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Lochaber Arts Conference Arts at the Heart of the Community Nevis Centre, Fort William Saturday 8th March 2003 Conference Chairs: Helen Dewar (Member of Lochaber Area Arts Strategy Action Group and member of Fort William Community Council, and Fiona Campbell (Voluntary Arts Scotland) NB: with the exception of the Keynote Speech, which is presented in full, this report has been compiled from notes taken during the conference. Apologies are therefore made for any errors or misrepresentations which have slipped in while expanding those notes.

Welcome Cllr Neil Clark, Vice Convenor and Chair of Housing, Vice Chair of the Education.

Culture and Sport Committee, Member and portfolio holder of housing and social work; policy, Highland Council, Lochaber area.

Cllr Clark welcomed delegates, noting that the numbers attending demonstrated the importance which people attached to the arts. The past year had seen exciting developments in Lochaber, including the recent Mountain Film Festival, the opening of the new Ardnamurchan High School in Strontian, the success and expansion of the Room 13 programme, and the new Scottish Arts Council-funded SIP Public Art scheme. These all related to the theme of the conference: ‘Arts at the Heart of the Community’.

David Stewart, MP Mr Stewart welcomed this initiative to showcase the arts in Lochaber, and he believed its influence would be felt well beyond Lochaber. He quoted Dr James Hunter, that 1500 years ago the Highlands were the European Capital of Culture, and could be again. The Scottish Executive was committed to the presentation of a Year of Highland Culture throughout Scotland. He cited the international recognition of Room 13, in winning the Barbie Prize, and proposed that there should be a Highland equivalent of the Angel of the North. Governments and Council need to do more for the arts, one recent example being the Scotland-wide New Deal for unemployed musicians.

Lochaber Youth Theatre: the Pardoner’s Tale a modern interpretation of the story from Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales.

Keynote Speech

Graham Berry, Director, Scottish Arts Council First of all let me say how pleased I am to have been invited to address this conference. I am sure you have a packed agenda and I hope to put some of your deliberations in the context of what SAC does to support communities through the arts.

It has a beauty which inspires people across the world, it provides huge enjoyment, it cuts crime rates, improves health, improves educational attainment, raises confidence, provides economic benefit, acts as a communication tool, allows us to interpret our world, it defines our nation, it is not a means to an end it is an end in itself, it is our national income the wealth of nations.

What is this wonder product ?

Art It is maybe because it can be all of these things that many people are so afraid of it.

We argue over it. Over what is good and what is bad, over what is for people in general or for those on higher incomes and those with higher educational attainment.

We still have arguments about elitism, we still have the ‘it’s not for me’ argument.

Whistling as you go down the street or going to the opera. It is all art.

Over the past year or so since being appointed as Director of the SAC, I have spent quite a bit of my time making a plea for increased funding for the arts. This argument is like the arts, a never ending one and one in which I believe that all arts organisations and individuals interested in the arts ought to be engaged.

One of the crucial points I have used in my arguments is that the arts define who we are. They define our identity and position us within an increasingly global context.

What could be more important to a small country than its identity and what more effective way is there than to invest in the arts to strengthen that?

In a time of looming serious conflict, the position of nations in Europe, increasingly being described up until now as simply the EU, has become again a grouping of individual states with separate positions. Scotland is increasingly marginalised in this debate. And it is no accident that we see in the past week a group of influential academics seeking more control over Scottish economic affairs. The arts I believe can help to create an identity which in turn will lead to our voice being heard on the international stage.

So what about the word ‘Community’? A former prime minister famously pronounced that there was no such thing as ‘Society’. Is there such a thing as community?

Donald Dewar, however, Scotland’s first first minister; said “It is through engagement with culture in its widest sense that people are enabled and communities strengthened” If so what is community and how does it relate to the arts? Traditionally we might regard community as something which arises from and develops around the institutions which people create. Work, school and so on. It is something which binds people together and promotes a shared identity. This could result in an inward looking narrow focus which one sees evidence of across the world. But the unique contribution of the arts is to both create individual communities and to create links with others.

The power of art is its ability to communicate, challenge and interpret the world which we live in. Art is the international language.

Communities can be large or small, a village, a district, a large city, or indeed a specific group of people defined by a specific interest, by language or ethnic origin.

The arts can both define these communities and create bridges of understanding between them.

How do the arts make this unique contribution?

It is the one thread that provides a constant as it weaves around and through our lives. Communities are traditionally brought together for the various rites of passage.

