The stuff of running a gallery…

As all those who have been involved in  getting The Crocus Gallery project this far will know, there is more to it than just turning up at a show and saying how marvellous it all is. It has taken a lot of commitment and hard work by a mixed bunch of volunteers (or should I say 'activists'). There is a difference. I regard myself as one of the latter and would say that a good few of those involved are activists rather than volunteers — they have got involved because they want to change things. Others come and help at the Gallery and enjoy it for what it is, they volunteer. The Crocus Gallery needs both.

This blog has documented the graft a good few times and published pics as well. Now, it could get boring for some of you. I am about to talk numbers — visitor numbers and what they tell us about the first five weeks The Crocus Gallery has been open. So, here they are. Feast your eyes!

The good news is that over 500 visitors came along and saw our opening exhibition over its five week run. Saturday and Tuesday each achieved an average of nearly 21 visitors per day. Just 12 visitors have come along on Thursdays. The figures also tell us that visitor numbers drop dramatically after 4pm — which is why Fiona, Alyn and Robert made the decision to change the opening hours. We are now open 11am–4pm. The Crocus Café usually closes about 4pm and this, we suspect is reflected in our visitor numbers after this time. However, the Café appears to have a brisk mid-morning trade and by opening an hour earlier, we hope to catch some of these customers into Gallery visitors.

We shall see when we do our next statistical analysis (which will be after the summer exhibition ends in late-August). The other thing we need to remember is that the students have gone home for the summer break and that is bound to have an impact on the number of people who visit the Gallery.

I can hear the yawns. Yawn yawn. As I say in the blog heading, this is the stuff of running a gallery. By the way, if any marketing guru or whizz-kid reads this and feels like becoming The Crocus Gallery 'Media Champion' please contact the Dunkirk and Lenton Partnership Forum office (see right-hand sidebar for contact details). We need you now.