The Commonty camera was in Sanquhar as snow fell yesterday and then returned today to a very warm welcome at the wonderful A' the Airts (aka the 'Jewel of D+G's North').
In the region we have an amazing resource in the form of our community based arts centres....Mill on the Fleet, The Whithorn Story Centre, CatStrand, A' the Airts and Buccleuch Centre (Langholm) - one of the big questions of the ongoing 'New Structure for the Arts in D+G' debate is how to give these centres the means of becoming secure in their operating costs so that they can fulfill their potential as both essential community resources for the health and wellbeing of local folk......AND centres of artistic excellence. Surely, we need a means of them all working as a powerful network to make a compelling case at both national and local level ...and so avoid the awful possibility of them ending up in competition with each other for resources and/or being picked off one by one as public spending cuts bite harder.
A' the Airts needs to expand, such is the demand for its hireable workshop spaces for local groups - so much could be made of the potential of the centre as powerful glue joining up needs, skills and services in the community.....yet the staff find them selves under continual pressure to be raising one-off project funds to keep the place afloat that they have precious little time to act creatively and extend their reach and effect as a truly creative community resource.
Hopefully, one day the penny will drop for those charged with delivering public services and they will realise that the arts are not just for a 'niche arts audience' but are a hugely cost-effective and powerful force for health/wellbeing, education, tourism and the environment......in these difficult times we should be thinking smart and expanding spending on our community based arts centres and encouraging them to amaze us all with what they can do.
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| Gwen Adair's exhibition of new paintings is currently on show at A' the Airts |
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