Creative Scotland 09 launches online Perspectives

Perspectives is the place where the challenges facing the new organisation Creative Scotland can be discussed, contrasted and compared.  Perspectives will present and debate provocative ideas about realising Scotland’s cultural potential.

Ewan Brown, Chairman of Creative Scotland 09 Ltd today (Monday, 5 October 2009) launched this major new online forum for the arts, culture and creative industries at an event at Perth’s Horsecross concert hall.  During Creative Scotland’s quarterly update with Scotland’s creative community Ewan Brown announced that the position of Chief Executive of the new body would be advertised shortly. He also gave the invited audience an overview of the emerging organisation and the principles which were shaping its design.

Ewan Brown, Chairman, Creative Scotland 09 Ltd, said:

‘Creative Scotland will invest directly in Scotland’s talent and promises to be as imaginative as the sectors it will serve. We want to hear about the creative community’s ambitions, their aspirations and their suggestions for how we can meet the challenges, like sustainability, that we must address. Perspectives is the place to share your opinions with your creative peers and with anyone who believes, as I do, in the incredible but largely untapped potential of the Scottish people.  We will not shy away from the difficult issues or from the uncomfortable solutions. We really want to hear what you’ve got to say – Creative Scotland will listen.’

‘Today I’m also delighted to announce that we will shortly be advertising the post of Chief Executive of the new company. We are looking for a strategic leader with real vision, someone who has the ability and the credibility to deliver an outstanding performance in an artistic and creative environment.’

Minister for Culture Michael Russell added:

'I am pleased that Ewan Brown has been able to announce today the position of Chief Executive of Creative Scotland will be advertised shortly.  This represents significant progress as we move towards the establishment of the body in the first half of next year.  Ewan and his board will now move ahead with their search to attract a talented and inspiring leader who will guide the new organisation in its early life.  I have said often that Creative Scotland will be a national development body with a truly international outlook - I believe its leader must not only share but nurture this vision.'

'Today also marks the launch of online discussion forum - Perspectives - where I expect to see a range of opinions and suggestions on the future of the organisation and how it can best support the sector.'

'It's great to see the progress Creative Scotland 2009 Ltd has made in outlining the broad structure of the organisation. This will be a radical and innovative organisation with a keen priority on employee expertise and joint working across sectors.  I am pleased to see that this extraordinary opportunity to build Creative Scotland into a strategic champion for the arts and culture in Scotland is being realised.'

Four provocative essays commissioned from the international creative community will launch discussion themes for Perspectives on encouraging the creative practitioner, making their work accessible, promoting wider participation and raising the profile of Scotland’s culture globally.

Hans Abbing, visual artist and professor emeritus in art sociology at the University of Amsterdam, uses the first essay to respond to the question: How to encourage and sustain professional artists?

An extract from Hans’ essay:

‘The moment more money flows into the arts - whether from more demand (including more public commissions) or support (including subsidies and donations) - the number of artists tends to grow and so does the number of poor artists. In the case of support this is problematic: support leads to more artists being poor while hardly increasing the amount of art that reaches the public.’

Each theme will run consecutively and is designed to stimulate lively discussions, hot topics and future conversations.

At the event journalist and commentator Ruth Wishart chaired three discussions, led by questions from the audience, around three important topics for Creative Scotland:

1. Partnership working: partnership working will be an essential component of Creative Scotland’s work.  How should Creative Scotland work with other organisations including Local Authorities / libraries / educational institutions?
2. Access and participation: how should Creative Scotland seek to improve access and participation in arts and culture? 
3. International Value and Benefits: how should Creative Scotland develop its role in realising the international value and benefits of the arts and culture?

The Perspectives forum and registration page can be found here:
www.perspectives.creativescotland.org.uk

Subject to the passage of legislation, Creative Scotland will be established in the first half of 2010.

Notes to editors

1. Interviews: to arrange interviews with Ewan Brown at Horsecross on Monday 5 October, please contact michelle.jordan@scottisharts.org.uk or telephone 0777 085 1860. 
2. Creative Scotland the statutory NDPB is expected to be formally established in 2010 and will:

• encourage and sustain artists and creators of all kinds 
• ensure that their work is accessible to all 
• ensure that as many people as possible can participate in creative activities; and, 
• extend and increase the wider benefits of arts and culture, including their contribution to the promotion and development of our unique national culture and its wider place in the international sphere.

3. The arrangements for establishing Creative Scotland as a statutory NDPB are undergoing further Parliamentary scrutiny through the Public Services Reform (Scotland) Bill (published May 29, 2009). 
   
   Hans Abbing is a visual artist and economist. He is professor emeritus in art sociology at the University of Amsterdam. He wrote: Why are artists Poor. The Exceptional Economy of the Arts. Amsterdam, Amsterdam University Press, 2002 (Fourth Printing 2008).
4. Future Perspectives contributors include:

• 19 October - Alice Taylor, Commissioning Editor, Education, Channel 4 Television will write about accessibility.
  Alice Taylor has over 13 years of experience working on internet-native projects. In September ‘07 she took up the role of Commissioning Editor, Education at Channel 4, aiming to deliver cross-platform content for UK audiences aged 14-19. Previously to Channel 4 she was Vice President, Digital Media for BBC Worldwide, Los Angeles. 
• 2 November – Diane Ragsdale on participation. Diane is the associate programme officer for the performing arts program at The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, in New York, United States. Prior to this post she worked as an arts practitioner (as an artist and administrator) for more than 15 years. She is a frequent speaker and writer on issues in the arts and her most recent article, “Recreating Fine Arts Institutions,” was published in the fall 2009 issue of the Stanford Social Innovation Review. Her viewpoints are personal and should not be taken to be the viewpoints of the Foundation. 
• 16 November - Git Scheynius on an international theme. Git is Director of the Stolkholm International Film Festival.

Contact email(s)

media.office@scottisharts.org.uk

Issued by: Scottish Arts Council