Births, deaths, marriages as well as celebrations to mark changing seasons and major events. At each of these we involve the arts without any intervention from arts

councils or the likes. And even those who believe that the arts are elitist or unapproachable suddenly become involved in arts. In the past people would stick to traditional choices of music to accompany the rites which I mentioned. But more and more people are making their own individual choices. Personal tastes in music, poetry and song are being heard at celebrations in each community.

I never like funerals but the most recent one I went to in Edinburgh the bereaved provided a trio to play Scarlatti and finished off with taped recordings of Duke Ellington. I believe there is a growing confidence in communities that everyone’s interest is valid and acceptable. It is not clear that this acceptance is mirrored in the attitude of politicians and press.

I think the press is miles behind public opinion in this regard. When we read in the papers ‘the public’ opinion on the arts, what we are really hearing is the press opinion. Politicians also underestimate the interest of the public in the arts, claiming that there are few votes in the arts. We have to work to change that perception by involving them in activities as much as possible.

It is a key job of the Arts Council to change attitudes of those in powerful positions.

Conferences such as this are crucial to getting the message across.

We looked at the components of community. How do the arts link with all of these?

Work is clearly an area where the arts make a considerable contribution. The arts employ directly a significant number of people and the indirect economic benefit deriving form that is substantial. The crafts area is one which is probably of particular relevance to rural communities. Our own publication: “Crafts Businesses in Scotland” published last year, states: “Many (craft enterprises), are based in rural and remote areas where they are contributors to tourism, the local economy and the fabric of the community in general”.

There are some 3,000 crafts business in Scotland with a turnover estimated to be between £95 million and £151 million a year. A significant contribution.

In the publication “Changing Rural Lives” published by SAC in 1995, there is reference to a Highlands and Islands Enterprise report which identifies the links between arts and tourism and the impact on the local economy. The report estimates that arts related tourism in Scotland was worth £40 million a year. That figure is considerably out of date and the actual figure is very much higher than that. Even taking the obvious organisations which we support which have a direct relevance to tourism from St Magnus Festival in Orkney, via the Feisean and Pitlochry Festival Theatre to the Edinburgh Festivals we can see the huge impact which the arts make.

These and the many other core funded organisations which we support form a chain of arts activity which serves to strengthen communities throughout Scotland. There arenow over a hundred of these bodies throughout the country. This includes touring companies and others which undertake an element of touring or outreach in delivering their work. Such as the drama project at Eden Court and the grant we give to Highland Producers in partnership with HI~Arts to grow performing companies in the Highlands and Islands. The support we give to HI~Arts itself we see as being a very important contribution to development of communities through the arts. HI~Arts

give amongst other things marketing and audience development support for the region.

Voluntary work is of course a mainstay of many communities and none more so than in the arts. The bulk of our resource does and will continue to go towards professional organisations but we do support voluntary arts activity both directly through the Awards for All Scheme and also indirectly through the Voluntary Arts Network.

We also fund a very wide range of activities through a variety of funding programmes. Some of these activities are supported by Lottery Funds and others by the Scottish Executive Grant which we receive.

Some examples:

Education This is valued as a vital context for arts development, our commitment in this area is expressed through a strong programme of advocacy and networking as well as pilot projects.

Culture and Creativity sit well with the concept of Citizenship and the role of schools as a creative centre of the community is beginning to be recognised.

Our recent publication ‘Culture Creativity and Citizenship’ underlines the fact that “All kinds of societies and forms of civil discourse and practice are ultimately determined by cultural factors.”

Our education programmes embrace lifelong learning as a concept and a current priority is developing new arts programmes with older people. We have established links posts with local authority education departments and are administering the cultural co coordinators programme. We have recently been awarded additional funds to manage a programme of music tuition in schools across the country.

Capital We have had great success I believe in allocating our Lottery Capital Programme fund. Although the bulk of the publicity on grants from these funds emphasises the major building grants we have in fact allocated a huge proportion of our funds towards small projects. One of the very first lottery capital grants ever given was to Lochbroom FM radio station. More recently we funded a £399,000 grant for equipment in the community schools to support a network of mid scale performance venues in Ardnamurchan, Glenurquhart and Fortrose. The catchment area for one school is about 540 square miles serving a population of just over 2,000 people. A great many grants are made to communities through local bands to allow them to purchase instruments. This has allowed older instruments to be passed on for teaching purposes thus spreading the benefit of the grant.

