Statement on Behalf of the Visual Arts Community 18 November 2003

Read PHIL MILLER response to this letter (published in full) in today's Herald

Read Scottish Arts Council's reply to this letter

Dear Christopher Barron (chief exec Scottish Ballet)
Bridget McConnell (head of Cultural & Leisure Services, Glasgow City Council)
Graham Berry (Director, Scottish Arts Council)
Frank McAveety (Minister of Culture, Scottish Parliament)

We are pleased to see that Scottish Ballet/Scottish Opera have responded to public opinion regarding their proposed takeover of Tramway and altered the terms of their Lottery bid so as to retain the visual arts space, Tramway2. However, while this change of heart is welcome it is not, in itself, a solution. It will only be made worthwhile as the beginning of a process of consultation and consideration that leads to a strategic commitment on the part of the City Council and the Scottish Arts Council. Any solution for the future of visual arts at Tramway must be well-supported, thought- through and in place for the long term.

Glasgow has a major success on its hands, in the shape of what Tate Magazine recently called "the most vibrant, concentrated, successful group of artists in the world". Tramway, "one of the UK's most ground- breaking art spaces of the 90s" (The Guardian, 30/5/00) and "one of the leading contemporary visual and performing arts venues in Europe" (Glasgow City Council), has been instrumental in creating and supporting this success. It is a unique, free art space that offers the opportunity to engage with the best of new, local and international visual art, an engagement that is both a key part of contemporary cultural life and also now forms part of Glasgow's international identity.

Yet, currently, there is no clear strategy for the visual arts within Glasgow City Council, little coordination across the city or between the City Council and the Arts Council in respect of visual arts policy and priorities, and there has been no public or professional consultation regarding the Ballet/Opera proposal.

Tramway's Visual Arts Officer Alexia Holt remains suspended, apparently for simply bringing the existence of this Lottery bid to public attention. In the light of the decision to rethink this bid once the issues involved were publicly considered, it seems clear that conducting it in secret was a mistake and that Ms. Holt's suspension is unjustified and indefensible.

We draw attention to the recommendations made by the Scottish Parliament's Education, Culture and Sport Committee in their Report on the Inquiry into Scottish Ballet, released November 2001. The Parliamentary Committee states, on the handling of the reorganisation of Scottish Ballet, that "the encouragement of wide public consultation on issues of importance such as these is central to the Scottish Arts Council's role", and recommends to both Scottish Ballet and the SAC that "decisions should not be finalised until there has been a period of genuine consultation and debate and the Arts Council should insist upon such a period."

We believe that the SAC Lottery Capital Committee, made up of voluntary members, would be greatly assisted both by the existence of a genuine, in-depth consultation process and by the considered development of a visual arts strategy within Glasgow City Council, on the basis of which they might make an informed judgment - if indeed it should be their responsibility to do so.

The Lottery Capital Committee meets in January to make its decision. It seems possible that, due to the large amounts of money involved in the context of limited Lottery funds, a decision in favour of Scottish Ballet/Scottish Opera might well also see the proposed development of visual arts premises in King Street (and the ensuing improvement of provision offered by no less than eleven separate organisations) being cancelled due to lack of funds, an outcome that would also endanger Glasgow City Council's proposed strategy for the development of the Merchant City. Also, in the context of the revised Ballet/Opera bid, it has not been made clear why additional funding for a new build workshop is seen as the solution when other, perhaps more cost-effective, workshop spaces could be found in the city.

Meanwhile, the City Council has commissioned the consultants Bonnar Keenlyside to "identify options for the future development of Tramway", a positive move. Yet this review, itself Lottery funded, has no remit to consider the implications of the Ballet/Opera bid and would be made irrelevant if the bid is successful. We suggest that this review should look at all options that can develop Tramway2 as a major international gallery space offering public arts provision of the highest standard - integrated into a clear and well-supported cultural strategy.

We the undersigned represent artists, galleries, art schools, studio groups and other arts organisations across Scotland. We call for a genuine process of consultation and debate, leading to strategic action that takes into account all of the points made above. We believe that this is the time for intelligent, inclusive development to invest in and capitalise on what has been achieved so far.

We would like that process to bring together representatives of the arts community and Scottish Ballet/Scottish Opera, and officers of Glasgow City Council and the Scottish Arts Council as soon as is mutually convenient, certainly before the Lottery application in question is taken any further.

Yours sincerely,

Will Bradley
Board of Directors, The Modern Institute, Glasgow

Professor Klaus Jung
Head of School of Fine Art, Glasgow School of Art

Richard Calvocoressi
Director, Scottish National Galleries of Modern Art

Guyan Porter
President, Scottish Artists' Union

Nick Evans, Kate Davis, Charlie Hammond, Lotte Gertz and Jane Topping
Committee of Transmission Gallery, Glasgow

Graham McKenzie
Director, Centre for Contemporary Arts, Glasgow

Fiona Bradley
Director, Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh

Toby Webster
Director, The Modern Institute, Glasgow

Mick Peter
Glasgow Project Room / Glasgow Independent Studios

Katrina Brown
Curator,
Dundee Contemporary Arts

Amy Sales and Lucy Gibson
EmergeD, Glasgow

Leigh French
Editor, Variant magazine, Glasgow

Lorraine Wilson
Co-ordinator, Glasgow Sculpture Studios

Malcolm Dickson
Director, Street Level Photoworks

Sam Ainsley
Head of Master of Fine Arts Course, Glasgow School of Art

Deidre McKenna
General Co-ordinator, Stills Gallery, Edinburgh

Paul Nesbitt
Director, Inverleith House, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh

Robb Mitchell
The Chateau, Glasgow

Sorcha Dallas and Marianne Greated
Switchspace, Glasgow

Susanna Beaumont
Director, Doggerfisher Gallery, Edinburgh