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Whakatane Council Has Least Amount of Public Art on Display

Whakatane District Council Has Least Amount of Public Art on Display in Country

19 JANUARY 2017
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Whakatane District Council ratepayers are limited to view only 0.2% of the Council’s art collection, valued at $8,750,174.00, with the Rotorua Lakes District Council not far behind with only 0.7% of its artwork worth $10,713,675.00 on display for the public to enjoy.

Earlier today the Taxpayers’ Union released a briefing paper showing that of the $568,393,020 worth of art owned by councils across New Zealand, only 7% is accessible to the public.

The briefing paper shows that Whakatane District Council displays the smallest proportion of its ratepayer owned collection than any other council in the country. Rotorua Lakes District Council displays the second smallest proportion.

Taxpayers’ Union Executive Director, Jordan Williams, says, “We expected the large councils, such as Auckland, to have a portion of their municipal art collections in storage. We didn’t expect provincial councils to have such valuable art collections stored away from public view."

"We found that many of the most expensive items are in mayoral offices or collecting dust in storage."

“Much of the artwork has been donated or bequeathed to the local authorities so that the public can enjoy it. But that's not happening. In addition, many larger councils designate an amount to be spent each year on new artwork despite only a tiny fraction of their existing collections being accessible to the public.”

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Key findings:

Territorial authority councils (district, city, and unitary) own at least $568,393,020 of artwork, made up from at least 173,269 pieces;

The amount of artwork on public display is only 7%;

Auckland Council has the most valuable collection of artwork, making up almost half of the country’s collection at $276,981,903;

Whakatane District Council owns 102,700 pieces of art, totalling $8,750,147 with only 0.2% available to the public;

Rotorua Lakes District Council owns 1,823 pieces of art, totalling $10,713,675.00 with only 0.7% available to the public;

Western Bay of Plenty District Council owns 6 pieces of art, totalling $43,000.00 with the whole collection available to the public;

Kawerau District Council owns 24 pieces of art, totalling $14,461,431.00 with the whole collection available to the public.

The briefing paper can be found at: www.taxpayers.org.nz/council_art

ENDS


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