Background
GOMA is a gallery of modern art in Waterford city. Established in its current form in 2016, the gallery is an artist-led space for the benefit of artists, in particular artists recently graduated or embarking on their artistic careers. A core mission of GOMA is to foster within society an awareness, understanding and involvement in visual arts through policies and programmes which are innovative and inclusive. It provides high quality experiences for the public to engage with the arts through workshops, exhibitions and events.
Having established itself as a fixture of the cultural landscape of Waterford, GOMA required an innovative approach in order to raise its profile as a dynamic and inclusive space for art in the south east region and nationally. It recruited RIKON to work collaboratively with the gallery director, the board, Waterford City and County council and other stakeholders to develop a strategic plan that would allow it to continue its growth in a financially viable manner.
Challenge
In order to achieve its ambitions of taking the gallery to a new level of operation and reputation, GOMA had to address the challenges of its existing model. The physical housing of the enterprise would need to be enhanced, there was need of a sustainable staffing profile to ensure the brand was developed in line with strategy. There was also a recognised need for stronger collaboration with regional partners to grow awareness for art in the region and ensure outreach programmes deliver benefit to all sectors in the community. The challenge was to identify which elements of the business model required most focus while continuing to deliver on its core vision to its artists and the community.
Solution
RIKON worked with all stakeholders through online workshops over a sustained period of time to distil the core values, vision and mission of the gallery before embarking on a strategy framework that would ultimately deliver a five year strategic development plan for the gallery.
This strategic development plan consisted of a number of pillar objectives. Each objective was carefully crafted to set realistic goals that could be implemented and monitored to ensure the gallery was achieving the correct balance of organisational structure, people, process and technology to achieve its stated ambitions, on a financial and societal basis. The resulting strategic development plan will act as a valuable blueprint for all stakeholders to drive development of the gallery into the future.
Testimonial: The team at RIKON provided invaluable assistance navigating through this process. Their patience and professionalism while bringing the project to completion was much appreciated.