|
BACK  |
|
01.02.2010
CHRISTOPHER MENZ RESIGNS AS DIRECTOR OF THE SOUTH AUSTRALIAN ART GALLERY OVER FUNDING CUTS
Christopher Menz has refused to renew his contract in protest at inadequate State Government funding. Director since 2005, Christopher Menz declined an invitation to renew his five-year contract, stating he had \\\"no wish to preside over its relegation to the status of a provincial gallery\\\".
In a letter to Department of Premier and Cabinet chief executive Chris Eccles, copied to Premier and Arts Minister Mike Rann, Mr Menz said the ability of the Art Gallery to fulfill its role had been \\\"compromised\\\" by funding cuts. \\\"It is impossible to run a dynamic gallery with such modest and dwindling resources,\\\" Mr Menz wrote. \\\"Recent major exhibitions of the kind we have seen in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney are impossible without substantial investments by government. Current storage facilities are frankly inadequate and unsuitable for such a vast and glorious collection.\\\"
The Art Gallery receives an operating grant of $5.7 million a year, about $1 million a year less than its closest counterpart, the Art Gallery of Western Australia. Mr Menz said staff numbers were also well below those of comparable galleries interstate.
Mr Menz said that he did not have another job lined up and would stay on as director until April.
|
|
