NEW REPORT: Councils sitting on $1.12 billion art collection

The Taxpayers' Union has released a new report, The Art of the State: The value of New Zealand’s council art collections, exposing $1.12 billion worth of artwork owned by New Zealand councils, with almost two-thirds hidden from the ratepayers who paid for it.

Taxpayers' Union spokeswoman, Ella Dickson, said:

“Ratepayers have unknowingly become the owners of New Zealand’s largest art collection. The question is whether this billion-dollar asset is delivering a billion dollars’ worth of value back to them.”

“Councils continue to expand their collections while ratepayers face uncapped rates and declining core services. With a collective debt of over $30 billion across all councils, ratepayers are right to ask whether buying more art should be a priority right now.”

“Our report proposes five principles to deliver better value for ratepayers, including making public art public again, treating art like any other council asset, publishing collection registers, using what you own before buying more, and prioritising value for ratepayers.”

“The art may be abstract, but the value must never be. Councils routinely reassess their other assets, and art collections should face the same financial discipline. If an artwork delivers little public or financial value, councils must ask why they are keeping it.”

Key Findings:

— New Zealand councils own 71,686 pieces of art, valued at $1,124,967,604.

— Only 33 percent of council-owned art is on public display.

— Auckland Council and their council-controlled Auckland Art Gallery have the most valuable collection of artworks, comprising almost half the cost of the country’s total collection value at $548,195,283.

— Second and third, also with their own public galleries in tow, are Dunedin ($203,994,534) and Christchurch ($152,588,345).

— Dunedin has the highest valuation per household at $3,764, followed by Whanganui District ($1,912), Christchurch ($919), Auckland ($899), then Whakatāne District ($739).

— The total of the highest-valued artworks from larger councils were refused under the LGOIMA.

— Auckland owns a Salvador Dalí, Dunedin owns a Claude Monet, and Wellington owns a Pablo Picasso; these works will certainly not be cheap.

— Councils report spending a total of $15,357,122 on art-related costs this year. This figure includes staffing and salaries, operations, acquisitions, and maintenance.

— Thirteen councils have 0 percent of their collection on public display. Six councils have 100 percent of their collection on public display. 

— Auckland reports a mere 1.92 percent of its collection is on public display, while Hamilton reports 2.5 percent.

— More than 183 full-time equivalent (FTE) staff are employed in art collection-related roles across local government. Their combined salaries were a minimum of $8,873,517. Over a dozen councils either refused or withheld the salary total of their positions.