What kind of a year has 2012 been for you and your organisation?
It’s been great, thanks! It was my final year at Frieze and the most ambitious year by far. Grizedale Arts produced a project which I think will be hard to beat in terms of impact, scale, design and a much needed injection of humour into the fair. I’ll be really proud of working with them on that for a long time. I’ve made a move up north to Glasgow to be Director of Glasgow International Festival of Visual Art and, so far (four weeks in) I’ve been welcomed warmly and I’m enjoying settling in and meeting people who make up the amazing cultural scene up here.
What has changed for the better and what, if anything, has changed for the worse?
My move to Glasgow and a new role is a change for the better. I loved Frieze but I am happy to move away from commissioning work in an art fair. I’m really excited about the scope of the new job. For the worse – nothing really. I have nothing to complain about. I mean, I’m a bit colder up here but that’s nothing thermals won’t fix.
What do you wish hadn’t happened this year?
The Tories planned removal of arts education in secondary schools in England [the proposed EBacc]. It seems that whatever brilliance our cultural sector produces they manage to ignore its importance – as exemplified in their current plans to focus on ’traditional’ subjects. Idiotic. I also wish Mike Kelley hadn’t died.
What do wish had happened this year, but didn’t?
A modest personal windfall.
What would you characterise as your/your organisation’s major achievement this year and why?
Well, GI ran in 2012 under Katrina Brown, and was a successful 18 days including the blockbuster that was Jeremy Deller’s ’Sacrilege’, and major shows by Karla Black and Kelly Nipper. As an organisation, this year’s GI was a huge success.
Is there anything you’d like to have done but haven’t?
I always wish I had time to do more studio visits, reading, exotic traveling, baking and watching good films.
What would make 2013 a better year than 2012?
Difficult to answer as I am in a new post but if Santa could please make all my fundraising applications successful, that’d be great.
The next Glasgow International Festival of Visual Art takes place in 2014. www.glasgowinternational.org
