High-profile backing steers Scotland's visual art festival in right direction

Richard Demarco, the renowned exhibition organiser who has been a ubiquitous presence on the Scottish art scene for more than 30 years, and the internationally respected Keeper of the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Richard Calvocoressi, have signed up to a high-powered steering group.

It is hoped the group will succeed in bringing to fruition the visual arts festival to be staged in Edinburgh, complementing the capital’s existing international events.

Other members of the committee are expected to include representatives from the Scottish Arts Council, the Dundee Contemporary Arts centre and Glasgow’s public art galleries.

Applications are also being sought for the key position of chair of the steering group and of the action group which will be instrumental in carrying the project forward.

Since launching the campaign for the festival last month, Scotland on Sunday has received massive support from all areas of the art world, who claim such a festival has long been missing from the city’s list of art events.

The summer event - which would be modelled on the lines of the Venice Biennale, Europe’s leading visual arts festival, is likely to involve exhibitions, discussions and book-signings by leading figures in the art world, as well as giving contemporary Scottish artists a showcase opportunity.

The campaign has also been backed by Frank McAveety, Scotland’s culture minister, who said: "I am absolutely delighted that one of Scotland’s foremost quality Sunday newspapers is focusing on using visual arts as one of the key ways in which we can express the quality of what is there."

The National Galleries of Scotland have offered to give the event a home at Edinburgh’s Dean Gallery and the Gallery of Modern Art.

Organisers hope a tented village housing stalls and exhibition spaces would be built on the galleries’ extensive lawns.

Demarco said he was delighted to accept a post on the steering group, which will help establish the festival. He said: "The steering group is the key to making this work and the only way to get over the hurdles which will undoubtedly be presented by those with their own interests at heart.

"It just says that whatever may be, this great festival is simply going to happen.

"I’ve been waiting a long, long time for this. My life has been dedicated to the idea of it, at least since 1967, and the time has never been so right."

It is hoped the first visual arts festival will be staged next summer and become an annual fixture in the art world’s calendar.

Your chance to design the logo

ART students across Scotland are being asked to design a logo for Edinburgh’s new international Festival of Visual Art. The winning design will reflect all the dynamism and originality of contemporary art in Scotland and be the brand image of the new festival.

The competition, which will be judged by the festival committee, is open to any student, undergraduate and postgraduate, currently studying at any of Scotland’s art schools. Entries should be submitted to: Festival of Visual Art, Scotland on Sunday, 108 Holyrood Road, Edinburgh EH8 8AS, by October 31. Entries cannot be returned and the committee’s decision will be final