Audience Development Developing audiences is a key way of ensuring that all communities can be involved in the arts if they wish. We need to know more about audiences for the arts. One of the ways in which we can persuade politicians to allocate more funds for support of the arts is to ensure that we have as much information as possible about who attends arts events and what would allow them to participate to an even greater extent. We intend to undertake more research in this important area.

Area Development We have in the arts council a small team of people who try to ensure that the range of activities we support is as far as is possible available across the country. We encourage and work with local authorities and other agencies to consult effectively to provide clear arts strategies and we use these strategies to inform us on local priorities.

In summary our aim is to create an environment where creativity can flourish and where the distinctiveness of local communities can be celebrated.

We support access to arts of the highest quality And we support a wide range of groups in communities across the country.

We work with a range of partner organisations to achieve these and our general corporate objectives.

Only through these funding and development initiatives can we underline the importance to decision makers that the arts provide huge enjoyment and are a crucial element of creating citizenship and identity in every community.

Fergus Ewing, MSP Noted that this had been an important week for Scotland with the first steps taken to ensure secure status for Gaelic. All parties in the Parliament recognise the importance of showing that they can work together for the good of Scotland. We underestimate Scotland’s achievements in the arts—we have a lot to offer the world, and the Highlands is an area that is perhaps uniquely recognised worldwide.

Soapbox: What is your vision for the arts in Lochaber?

Anne Martin, Promoter, Arisaig Hall In promoting the arts in a village hall, there is lots of help available, from the Council arts officers, from Voluntary Arts Scotland, from other promoters. There is funding available from various sources, and she doesn’t object to the processes of making applications, and monitoring how the funding is used. But she would like more security, more long-term support. People nowadays expect to be entertained easily, as part of a global culture, but they also need chances to do it themselves, to participate in the arts. But arts in the community will always need support. Timing affects the year’s programme: promoters need to be able to take risks, and book different performers, but the uncertainty of funding, year on year, means that commitments can’t be made to companies. By Easter, the promoter just has to take the chance that the money will be there! Events are needed to help to put Arisaig on the map, especially as it is about to be by-passed! They are important to the local economy. So her plea is: take away a lot of the uncertainty of a voluntary promoter’s life.

Ilona Munro, Youth Drama Worker, and Neil Fox, Higher Drama pupil Ilona explained the role of Eden Court Theatre’s Outreach programme—a great organisation to work with, offering a range of activity to children. But Neil (at this point in a mask) represented ‘Mr Random Young Person’, worried about the future of youth drama in Lochaber. All Eden Court’s outreach work suffers from the problem of short term funding, and the current Lochaber project ends in August.

Neil then introduced himself (without mask), as being 17 and from Strontian. Two years ago he found Lochaber Youth theatre—in a small wooden shed—and despite the poor facilities they produced a play which toured the area. More recently they presented a play on sexual health which was taken to Inverness High School. Neil’s

biggest opportunity has been doing Higher Drama at Eden Court—the only student from Lochaber—at weekends and during holidays. Cost here is a big issue, with travel and accommodation to cover. He has applied to drama courses, and is currently taking singing and dancing lessons for his auditions. He couldn’t have had all these opportunities without the existing funding. Drama boosts confidence. What will happen to the next generation?

Keith Stephen, FWarts One of seven artists who got together four or five years ago to look for studio space.

The plans for the BT building fell through, after much effort, at the last moment, and for reasons that were unclear. Some then got involved in the plans for the Old High School, to keep the momentum going. For a while they had the use of a Portakabin, which eventually fell apart! It’s hard for an artist to work at home, given the lack of space. There are others like him who leave the area for their education and then can’t come back because of the lack of facilities. They do see places lying empty: why can’t they be made available?

Mairi MacLean, Lochaber Music School Mairi’s presentation was prefaced by one of the LMS students playing a Bach cello solo.

That was an example of the talent being nurtured at LMS—Duncan is now at St Mary’s, a specialist music school in Edinburgh. He’s not the first LMS student to go there, others are now working in orchestras, one even plays in a rock band. She then outlined the history of how LMS was started, and how it has expanded. She referred to the situation ‘before’ and ‘after’ LMS—returning to the ‘before’ is not an option.

String instruments are also important for the Gaelic arts. Fort William makes a good centre for basing tuition: professionals can be brought up from the Central Belt, students can come from remote parts. But in 18 years LMS has never been able to attract core funding, and at present does not have enough funding to run weekly classes in the next term.

