Free admission leads to rise in gallery visitors

VISITORS to the Art Gallery of Ballarat have more than doubled since entry became free four months ago.Following the launch of Free Art For All in late August, almost 30,000 people have walked through the gallery's doors.Over the same four-month period last year, 14,200 people visited the Lydiard St gallery.Director of marketing and business development for the City of Ballarat, George Sossi said the figures equated to an impressive 109 per cent jump in patronage."It's really gone gangbusters," he said."We hoped for between 50 and 70 per cent, which we obviously exceeded. Our (gallery) shop sales are also up 16 per cent which, in the current retail environment, is very good.""We've introduced more people to the gallery and it's more than compensating for the previous entry fee," he said."People have been coming in and saying, `this is the first time I've been and it's fantastic'."Some people really hadn't realised what they were missing out on."The gallery's first paid exhibition, The Naked and The Nude, attracted 4500 visitors between September 13 and December 7 this month.Mr Sossi said he expected an even bigger crowd at the gallery's next paid exhibition, John Lennon - Imagine!, in February next year.The gallery has scored the exclusive Australian rights to the exhibition, which will be on loan from London's Proud Galleries.It will feature never-before-seen photographs of The Beatles' legend.