Creative Scotland's first boss is taking a tour of the country's art scene

THREE decades ago, Andrew Dixon came to Ullapool as a teenager on a family camping holidays, developing a taste for Scotland that would see him travel as an adult to Islay, Skye, and Shetland – and regularly joining the throngs at the Edinburgh Fringe.

• Creative Scotland's chief executive Andrew Dixon wants development directors 'to take responsibility for places'. Picture: Ewen Weatherspoon

"It was always a magical place," he said, looking over the scenic harbour. "I lived in the Lake District, so I was used to hills and lakes, but there's something quite magical about the coast."

He returned this weekend in a different role. In his first week as the first boss of the nascent Scottish arts agency, Creative Scotland – his wordy official title is "chief executive designate" – he has started a whirlwind two- month tour of Scotland and its art and festivals scene that will take him from Dumfries to Orkney.

"It's a snapshot in a way that consultation events are not," he said. "I'm in a conversation in a way with the cultural sector, listening as much as talking."

Mr Dixon spoke to The Scotsman en route to Ullapool, where he announced a 500,000 "Highlands Arts Programme" at a session of the Ullapool Book Festival. In a wide-ranging interview, his first in the post, topics ranged from how the 57 million quango will work with the separately funded national arts companies, to a low-budget Scottish horror musical film that had already caught his eye.

Mr Dixon's career has centred on north-east England, where as a regional arts and promotion chief he was closely involved in high-profile projects from the Sage Gateshead to the Angel of the North, raising 250m for cultural regeneration.

After years of wrangling over Creative Scotland's formation, blending the roles of the Scottish Arts Council and Scottish Screen, he appears to be riding a wave of goodwill. "I visit Newcastle a lot, it's just so vibrant, and if he's helped create that there, it's only good news for here," said the book festival chairwoman Joan Michael.

In about two months time, Creative Scotland formally opens for business, with new offices at Waverley Gate in Edinburgh. Mr Dixon took the chance to go on the road before the "physical set up" was in place, he said.

He began at the Dumfries Film Festival, viewing films and meeting local film-makers. One favourite was Song of the Dead, a 16-minute film he called a cross between High School Musical and a Xbox game with zombies, filmed on a Dumfries housing estate.

Scotland had a stronger reputation for film-making than any English region, he said. He sensed the "nervousness" in the film community over the end of Scottish Screen, a separate film agency. "We still have that remit and responsibility to invest in film," he said, demanding "a real look" at new ways of distributing them, "digital, globally, or on television". "It would be a travesty if that film like Song of the Dead in Dumfries only got screened in Scotland, " he said.

In Scotland he aims to replace the language of "funding" with "investment". "In the arts world, investment had negative connotations but it's only when people take this as something commercial, with a financial return." The return instead could be more cinema-goers, more people accessing the arts, more talents developed, he said.

The best investments, he said, went into artists' creativity, not "propping up bricks and mortar". He cited examples from the Newcastle area, such as screenwriter Lee Hall who was given a writing grant to develop his story of a miner's son driven by the passion to dance – the beginnings of the film and stage phenomenon, Billy Elliot.

Earlier this year, a parliamentary move to make Creative Scotland the lead body over other arts organisation in Scotland failed. It will work alongside directly funded national companies, galleries and museums.

Mr Dixon said it meant the agency could champion them without the "baggage" of overseeing their accounts, collaborating and "adding value" by promoting them in Scotland and overseas.

"I don't see us as an institution or as funding body. I see us as a champion for everything that's creative in Scotland," he said.

He fended off concern over public spending cuts, where in the past arts spending has been an easy target. "The Scottish Government has made a clear commitment so far to Creative Scotland," he said. "Given the amount of time it has taken to get the bill through (in parliament, creating the agency] they will want to make sure Creative Scotland has the ability to deliver."