Graham Berry, asked to explain the Scottish Arts Council’s position, explained that the SAC was on ‘standstill’ funding for three years. He knows that everywhere excellent talent and initiatives are being starved of funds, and those voices must be heard in making the case for more Government funding for the arts. The bulk of SAC ‘voted’ (ie Government, not Lottery) funds goes to 100 core organisations which are fundamental to arts provision in Scotland. The SAC needs greater funds to have more flexibility in what it funds. Lottery funds cannot be used for core funding, and in any event have diminished rapidly from a peak of £33 million to just £20 million per annum. The existence of those Lottery funds, however, has stimulated demand, which the Government funding cannot match.

The Lochaber Arts Strategy Roxana Meechan, formerly job-share Arts Officer in Lochaber, now Arts Officer in Sutherland Highland Council officers saw the need for an arts strategy for the Lochaber area, and took advice from a range of experts, and from the community. They then identified and invited ‘key players’ to found the Lochaber Area Arts Strategy Action Group, working informally and through one-to-one contacts. This Group formed a think tank to set the agenda for the new strategy. Many involved were wearing several hats: community/private sector/children/special needs/promoters, etc—a

‘quality circle’ of those involved in and committed to the arts. In Roxana’s view, arts development is about the rights, and responsibilities, of the ‘citizen’.

Helen Semple, job-share Arts Officer for the Lochaber Area The Strategy is now available in two formats: the full document, and a two page summary. It has a community focus. It details specific projects which can be achieved by working together. She then listed the key aims.

Why have a strategy? To make the case for the arts, to demonstrate how people can work together, to recognise the work of volunteers, to show that groups are not isolated but are part of a bigger whole. The Strategy sets goals, and will be subject to an annual review process.

Ingrid Henderson, Musician, Feis Development Worker, and Chair of LAASAG Ingrid, born and brought up in Lochaber, is passionate about the arts. She feels lucky that this is an area which is culturally very rich. She’s amazed at what she’s seen in outing the strategy together. Words like ‘strategy’ don’t sit well with the arts, but this one says what’s out there, is a result of consultation, makes a commitment, and gives a focus.

Questions and comments from the Floor David Wilson congratulated those who had helped to produce the strategy.

Alastair Grant (retired Gaelic teacher): Lochaber needs a half decent venue for smaller events and groups. It also needs a decent piano. How much does Lochaber Enterprise put into the arts?

Helen Semple: the Council is applying to the Scottish Arts Council for the means of making the Nevis Centre into a better and more intimate space.

Ingrid Henderson: getting new ‘equipment’ can be linked to setting up a new venue: but both need community groups to work together.

Robert Livingston (HI~Arts): The Enterprise Network can’t be a source of ongoing or ‘revenue’ funding—it’s not allowed to be—but it can assist capital projects and new developments. But it can’t offer the solution to problems of long term sustainable funding.

David Wilson: Lochaber Enterprise has been the one public organisation which has been doing something for the arts in the area.

Rosemary Gillespie (Ardnamurchan and Morvern Youth Music): it’s superb to see so many people talking about the arts, but she is very concerned about the state of music in schools, especially the impact of the McCrone settlement in Highland, which has led to an embargo on the replacement of specialist staff within schools.

Camille Dressler (Eigg): Her concern is with the limits on funding: will any resources be concentrated on Fort William, or will outlying areas get their fair share?

Michael Foxley (Councillor): welcomed the arts strategy, but wants the profile of Gaelic raised—there’s no word of Gaelic in the summary Ingrid Henderson: agreed on the importance of raising the profile of Gaelic, which does figure in the full document.

Helen Semple: the summary was produced in a rush to be ready for the conference: Gaelic will be included in future versions.

Panel 1: Been There, Done That: Making Arts Strategies Work Flick Hawkins: North West Highlands Arts Strategy.

Flick runs Rhue Arts outside Ullapool with her husband, James, and was Chair of the Ullapool High School Board at the time of the drawing up of the NW Highland Arts Strategy.

The Strategy grew out of a context where a number of competing capital bids were being developed:

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The new High School The refurbishment of Ullapool Village Hall The development of arts facilities at the Ceilidh Place A new hall for Achiltibuie A proposed piping school for the old Achiltibuie hall

Both capital, and public arts, projects were developed for the new High School, and bids were submitted to the SAC Lottery with help from Council Officers and HI~Arts.

