Artists afraid of Creative Scotland, crisis summit told

ARTISTS and arts organisations have become “afraid” of Scotland’s flagship arts agency and believe they are now seen as a nuisance, a crisis summit has heard.

Senior staff at Creative Scotland were told yesterday that confidence in, and support for, the body, which has a budget of more than £83 million, has ebbed away since it was formed two years ago.

A litany of complaints about the running of the quango were laid bare at its headquarters in Edinburgh in the first gathering of artists since a damning letter of criticism was made public earlier this month.

But Andrew Dixon, Creative Scotland’s chief executive, told The Scotsman that he and the chairman, Sir Sandy Crombie, were determined to see the dispute through by taking part in further similar events, speaking to groups, organisations and individuals, and acting on their views.

At the all-day event, artists and arts organisations complained about mounting bureaucracy, not being listened to, unhelpful staff and confusion over who was making key decisions affecting their livelihoods.

The summit also heard of growing anger at the handling of funding applications, the loss of staff with expertise and frustration at a lack of transparency.

There were demands for board meetings to be made public and for details of everyone involved in making funding decisions to be released for the first time.

More than 400 artists have now signed a letter criticising Creative Scotland, which has launched internal reviews and pledged a major organisational shake-up in the wake of the attacks. The body was set up after a merger of the Scottish Arts Council and Scottish Screen.

Judith Doherty, one of Scotland’s leading theatre directors, said: “There was such optimism and support for Creative Scotland when it was set up, when you looked at what was happening elsewhere, and that has gradually gone over the last couple of years.

“People have become afraid of this organisation and feel that they are now being seen as some kind of annoyance.”

One artist, who asked not to be named for fear of future applications being affected, said: “I rang asking for help with a funding application and was made to feel like I was being dismissed when I was simply looking for advice.”

Another said: “Why do we not know who is making decisions on funding applications? Where is the transparency? These things should have been in place from the start.”

But one dance company administrator said events such as yesterday’s meeting were potent and positive.

The administrator said: “I feel there will have to be change now. The main problem really is just a basic lack of communication.”

Mr Dixon said a “sounding board” was being set up to help organisations influence the work of Creative Scotland.

He added: “Sir Sandy and I want to see this through. It will take time, but we have had a lot of support from the government, we’ve had the best settlement of any cultural agency anywhere in Europe, and we feel we’re already making a lot of progress.”