News / Arts trust looking at doing things differently
THE NEW chairwoman of Shetland Arts admits the organisation “might have to do some things differently” after receiving a funding blow from Shetland Charitable Trust (SCT).
The arts body will see its grant from the trust fall from £696,000 to around £574,000 over the space of five years as part of a wider reduction in annual spending.
SCT chairman Bobby Hunter claimed the budget tightening was “a positive move to secure the trust for the long term future”.
However, incoming Shetland Arts chairwoman Lorraine Hall said that some aspects of their business may have to run “differently” as a result.
She told Shetland News that the organisation would explore the possibility of applying for new funding from other bodies to soften the blow.
“It works out to at least £20,000 on a year-on-year basis for the next five years,” she said. “Our work programme took into effect full funding, so obviously this is less than what we anticipated when we started our plan.
“We have look at what we’ll have to do to make that plan work. At this moment in time we’re not sure what impact if any it will have. We have a board meeting on the 25th of this month, so we’ll be expecting [general manager] Graeme Howell and his team to give us an update about any potential risk.
“One of things that I would say is that we’re not laid back about it. We know we might have to do some things differently, but we’re up for it. And there’s always opportunities with other funding bids that we can make to help support delivery.”
Howell said the total cut would amount to around four per cent of Shetland Arts’ turnover, though it was “still significant in terms of stuff that is non-commercial”.
“It’s being phased in over four years,” he said. “We’ll have another round of Creative Scotland funding in the middle of this – it’s very hard to say what the organisation will look like in 2020.
“I’m very supportive of how SCT wants to do its disbursements – it’s an independent trust that’s been set up to manage the money, and they carry out the process how they want to.”
The organisation is continuing its unrelated staff restructuring programme, with “no more than six” redundancies expected, whilst they are also moving away from zero hours contracts.
Among the changes rung so far by Howell, who joined Shetland Arts last year, was music development officer Bryan Peterson being given the role of head of creative opportunities, while sound technician Jonathan Ritch is now head of production.
Hall, who has worked for the body in an advisory capacity since 2014, added that her vision for the future of Shetland Arts is to “strengthen” its board with people of varying skills, with extra youth input and staff representation key.
“The other thing is that we need to be a viable and sustainable business,” she said. “It’s about how we deliver the arts in Shetland and then how we deliver that in a three-year plan. The funding cut from the charitable trust wasn’t a surprise – Graeme had been involved in those conversations. That’s life, and it’s the world we now live in.”
The chairwoman, who moved to the isles in 2003 to work as NHS Shetland’s director of human resources, recognised the criticism its Lerwick venue Mareel has endured since opening its doors in 2012.
“In many instances, the cafe/bar has had a significant number of complaints. We need to decide what the cafe/bar is there for and who it’s competing with. I think just now it’s quite ambiguous in what it’s trying to do.”
Since the advent of Mareel, Shetland Arts’ Bonhoga Gallery in Weisdale has often been regarded as playing second fiddle to its Lerwick counterpart.
Hall confirmed that the gallery will be “looked at in due course” as Shetland Arts examines its isles-wide output.
“It’s obviously out in the west side and it’s there in terms of exhibitions. The reality of that is that I don’t know how many people in Shetland go for the exhibitions or if they go there because it’s a lovely place to have a nice coffee and some cake.
“We have to need to look at everything in terms of how we’re delivering across Shetland, so yes, Bonhoga will be looked at in due course.”
Asked whether the gallery being “looked at” meant optimising how it is run or whether it might fall victim to cuts, Hall remained coy.
“At this point in time, there’s been no decision with regards to Bonhoga,” she said. “There’s been no business case brought forward to the board from the general manager about it.
“We need to look at all of what we’re doing within Shetland Arts in terms of trying to ensure that we’re sustainable and what our offering is going to be. We need to ensure that we can deliver that to folk in Shetland – and if that includes Bonhoga, then it includes Bonhoga.”
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