The public arts project was approved, but the plans to turn the new school hall into a medium scale venue were turned down. It was felt that the quality of design fell short; there were concerns about future management. But direct contact with SAC officers revealed the underlying problem: the lack of clarity on the overall strategic position. Now they had to move fast to keep pace with the timetable for building the new school. Ross and Cromarty Enterprise funded an economic impact study, and a facilitator was engaged to develop an arts strategy for the area. This last was very inclusive, from Poolewe to Kinlochbervie. It looked also at the wider context of regional and national strategies. Things began to slot into place.

As a result of developing the strategy, a resubmitted bid for the school was approved

by SAC, creating in the MacPhail Centre the key mid-scale venue for the West Coast, as well as the template for what went on to be built in the new Ardnamurchan School and other Highland school developments. The Village Hall was refurbished.

The new Community Centre was opened in Achiltibuie, and the Piping Centre was established in the old hall. In hindsight, the need for the strategy seems obvious.

Now, after getting the venues, all of which are being used, there seems to have been a loss of focus. People do still meet informally, but the Strategy Group as such has dissolved. There’s a sense of weariness, and uncertainty about what happens next, but agreement that there is a need to move on.

Nick Fearne: Arts Development Officer, Moray Council When Nick took up his post two years ago his job description included the task ‘develop and review the arts strategy’. He quickly found that this strategy was in fact a blank sheet. There were no resources to create one, and he had to do it in just a few months. A process of public consultation created a Moray arts database, which went from a previous 4 entries to 200. The Draft Strategy went to Council in February 2002, with none of the councillors commenting on anything other than the phrase that Moray was a ‘fragile and remote’ area, which was lifted from the Council’s own Community Plan! The Strategy is now being implemented. Used as a tool, it has:

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Aided the wider arts community Ensured political support by stating clear objectives

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Levered funding especially from the Local Enterprise Company and SAC Lottery funding Given a green light for projects.

And it works:

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Nick now manages three Area Arts Development Workers funded through SAC Lottery (till March 2005), to create an infrastructure for the arts throughout Moray. They work geographically, and their posts have brought in £180,000, including £50,000 new, non-arts money from the Moray Council The Royal Shakespeare Company made a highly successful visit to Forres, at no cost to the Council Political attitudes are changing Nick’s team now also includes a fulltime Cultural Coordinator They’re now aiming for a New Opportunities Fund Youth Dance worker.

In the last two years, £450,000 has been raised for the arts in Moray, and of that sum, £150,000 is new Council spending on the arts.

Norah Campbell, Director, An Tuireann Arts Centre, Portree, Skye During Norah’s time An Tuireann underwent a major capital development, funded by SAC Lottery. This meant they are now able to take exhibitions from the National Galleries of Scotland; they can present between 8 and 12 exhibition a year in total, 4 or 5 of these showing work by local artists. They’ve doubled visitor numbers up to 16,443 in 2001/2, increasing that year despite the impact of Foot and Mouth. Over 2000 people a year take part in educational activities. They successfully argued the case for an education officer as part of the core staff team, as educational activities are central to the centre’s programme. Now they want to raise funds for an extension to house workshop facilities. An Tuireann receives core funding from the Scottish Arts Council and Highland Council, with support from the Local Enterprise Company for projects. Despite this support they still struggle to meet all the demands placed on them.

They don’t work to a formal strategy as such, but the strategic approach came from within the artists and arts groups themselves, with a lot of partner support. They started out therefore not with a strategy but a wish list: the redevelopment of An Tuireann, and the building of a theatre space for the Aros Visitor Centre in Portree.

Both are now four-star visitor attractions, and both relate also to the new campus at the Gaelic College, Sabhal Mor Ostaig, in the south of Skye. All three venues work together well: they are complementary, and there is no competition. Collaboration makes bigger ventures possible, such as bringing the Celtic International Film Festival to Portree, or the recent Scribble Festival. Aros and An Tuireann worked together also on ‘Dressed to Kill’, a combination of a crafts exhibition and a fashion show. Marc Yeats (Chair of An Tuireann) staged a project to involve over-60s, first in making abstract paintings, and then in composing contemporary music!

With Sabhal Mor Ostaig there’s even more scope for collaboration simply because it’s further away. Under the Columba Initiative An Tuireann put together a major exhibition for the launch of the new SMO campus, and Norah is a member of the arts development committee for SMO, which is looking at the next stage of capital developments for the college.

