Christchurch Art Gallery staffing changes

The long-term closure of the Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetu has meant 17 staff – most of whom are part-time – have had their positions disestablished.

A review of the organisational and staffing requirements was held when it became clear the Gallery will not re-open until some time in 2013 due to the extensive and complex repairs it needs following the recent earthquakes.

Gallery Director Jenny Harper says staff have shown great resilience and adaptability following the earthquakes and it had been a difficult period while the review was carried out. Council staff have worked closely with affected staff to look for other opportunities for redeployment.

“It is always regrettable when an organisation has to downsize but it is necessary because of the longer-term earthquake-related closure of the Gallery.”

Areas particularly affected by the Gallery’s closure include visitor services and the gallery shop which, although it remains open, has had significantly reduced patronage. Nine part-time visitor services staff and five part-time retail assistant roles have been disestablished (one is currently vacant), although the retail assistants will be invited to apply for two remaining part-time retail assistant positions.

Other roles to be disestablished are the Development Manager and three conservation positions (painting, works on paper and frame conservation). There are no after-hours events being held in the Gallery at present and the collections are currently in lockdown storage, with no access to conservation laboratories over the forthcoming period of repairs.

As part of the review, a 12-month fixed term part-time Public Programmes and Education Support position has been established with 2.5 new conservation positions, more closely aligned to the Gallery’s needs being created and advertised prior to the Gallery re-opening.

To date, staff unable to carry out their usual jobs have been working on a series of projects, including enhancing collection information and making it available on the website and progressively dealing with copyright clearance and the digitising of archives and records. Many of these projects are nearly completed and a decision had to be made about staffing levels and what changes were needed while the building repairs proceed.

Remaining staff will continue working on the Gallery’s Outer Spaces projects and public programmes to bring art and art-related programmes to the people of Christchurch and further afield. Education programmes will continue to be delivered directly to schools.