Just under €900,000 was spent on staff salaries at Science Gallery Dublin last year, The University Times can reveal, as conversations continue around the gallery’s future and the amount of money it costs to run.
Concerns over the number of staff the gallery employs, as well as the impact of the pandemic, have featured in discussions surrounding the gallery’s future, after it was reported last month that the gallery would close due to financial difficulties.
College also owes nearly €450,000 on a loan taken out upon the launch of the gallery in 2008.
Documents presented to College Board yesterday, seen by this newspaper, stressed the high cost of running the gallery – it is “unlike a traditional art gallery”, Board members were told.
The “elaborate and expensive staff structure” includes a team of 14 full-time employees. The cost of maintaining the core staff annually is €897,000.
This does not include commissioning curators, artists, designers and student mediators that are hired to facilitate exhibitions.
Some €180,000 is spent on each exhibition, which covers the cost of materials, as well as transportation, installation and return of artistic exhibits. There is “little change out of €180,000”, the documents said.
In its first few years, the gallery would run three to four exhibitions annually. This has been cut back to just one this year.
Board members were told that the Science Gallery’s activities go beyond its exhibitions in its Pearse St space. It tours some exhibits to other locations in Ireland, promotes science in schools and supports science and arts festivals.
From 2008 to 2017, the gallery received €285,000 each year from Trinity. When it was first opened, a loan of €716,000 was given to the gallery to be repaid “as the Gallery became secure”. To date, €268,000 of the loan has been repaid, with some €448,000 outstanding.
The gallery receives €270,000 per year from the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media. Other funding streams include Science Foundation Ireland (SFI), Google, Pfizer, Bank of Ireland and the US embassy. The gallery’s assets include an office suite at Westland Row and a storage unit in Trinity East.
Every year for its first ten years the gallery broke even.
There was a sharp dip in core income at the onset of the pandemic, going from €1.8 million in 2017/18 to €1.1 million in 2018/19.
In 2017, the gallery recorded a deficit of €167,319. The budget deficit has risen year on year, jumping to €1.65 million in September 2021.
The board was told at yesterday’s meeting that the deficits in the last four financial years were due to a sharp decline in grants and philanthropic income since 2017.
In a press statement, Trinity Media Relations Officer Catherine O’Mahony said that Provost Linda Doyle and other Trinity officials met with officials from the two departments this week to discuss the future of the gallery. These discussions will continue, she said.
“Trinity remains committed to the Science Gallery Network and intends to consult with members on how best to re-imagine Science Gallery Dublin in the future”, O’Mahony added.
Last week, The University Times reported that the future of the Science Gallery is likely to be decided in the next few days, with the possibility of a government bailout on the table to resolve the gallery’s financial issues.
The Business Post reported last month that the gallery was to close in February 2022 due to financial unviability, but a source familiar with the developments told this newspaper that the closure was not yet definite.