All three venues also play key roles in supporting local and community groups. The potential for working strategically is huge

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A commitment to develop professionally Not compromising on quality Communication is the key Venues can be advocates for the island The role of the community is fundamental

Questions for the Panel: Roxana Meechan: What plans does Nick have for maintaining the infrastructure when the present funding runs out?

Nick Fearne: The workers have only been in post since September but already the demands on their services are considerable. His aim is to make them indispensable, and so, by stealth, to get them built in to the Council structure.

Finlay Finlayson: What core funding does An Tuireann receive from SAC? Norah Campbell: £90,000pa towards the operating costs (an increase of £25k from 2002/3). The Highland Council gives £5,000 towards programme costs, plus in-kind help in terms of buildings and insurance and rent—worth another £6k or £7k. But this is against core running costs of £190,000, plus the programme!

Finlay Finlayson: what is the SAC’s view?

Graham Berry: The SAC tries to take a country-wide view. An Tuireann met an identified need; it works to a high quality, and it fits into the bigger Skye picture.

Fiona Campbell: question to Flick, what’s the before and after picture in Ullapool?

Flick Hawkins: There’s a need to carry forward despite volunteer burn-out, and that’s difficult without a core paid person. Watch this space! But there is a huge value in having the School running the venue, paid for by the Council, with only the actual cost of putting on events to be met.

Finlay Finlayson: how do the links with Aros work as it is a commercial venue?

Norah Campbell: They have shared marketing issues (eg neither is in the centre of town). Aros may be commercial, but its theatre space isn’t. The differences don’t stop them working together.

Outdoor pursuits A short film made for the Mountain Film Festival, introduced by Ryan Leamont, Highland Council Events Officer for Lochaber. The film workshop was led by Andy Isaacs. The film was shot in 16 hours, over two days, and involved 18 young people, and adult volunteers. The only costs were food and transport.

Panel 2: Young People and the Arts Ingrid Henderson, Feis Development Worker.

Ingrid was preceded by the playing of four feis musicians from Lochaber. As she said, they demonstrated what the feis movement is all about. From its start in Barra 20 years ago, the movement has grown to embrace 35 feisean all over Scotland.

There are three in the Lochaber Area. Feis Lochabair is a week-long event held at Easter, and is open to children of all abilities. Feis nan Garbh Chriochan is held in the summer and is residential. Feis Eige is held over a weekend in July. All three also

organise year-round tuition. It must be emphasised that at the level of each feis all the organisation is done by volunteers: the movement as a whole has just seven core staff. Despite the large numbers involved, there are still other young people not being reached. Thanks to a partnership of Leader+, Lochaber Enterprise, and the Highland Council, the intention is to have a full-time feis development worker for the area by June.

Elsie Mitchell, Education Officer, An Lanntair Arts Centre, Stornoway, Isle of Lewis An Lanntair has been based in the Town Hall in Stornoway for the last twenty years, and is currently finalising the development of a new multi-purpose arts centre. Elsie’s educational and outreach work is concerned only with the visual arts: with schools, in holiday periods, and with people with special needs.

She described a specific project which was the first that she undertook in community centres, in the small communities of Uig and Bernera. These are both in the Initiative at the Edge area. Uig Primary has just 6 children. Elsie commissioned sculptors Ian Kettles and Susie Hunter from Glasgow. Working with local playgroups, they introduced the young children to the idea of inflatable sculptures, which can be immediate, well-crafted and funny!. They then took ideas provided by the children for a big, bouncy sculpture and turned these into 3 styrofoam models. The children then chose which of these should be made into a full size inflatable sculpture. This is now a free resource for those communities, who can also raise income by hiring it to other groups. The sculpture was launched through pre-school fun art days, and now a full pre-school week of events is being planned. In a related project, artists Lucy Hubbard and Rachel James worked on inflatable sculptures with 5-16 year olds.

This process was presented as an entire play adventure, with the children discovering clues and materials. The resulting sculptures were set up as installations in the Uig and Bernera community centres, completely transforming the spaces.

Ali MacDonald, job-share Arts Officer, and Cultural Coordinator, for Lochaber Her current posts have brought home to her the difference between being an arts worker, and an arts manager. She then described a number of projects in which she had been involved as an arts worker and which had influenced her approach to her current posts.

‘Awesome’, in Western Australia, working in remote community schools, exploring children’s sense of their identities.

