To begin 2026 the Mann Art Gallery announced it will adjust its public opening hours.
Starting Jan. 1, the Mann Art Gallery will be closed Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. It will open Thursday (10 a.m. to 5 p.m.), Friday (10 a.m. to 5 p.m.), and Saturday (noon to 5 p.m.) before closing on Sunday.
This change is part of a broader effort to ensure the Gallery can continue delivering high-quality exhibitions, educational programs, and community experiences sustainably and responsibly.
Carolyn Carleton, the Administrative Director of the Mann Art Gallery, said the changes were mostly based on financial constraints on the gallery.
“There’s only so much we can do,” Carleton said. “Our gallery offers so many different opportunities between exhibitions and education, but then we also have a collection we need to maintain and everything else.
“We just weren’t able to do all the things and still have the doors open to the public in that many hours.”
In a press release, the gallery said it is navigating rising operational costs and ongoing financial pressures faced by many charitable arts organizations. However, administrators said the gallery still remains firmly committed to its core mandate.
Carleton said exhibitions, education programs, stewardship of the Permanent Collection, and community engagement will continue to be central to its work.
“This gives us focused time to work on different areas within the gallery,” she explained. “Even though it’s closed to the public there will be people still in the gallery doing the work that needs to be done behind the scenes that we can focus on.
“It’s dedicated focused time that is really going to be beneficial to the gallery.”
Public programs and guided tours will be offered on a limited weekday schedule, with many programs taking place during regular open hours. The Gallery is also exploring the possibility of extended hours on Thursdays and will share updates as plans are confirmed. “We keep really good statistics,” Carleton said. “Anytime anybody walks in the door we keep track of what days they’re walking and even what time of the day people are visiting.”
The statistics along with work done on the Gallery’s Strategic Plan helped guide the decision.
“We keep all these stats that we evaluated through our strategic plan that we just completed and it really showed what would be the best days for the gallery to be open, what people are looking at. We have a lot of visitors that come through, so definitely Fridays and Saturdays are busy for us,” Carleton said.
Interim Artistic Director Jesse Campell said the gallery requires a significant amount of administration work, and that’s something the public typically doesn’t know about.
This work goes into conducting all their programs including education, outreach, exhibitions and maintaining the permanent collection.
“We, in the last couple of years, have tried to make efficiencies in every area of our operation so that we don’t have to reduce our programming and opening hours,” Campbell said. “But, we’ve just come to a place where we have to make our budget balance every year so hence the reduced open hours.
“Basically, programming related to exhibitions and education will be condensed into those three open days, Thursday, Fridays, Saturdays. That’s how it will change for that public engagement component.” In parallel with these operational adjustments, the Mann Art Gallery is also strengthening their focus on sponsorship and fundraising initiatives to support long-term financial stability.
In the coming months, the Gallery will be seeking support from individuals, businesses, and community partners through event sponsorships, targeted fundraising campaigns, and enhanced donor engagement.
These initiatives will directly support exhibitions, education programming, collections care and day-to-day operations.
“We’re definitely seeing more engagement with that way, and that’s something that we want to build on as a gallery as well,” Carleton said. “It may take time to evolve into adding more hours or staff or whatever is needed. We’ll just keep evaluating that process as the time goes on.
“As a charitable organization, we rely on a combination of public funding, earned revenue, and the generosity of our supporters,” Carleton explained in the release. “Community support is essential to sustaining the Gallery as a vibrant cultural resource for Prince Albert and the surrounding region.”
The Mann Art Gallery thanked its members, sponsors, donors, partners, volunteers, and the broader community for their continued support.
“We really value our relationships with the community, with our members, staff, volunteers, and we look forward to serving them in this new way,” Campbell said.
They said in the release that by adapting thoughtfully and working collaboratively with supporters, the Gallery is taking important steps to ensure a sustainable future for the arts in Prince Albert.
For more information about visiting hours, programs, or ways to support the Mann Art Gallery, please visit the Gallery’s website or follow its official communication channels for updates.
michael.oleksyn@paherald.sk.ca
