Arbuthnot House Temporary Exhibitions & Events Survey
The survey on exhibitions and events sought to determine what people would like to see at the new venue and what price-point they would be willing to pay for these events and activities. It outlined the different spaces that might be available to hire and asked about the different bookings people might make, for business or social events. There were 57 responses to the survey.
When people were asked what kind of events they would like to see in the new venue, the top three responses were: music events 30%; meet and greets (for example with authors or artists) 52%; and museum late-night openings with special activities 43%.
Respondents were asked what they would be prepared to pay for events and activities if they included materials or offered exclusive access. 54% said they would be willing to pay £5 or £10 for such activities, with 29% saying £2 or £3, and 25% willing to pay up to £20.
The survey asked what respondents might consider hiring spaces at the new venue for. 55% said private parties, 43% said community group meetings and AGM’s, and 32% said weddings.
When asked to rank topics for temporary exhibitions, the result was as follows, with 1 being the most popular and 8 the least: 1 Archaeology and history; 2 Science and nature; 3 Noteworthy Individuals; 4 Photography; 5 Art & Sculpture (traditional / old masters); 6 Costume; 7 Movie and media related displays; 8 Contemporary Art & Sculpture
When they were asked what they might be willing to pay to visit these temporary exhibitions, 49% said £5-10, 33% said £5, and 14% said £10-15.
If discounts were to be offered, most respondents wanted to see these prioritised as follows: Aberdeenshire residents 73%; Family / group discounts 56%; Senior Citizens 50%; Students / Young people 38%; LLA membership 34%; Low Income 30%; Annual pass 27%; Friends’ organisation pass 10%.
Comments received included: requests to loan back important objects that are in other museums’ collections, with the Book of Deer being mentioned multiple times; securing blockbuster touring exhibitions with natural history being a favourite theme; and creating temporary exhibitions covering various aspects of Aberdeenshire history and heritage.
We asked, You said, We will
A community gallery within the new venue will allow for regular changing exhibitions either of material from within the council collections or material that is co-curated with local communities. A touring exhibition gallery will allow larger ‘blockbuster’ style exhibitions to be programmed and, when not in use for exhibitions, the space will be utilised for events and available for hire. Planning for the touring / temporary exhibitions schedule will take account of the themes requested through the engagement process and pricing (along with discount options) will reflect the information received. Discussions are commencing with other museums to borrow items for display and while specific pieces cannot be guaranteed, the loan requests will reflect a broad range of material types and geographic areas across the shire.