‘Ultimate Chill’, in Dundee, a very pro-active youth group linking music and the visual arts in joint projects.

‘Ken Art’, also in Dundee, a pilot event for a youth arts festival.

As a worker, she learned that you had to change your own ideas of what to do to fit with the groups you’re working with.

In Lochaber, with Caol Youth Club, she worked with a girls’ mural group, using a combination of dance and hand-made slides which could then be translated into images on the walls.

Programmes like these must be malleable, with good starting points, using engaging and interesting mediums, and appealing to all abilities.

She has now been running a pilot programme of ‘Cultural Opportunities’ in Lochaber schools, involving two weeks of activities in the seven feeder primaries for Lochaber High, and an artist in residence in the High School itself.

What she finds her role as a manager means is that:

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She’s removed from the hands on part But she gets to develop exciting projects She’s enabled to make decisions But there’s frustration at not being able to meet all demands There are administrative challenges to meet But the work is inspiring.

Based on the pilot, the aim is now to roll the programme out throughout Lochaber schools, thereby raising the status of the arts. In tandem with this programme, will be the Social Inclusion Partnership/Scottish Arts Council programme to involve young people in public art projects.

Duncan Kemp, Jim Nerdal, Tor Justad, Norwegian and Swedish representatives, Northern Periphery Project.

The party from Norway and Sweden are visiting Lochaber as guests of Lochaber Music School, and as part of the Northern Peripheries programme of European Union funding. The Swedish music school where Duncan works is run as a community business—the only one of its kind in Sweden. This relates to work which Tor did in the past in the Highlands and Western Isles in establishing community businesses. Community businesses can access funds which a community venture, or a business, can’t get at alone. If this can be done with shops in remote areas, as in the Highlands, it can be done with music. Jim Nerdal, the Norwegian representative, explained that they too have a struggle to retain their own youth, or bring them back after they gain an education. Such young people are not just looking for jobs but for cultural experiences for them and their children. In Norway now every community has a cultural school, and at least 30% of the population should be offered opportunities there. But Norway has a problem of getting money for culture when sport is seen to be doing well internationally. Duncan’s music school was run by the local Council until five years ago. At that time the Council wished to close the school as it couldn’t afford it. Instead, they now fund it as an independent community business, paying half as much as they did five years ago, but gaining twice the activity. As a business it can work anywhere. It covers traditional, rock and classical music, music therapy summer camps, etc. Now there is an opportunity under this Northern Peripheries programme to bring together the experiences of the Norwegian, Swedish and Lochaber schools, and see what each can learn from the other.

Panel 3: Making the Case for the Arts Marcus Wilson, Audience Development Coordinator, HI~Arts Though now working on marketing for all the arts, Marcus concentrated for this talk on examples from his previous project, working with Highlands and Islands galleries.

At the start of this two year project, the public galleries thought that they weren’t doing much marketing, but that wasn’t in fact the case: they thought marketing was flashy and expensive, whereas it really starts with the artistic product: is it relevant to communities? Actions speak louder than words. Three examples:

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Taigh Chearsabhagh, in Lochamaddy, North Uist, underpin their individual projects through fitting them into longer term plans. The ‘Road-ends’ project to place commissioned sculptures where roads meet the sea led to educational projects, tourist trails, etc.

An Tobar, Tobermory, Mull, identified that high among non-attenders were skilled manual workers on Mull. They set up a project whereby a

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photographer worked with island garages, leading to an exhibition in the gallery. Several of those who were involved still visit An Tobar, and others pass on positive messages about the centre.

Bonhoga Gallery, in a rural location in Shetland, is off the beaten track. They worked with musicians and a painter on a joint project, linked to the setting up of a Spiegeltent in Lerwick for the Tall Ships Race. 16,000 people went through the tent, many of whom were directed to the gallery to see the exhibition of depictions of the musicians taking part.

You ignore the attitudes of your local customer base at your peril. Don’t be satisfied with the same old audiences. Know your audiences. HI~Arts, as part of Marcus’s present audience development project, will be developing ‘tip sheets’ for their website on how to undertake marketing as a local arts organisation.

Jill Mallison, Arts Therapist, working with the Highland Health Board If you’re involved in the arts you know what wellbeing means. But there are many people without access to such involvement. Jill is concerned with how the arts can be used to help people to become well. She asked the audience to think for a minute: What is Arts for? Everyone would have a different answer, and every answer would be right. At present she is working with a Scotland-wide group ARPAT on the connections between arts therapy and the extremes of wellbeing and mental illness, and all the stages in between. Lochaber and Skye are one of five proposed projects under this banner.

