The Tate, in an agreement that was not publicly disclosed, has secured £6 million in government funding. The funds will go towards the running of the Tate Modern, the Art Newspaper reports. A spokesman for the Tate Confirmed the government funding, stating that “Last year the government in principle committed to an uplift in grant-in-aid to support the running of the new Tate Modern.”
The promise of extra money for the Tate comes after the Tate’s director, Nicholas Serota, secured an extra £5m some 15 years ago from the then Labour government so that Tate Modern could open without charging for admission. It is thought that the money is likely to go towards the construction of the Tate Modern’s new £215 million ($326 million) Herzong & de Meuron-designed 21,000 sqm extension. The new extension for the Tate is due to open by the end of 2016.
Ed Vaizey, who remains in post in the new Conservative Government as the minister for the arts since 2010 in the then coalition government, told the Art Newspaper about the extra funds for the Tate on the eve of the election. A spokeswoman for the Tate confirms: “Late last year the government in principle committed to an uplift in grant-in-aid to support the running of the new Tate Modern.”
The new £6 million funding represents a 17% increase in Tate’s 2012-13 grant. A spokesman for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) declined to give detailed comment other than “budgets will be set out by the Chancellor at the next spending review”.
According to the Tate’s recently published financial overview for the 2013/2014 fiscal year, the institution was reportedly expecting a 5 percent cut in public funding. In light of sustained arts funding cuts since 2010, this success is being lauded as a major coup for Tate director Nicholas Serota and outgoing Tate Modern director Chris Dercon.
Serota’s fundraising record will help restore the embattled director’s reputation following his failure to retain Chris Dercon, and Penelope Curtis’s resignation from Tate Britain.