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Home is where the art is gallery visits soar in downturn
Louise Jury, Chief Arts Correspondent20.10.09
Visitor numbers at art galleries and attractions hit record levels this summer as the recession led more people to holiday at home.
Half of all museums and galleries in Britain - and two thirds of the free national institutions in London - saw an increase in visitors, according to figures released today. A fifth saw a rise of at least 10 per cent.
Gallery shops and cafés enjoyed a corresponding rise in takings despite the downturn. More than half the national museums and galleries benefited from higher trading income.
The London galleries have escaped the worst of the funding cuts affecting local authority-run institutions, but two thirds have been badly hit by the fall in investment income.
Museums surveyed by The Art Fund charity said the cuts were hitting home just as running costs were climbing with 30 per cent spending more than the same period last year, thanks to rises in expenses such as utilities.
Andrew Macdonald, acting director of The Art Fund, said: "It's clear that when times are tough, our cultural institutions provide both a great value for money experience and a distraction from financial worries. So it is worrying to see that investment in museums and galleries appears to be drying up just at the point that they have the most to offer people."
The Art Fund survey is anonymous but coincides with figures from the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions which showed a 23 per cent increase in attendances at the National Portrait Gallery from June to August compared with last year. This year's BP Portrait Award has been its most popular with a 69 per cent year-on-year rise in visitors.
The Imperial War Museum revealed that retail spending and visitor numbers had increased, but net return on investment income is expected to fall by 60 per cent and corporate hospitality income is forecast to decline by 15 per cent.