David Wilson, Artist, and proprietor of the Lime Tree Gallery, Fort William Speaking from an artist’s perspective, he is interested in building a public/private partnership. To quote Mao: ‘Adversity breeds Creativity’, which he feels must be the basis of the British approach to funding the arts! In the UK, quality of work is achieved despite poor funding. In Lochaber, he believes, the budget for grasscutting is 10 times that for the arts. The arts suffer from the current dominance of the necessity of fiscal prudence. In Norway, on the other hand, arts and economic development work hand in hand. Here, despite the absence of any professional space for visual arts exhibitions anywhere in the West Coast mainland, it is still easier for him to approach his bank manager than the SAC about funding his proposed new gallery. As a result the gallery will be built with no arts funding involved.

Quoting Trotsky, ‘All power to the Soviets/the Lochaber massif’—bring funding down to the local level, leave the national bodies to a more strategic role. And finally, to quote Lennon (not Lenin): ‘All Power to the People!’

Tassy Thompson, Artist in residence, Lochaber High School Tassy, who has returned to Fort William after living in the town 16 years ago, described the projects she has been working on during her short residence at Lochaber High School as part of the pilot Cultural Opportunities programme. She works from the premise of setting off with a theme, and then going on a journey with people. Under the theme of ‘Glory or Gain’ she explored with 15 year olds the question ‘why does art matter?’ She found that some were afraid that they couldn’t make a working living through art, and so she wanted to demonstrate that you could make enough gain, even without the glory! She praised the teachers she’d encountered for what they achieved working under stress and time pressures—they need time out to maintain their own creativity. She has found there are ‘negative gaps’ – funded projects are often too short, both for the artist and especially the young people. Art stems from play, but now there are too many limitations (eg

having to design play areas that can have no moving parts because they must be maintenance free!). But there are also ‘magical gaps’: in between classes, when people didn’t plan to come together: that’s part of the ethos of her ‘ongoing artwork’ using powerpoint which has no beginning or end and can be added to at any time.

Plenary session: what next?

Unidentified speaker: Answering the question, what is art for me? I’ve noticed what is missing—arts projects involving people over 50. A tremendous resource is being missed—both volunteers and participants, and we forget them at our peril.

Tassy Thompson: In a project in Bellshill she started a drumming group for young people. The Women’s Guild proved to better than the kids, and they end up with a 50 piece drumming group. So older people can help young people become involved through raising confidence.

Charlotte Wright, Lochaber Enterprise: What happens next?

Fiona Campbell: The LAASAG group is a forum for discussing the ideas and issues raised today. But remember that consensus is not always the ideal way to go.

David Wilson: The strategy is definitely an opportunity to lever funds from moribund organisations.

Camille Dressler: ‘Lochaber’ means ‘Fort William’ a little too much: why not an artist in residence In Mallaig? There’s a need to look at partnerships for outreach areas.

Ali MacDonald: Although her present scheme is for Lochaber High School and its feeder primaries, more funding will be coming on stream to roll out the programme to all Lochaber schools.

Finlay Finlayson: We’ve had evidence today of the value of the arts for economic development. We’ve seen the wealth of talent today—this area’s got so much going for it.

Charlotte Wright: Lochaber Enterprise has put substantial funding into a number of projects. There is a place for the arts in economic development. This is a great milestone today. I’m going away feeling inspired.

Unidentified speaker from Boat of Garten: if you sit and wait you can wait a long time: make it happen with local enthusiasm and a bit of success will bring others on board.

Jim Gaitens, Arts Manager: on behalf of Highland Council, he thanked those who had put the Strategy together—the hard work begins now. It needs everyone to stick together to deliver the strategy.

Fiona Campbell: presented an ‘advert’ for Voluntary Arts Scotland: briefing documents on a range of topics are available at www.voluntaryarts.org, and the voluntary sector manifesto for the forthcoming elections is at www.scvo.org.uk Helen Dewar: Thanked all those involved in organising the event, and those taking part and attending. This is a springboard for implementing the strategy. From now on, communication is vital, especially on how best to access funding, above all sustainable funding. The Strategy, both summary and full document, and comments to Helen Semple or Ali MacDonald will be very welcome.