An open letter signed by over 100 of Scotland’s leading artists has called for a major rethink at Creative Scotland, the country’s arts funding body.
The letter, addressed to the organisation’s Chair, Sir Sandy Crombie, expresses its ‘dismay at the ongoing crisis in Creative Scotland’, stating that ‘Routinely, we see ill-conceived decision-making; unclear language, lack of empathy and regard for Scottish culture.’
The signatories include Turner Prize-winning artists Martin Boyce, Richard Wright and Douglas Gordon, alongside Luke Fowler, Nathan Coley, Ross Sinclair, David Shrigley, Karla Black and Roddy Buchanan. Many more representatives of Scotland’s visual arts community, including former director of Glasgow International Festival of Visual Art, Katrina Brown, and director of Glasgow’s Centre for Contemporary Arts, Francis McKee, have put their names to the letter.
The letter goes on to say: ‘We observe an organisation with a confused and intrusive management style married to a corporate ethos that seems designed to set artist against artist and company against company in the search for resources.’
Among its seven ‘demands’ are that Creative Scotland ends ‘the use of business-speak and obfuscating jargon in official communication’ and that it revisits ‘policies with an eye to social and cultural as well as commercial values’.
Sir Sandy has responded with his own open letter, which is posted on the Creative Scotland website, where you can also view in full the original letter. In it, he defends the organisation’s two-year record while stating that the issues raised will be treated seriously. He also offers to meet with any of the signatories to discuss the points further.
In closing, Sir Sandy states that: ‘At current rates of expenditure one thousand million pounds will pass through Creative Scotland in the course of a twelve-year period to be used in support of arts and cultural activity. They who provide the money have a right to ask what will result from that investment.
‘The return does not rest solely in economic or commercial benefits, important though those are. It can come through social, cultural and reputational gains and of course through artistic excellence.
‘We at Creative Scotland are absolutely committed to playing our part in producing those gains, but realise we can achieve nothing without the active participation of artists and companies working across the whole spectrum of arts and cultural activity.’
Last month, Creative Scotland Chief Executive Andrew Dixon gave evidence to MSPs on the Scottish Parliament’s Education and Culture Committee. Commenting at the time in response to criticisms of the organisation’s communication skills, he said: “I’m absolutely committed to transparency and I admit that we’re not getting it right.”
