Scottish art is on the up in many senses, with three of the four nominees for last year’s Turner Prize, including the winner Duncan Campbell, being graduates from the Glasgow School of Art.
The visual arts as a whole is also looking to the future with some confidence: in Creative Scotland’s latest round of three-year regular funding grants, 24 of the 119 organisations that secured funding were visual arts bodies.
Creative Scotland has awarded a total of £100m to the regularly funded organisations for the 2015-18 period, compared with £90m for 2012-15.
The number of institutions receiving three-year funding, which stood at 45, has more than doubled. Creative Scotland, which is funded by the Scottish government and the National Lottery, says the total amount awarded has risen as a result of an increase in the volume of applications, which numbered 264.
The funding increase was achieved by “including a small proportion of lottery funding in the overall budget and revising our budget allocations for 2015-16”.
But Ross Irving, president of the Scottish Museums Federation, says: “While I am delighted to hear that Creative Scotland has been able to fund more projects than originally thought, it is clear that with more than half of the bids being unsuccessful, the fund is not adequate to meet the needs of the sector.”
Simon Groom, the director of the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art in Edinburgh, says: “The additional Creative Scotland funding will be a major boost.
However, the sector in Scotland is incredibly varied and is funded in many different ways, and one of the main pressures is the funding of local government museums and galleries, which is increasingly challenging. The main challenge will be to meet the needs and expectations of an eager public within a tough economic environment.”
Seventeen visual arts organisations received funding increases, while three of the 20 organisations to join the portfolio are visual arts venues (Hospitalfield Arts in Arbroath was allocated £300,000 over three years; the Dumfries-based Stove Network was awarded £150,000; and Timespan in Helmsdale received £285,000).
Although half of the 24 visual arts organisations are in Glasgow or Edinburgh, Creative Scotland says the visual arts has a much better geographic spread than any other sector.
Among the winners is the Pier Arts Centre in Stromness, Orkney, which secured an annual award of £267,000 until 2018 – a 20% increase. Edinburgh’s Collective Gallery increased its funding by almost 29% to £850,000 over three years.
Frozen out
However, funding for Edinburgh’s Fruitmarket Gallery has been frozen, while other organisations, including the Common Guild in Glasgow and Aberdeen’s Peacock Visual Arts, have been given increases only in line with inflation.
Leading cultural figures lambasted Creative Scotland in 2012 for being overly bureaucratic and out of touch with creative professionals.
The organisation has since simplified its funding streams into three routes: a regular funding programme; funding for individuals and organisations to deliver time-limited projects; and a small number of targeted programmes focused on delivering strategic goals with partners.
V&A Museum of Design Dundee expected to open in 2017, the £45m museum is a partnership between the Victoria and Albert Museum, the universities of Abertay and Dundee, Dundee City Council and Scottish Enterprise.
Aberdeen Art Gallery the £30m redevelopment is to be completed by 2017.
The Hunterian Scotland’s oldest public museum is to relocate from the University of Glasgow campus to nearby Kelvin Hall in an attempt to boost access to the collection.
National Museum of Scotland 10 galleries dedicated to decorative art, design, fashion, science and technology will open in 2016.
Burrell Collection the building housing the collection will undergo a £45m redevelopment and be closed from 2016-20.
The visual arts as a whole is also looking to the future with some confidence: in Creative Scotland’s latest round of three-year regular funding grants, 24 of the 119 organisations that secured funding were visual arts bodies.
Creative Scotland has awarded a total of £100m to the regularly funded organisations for the 2015-18 period, compared with £90m for 2012-15.
The number of institutions receiving three-year funding, which stood at 45, has more than doubled. Creative Scotland, which is funded by the Scottish government and the National Lottery, says the total amount awarded has risen as a result of an increase in the volume of applications, which numbered 264.
The funding increase was achieved by “including a small proportion of lottery funding in the overall budget and revising our budget allocations for 2015-16”.
But Ross Irving, president of the Scottish Museums Federation, says: “While I am delighted to hear that Creative Scotland has been able to fund more projects than originally thought, it is clear that with more than half of the bids being unsuccessful, the fund is not adequate to meet the needs of the sector.”
Simon Groom, the director of the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art in Edinburgh, says: “The additional Creative Scotland funding will be a major boost.
However, the sector in Scotland is incredibly varied and is funded in many different ways, and one of the main pressures is the funding of local government museums and galleries, which is increasingly challenging. The main challenge will be to meet the needs and expectations of an eager public within a tough economic environment.”
Seventeen visual arts organisations received funding increases, while three of the 20 organisations to join the portfolio are visual arts venues (Hospitalfield Arts in Arbroath was allocated £300,000 over three years; the Dumfries-based Stove Network was awarded £150,000; and Timespan in Helmsdale received £285,000).
Although half of the 24 visual arts organisations are in Glasgow or Edinburgh, Creative Scotland says the visual arts has a much better geographic spread than any other sector.
Among the winners is the Pier Arts Centre in Stromness, Orkney, which secured an annual award of £267,000 until 2018 – a 20% increase. Edinburgh’s Collective Gallery increased its funding by almost 29% to £850,000 over three years.
Frozen out
However, funding for Edinburgh’s Fruitmarket Gallery has been frozen, while other organisations, including the Common Guild in Glasgow and Aberdeen’s Peacock Visual Arts, have been given increases only in line with inflation.
Leading cultural figures lambasted Creative Scotland in 2012 for being overly bureaucratic and out of touch with creative professionals.
The organisation has since simplified its funding streams into three routes: a regular funding programme; funding for individuals and organisations to deliver time-limited projects; and a small number of targeted programmes focused on delivering strategic goals with partners.
Scotland’s major museum projects
V&A Museum of Design Dundee expected to open in 2017, the £45m museum is a partnership between the Victoria and Albert Museum, the universities of Abertay and Dundee, Dundee City Council and Scottish Enterprise.
Aberdeen Art Gallery the £30m redevelopment is to be completed by 2017.
The Hunterian Scotland’s oldest public museum is to relocate from the University of Glasgow campus to nearby Kelvin Hall in an attempt to boost access to the collection.
National Museum of Scotland 10 galleries dedicated to decorative art, design, fashion, science and technology will open in 2016.
Burrell Collection the building housing the collection will undergo a £45m redevelopment and be closed from 2016-20.