$1.1 billion of art owned by ratepayers

The Post reports:

Colin McCahon, Goldie, Don Binney: Impoverished councils around New Zealand are sitting on a $1.1 billion art goldmine, much of it unseen by public eyes.

I’m not against there being local art galleries and the like. Art is an important part of our culture. But I was staggered that the total value of art owned by councils is over $1 billion. I assumed it would be say $100 million at most.

Also the vast majority of the art is not available to the public. In Auckland the art gallery can only display 2.4% of its collection at a time.

It is worth remembering this when Councils claim they need massive rates increases to fund critical infrastructure.