In the introduction to our last issue, David Ummels briefly touched upon the speech he gave at the Chamber of Commerce lunch at the OGH, where he addressed the multifaceted benefits of Renoir in Guernsey, 1883, and how artistic projects can drive economic growth, tourism, educational enrichment and a desirable brand for the island. We took a closer look at the issues David raised, which are at the heart of Art for Guernsey’s ethos.
David was delighted to be invited to be the key speaker at the Chamber event. “There was a full house, and it was a nice alignment to have Investec as the sponsor of the lunch, as the firm was the headline sponsor of the Renoir project,” he said. David briefly outlined what Art for Guernsey stands for in terms of being a charity that applies art and culture to create wider good for the community, before talking specifically about the Renoir project. This was a huge undertaking for the Art for Guernsey team: a four-year campaign which began with the Renoir Walk around Moulin Huet, and last year culminated in Renoir in Guernsey, 1883 – first shown at the Musée des Impressionnismes Giverny before moving to Candie in partnership with Guernsey Museums.
David then presented the figures showing what the Renoir exhibition brought to the island in terms of economic benefits.
These figures came from two reliable sources. Since 99% of visitors to the exhibition booked their tickets online, reliable data was provided by Google Analytics.
“The level of information that Google Analytics gives you in terms of who purchased tickets, and when and where from, is quite impressive,” explained David.
“We backed this up with a second methodology, which was to send a survey questionnaire to all of the visitors and we had more than a thousand responses, which statistically is very significant. It was this survey that identified that around a third of our foreign visitors came for the sole purpose of seeing the Renoir exhibition. Two-thirds of them just happened to be there and enjoyed the exhibition, and I didn’t feel that it would be intellectually honest or professional to claim that we had brought them to the island.”
Visitors who came to Guernsey specifically for the exhibition were then asked how long they had stayed on the island, and the answer was an average of five and a half days. “I multiplied the approximate number of visitors by five and a half and that equates to 8,800 nights spent on-island,” said David. “From these figures we can extrapolate that, on a budget of £350,000, this activity represented a cash upturn of £2.85m for the local economy. On top of accommodation and travel I assumed an allowance of £100 per day, which I think is quite conservative taking into consideration meals, souvenirs and out-of-pocket expenses.” In reality, this figure is likely to be much higher as funds moved through the community and contributed to further local investment, but David wanted to keep it simple and focus on the cold hard cash that could reasonably be measured.
David went on to compare the outcome for the island’s economy with the initial investment:
“The initial investment in the Renoir project was approximately £350,000. And when you compare that to £2.85m, we multiplied the investment by 900%. If you factor that over four years, that’s quite an impressive rate of return.”
Even if you take the money spent by Art for Guernsey since the project began – encompassing everything from the Renoir Walk to engagement with the schools – this would equate to a figure in the region of £750,000.
“This means 100% return over four years – and whilst this may look impressive, it’s not a miraculous achievement because it’s being delivered on a regular basis in the UK. The Arts Council subsidises museums, galleries and theatres in the UK – if you add them all up you have a business that represents approximately £1.5 billion per year. The business doesn’t break even, but needs around 30% subsidies to wash its face.”
It is no mystery to David why the Arts Council provides this subsidy.
“There are a thousand good reasons why they do it. We all know about inspiration, education and quality of life, but £10 billion is spent to visit that £1.5 billion business which is 30% subsidised, which means that when £1 is spent on art and culture, £7 is spent on visiting it. That creates an amazing economic leverage for the economy.”
David drew upon the McKinsey Report Assessing the direct impact of the UK arts sector in his speech. The report refers to a survey conducted by the London School of Economics, asking participants to rank 42 different activities by the relative perceived value they contribute to their lives. Being sick in bed, queuing and commuting are amongst those with a high negative value, whereas looking at art is amongst the most positively valued pursuits. The report found that people in the UK engage with the arts on a massive scale: some 91% of adults had done so at least once during the previous 12 months.
“If a participant in an economy feels happy, he or she is more inclined to spend money,” said David.
The McKinsey Report shows how, beyond its intrinsic value, the UK arts sector has an impact on the economy, on individuals and on communities. It is the sector that, along with technology and green energy, has grown the most over the last 20 years.
“So every government in its right mind should be inclined to invest in creativity.”
The success of the Renoir project, both financially and culturally, shows how investing in art can lead to Guernsey redefining itself as a centre for artistic relevance, which in turn helps tourism.
The non-economic wider benefits are harder to measure, but Art for Guernsey’s community engagement gives the team the opportunity to witness its impact. David gave an example:
“When we engage with students of all ages, we help them to fine-tune their critical thinking, to increase their level of tolerance and to acquire the skills that will help them to think outside the box and be the new generation of workers.”
Art not only encourages social behaviour, but it also stimulates discourse and reflection.
“I actually told the audience that I hadn’t known what ‘discourse’ meant, but when I researched it I found that it means debating on a non-partisan basis. When you visit an art exhibition, it teaches you to know what you like and what you dislike, and it teaches you as a citizen to be fine with that. And I very much hope that helps us to be a less polarised society,” David explained.
David concluded his talk by outlining Art for Guernsey’s continuing Finding Turner project, the long-term goal of curating a Turner exhibition and the ongoing Turner Cultural Enrichment Programme delivered in collaboration with Bailiwick schools.
“I tried to convince the audience that if they donate money to us, sponsor us or team up with us, we can continue to create economic value as well as social, educational, community and country brand value. We are ultimately a charity that doesn’t rely on taxpayers’ money, and we have to document the impact that we create and hope that it will be convincing enough to secure new partnerships. We believe that public authorities should also co-invest with us, allowing us to continue to come up with ambitious projects and to do them well.”
