IMAGE


There is also the public image of the sponsor to consider: whether or not an unpopular company is simply trying to buy respectability by association with a cultural institution and if this will be off-putting to the target market.


Attractions Handbook 2013–2014 119


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