Why Victorian values mean learning the art of sticking to a budget

Philip Long, senior curator at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, was yesterday named as the man at the helm of a brand-new museum for Scotland to be built on the shores of the River Tay with a 45 million budget.

Mr Long is highly regarded in the capital's art scene and an Edinburgh native who has worked at the National Galleries of Scotland for close to 19 years, with his career centred in Scotland.

"It's a huge job, and a huge project, and a very exciting one," he said yesterday. "The opportunity to lead this is a great privilege. I have been excited by this project ever since I've heard about it. I'm the first employee."

He dismissed as "speculation" concerns voiced by experts that hidden costs could drive the project far over budget. The Japanese architect Kengo Kuma won the design competition for a building that soars out from the Dundee waterfront.

"It's easy to make speculations about big capital projects," he said. While stressing he was new appointee, he understood the designs had been closely scrutinised on cost grounds.

"My job is to make sure it (the budget] is adhered to. It's perfectly possible to develop substantial cultural projects that come in on budget."

The V&A at Dundee project is a partnership between the Victoria and Albert Museum and Dundee City Council, the Universities of Dundee and Abertay Dundee, and Scottish Enterprise.

With the London V&A famous for its art and design collections Mr Long said the Scottish gallery would explore the "rich heritage of Scottish design in an international context".

The Scottish Government has pledged an initial 5m to the project, which has won cross-party support. The broad goal is to win an eventual 15m in government backing with an additional 30m from European and lottery funds and private donors, with completion by late 2014 or early 2015.

Mr Long is a specialist in 19th and 20th century Scottish art but has also had a passion for design, he said. He has worked on exhibitions on Basil Spence, the Scottish architect, and the famous architect and designer Charles Rennie Mackintosh.

More recently he led the Artists Rooms project, in collaboration with the Tate Gallery, managing the vast d'Offay Collection of more than 700 artworks that were bought for the nation for 26.5m.

He sat on the Scottish Arts Council's lottery committee for seven years, making decisions on funding for projects like the Usher Hall renovation and the Howden Park Centre, the arts venue in Livingston.

"As much as I know about it at this stage, that's limited compared with people directly involved so far, the architectural competition finalised six projects and all were examined by the project team and by independent surveyors. None of them were excluded on the grounds of cost," he said. "When the Kengo Kuma team was questioned, prior to them winning the competition, their response was looked at again by other assessors who all felt it could be completed on budget."

He cited the success of the Scottish Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh for raising funds in a difficult business environment. "Everyone I speak to thinks this is a winner, and everyone will back such a strong winner as this."

He said V&A supporters like the project chair, Lesley Knox, chairman of Alliance Trust PLC, were "not people I would expect that are going to play loose with a project like this … I'm sure the Scottish Government must have looked at it very carefully."

Sir Mark Jones, director of the V&A in London, said Mr Long's "enthusiasm for design, and his talent for communicating contemporary art to a wide public" were ideal for the post.

Profile: Experienced administrator from the art world

Philip Long was at the National Galleries of Scotland for nearly 19 years, and has been senior curator at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art since 1998. He has been a leading figure on the Artist Rooms project, taking exhibitions from the d'Offay art collection across the UK, and worked with sculptor Antony Gormley on the 6 Times project. He has organised exhibitions of the Scottish Colourists, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, and on the architect Basil Spence. From 2003-10 he served on the Scottish Arts Lottery Committee and in 2007 curated Scotland's exhibition at the Venice Biennale.