The processes described are not limited to Dundee, so it was thought worthwhile to make the whole article available.
GENESIS 1986 TO 1995
According to Bob McGilvray, consultant director of Dundee Public Arts Programme, the idea of an arts centre for Dundee originated in the printmakers' workshop and associated gallery organisation in the Seagate. It was 1986 and the old whisky bond had been leased to what had been Dundee Group Artists (Ltd) and the print workshop from Dudhope Arts Centre. McGilvray could not say from whose lips this idea sprung. Perhaps it issued forth from the wellhead of group wisdom irrigating the collective consciousness so spontaneously as to be undefinable as a single voice. The community of artists were no sooner occupying their spacious premises than they were looking to improve their position within the city. An arts centre, a greater ideal, would provide them with a more prestigious stage from which to launch their careers and too might extend the range of facilities for artists independent of the art college. Most importantly it was something for the collective consciousness to aim for.
Dundee Printmakers Workshop Ltd & Seagate Gallery had little or no money. Its rent and running costs including salaries was paid for by the District Council(DC) and Scottish Arts Council(SAC). In order to drive forward their initiative they had to interest more parties with money. Pieda, an Edinburgh-based arts consultancy, was commissioned to produce a report into the feasibility of an arts centre but, in the words of McGilvray, "It was a waste of money. They sent along some office junior who hadn't a clue." He was very dismissive but not discouraged. The Scottish Development Agency was then asked to contribute to another feasibility study. This time a consultant by the name of Tim Jacobs did the honours.
I have not been able to find a copy of what was entitled, Jacobs' Intrinsic Strategy. It was published sometime between 1989 and 1991 and cost between £15k and £25k. It was trashed. McGilvray told me that Jacobs had been asked to examine three likely sites to develop as an arts centre: a vacant building next to the Rep (repertory theatre), a vacant lot behind Dock Street, and the Seagate Gallery building itself. Jacobs' vision was to cost £600,000 per year to operate. As far as the DC was concerned his figures did not 'stack up'. They were certainly not prepared to invest such a sum in art at this time. The vision was impracticable and was summarily forgotten. The feasibility study assigned to waste paper bins throughout the city. Hence its subsequent rarity. Maybe in years to come these products of '90s culture will be seen as works of art in their own right and become highly collectable.
JUDGES
Bob McGilvray was one of the first artists to occupy Forebank Studios in 1976. He had been a post diploma student of drawing and painting at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art (DoJ) in 1975 and was highly regarded as an artist by his peers. He painted the first two public murals in Dundee which were commissioned by the DC under pressure from SAC who paid McGilvray's fee. Due to his artistic status he was selected from the ranks of Forebank Studios to assume the first modest salaried position. He was an obvious and popular choice of artists' leader. In the Seagate he enjoyed a more elevated reputation because he had become a part-time lecturer at Duncan of Jordanstone (DoJ) and had started an initiative called the Dundee Public Arts Programme of which he was the director. Originally McGilvray was paid as the Exhibitions Organiser and shared the work of running the Seagate Gallery with Ann Ross, the part-time administrator. During this time the Board of Directors was being chaired by Jonathan Bryant whose vice-chair was Steve Grimmond. The Board was still actively pursuing the dream of an arts centre as being a natural progression of Seagate gallery and its stablemate, the printmakers' workshop. However, it was told by SAC that in order to seriously pursue its ambition it would have to appoint a full-time director whose duties up until that point had been shared on an ad hoc basis by Ann Ross and Bob McGilvray. The post was advertised and McGilvray encouraged an Aberdeen-based artist called Dave Jackson who had held a successful exhibition at the Seagate to apply. Jackson's exhibition, Slockit Light, was a collaboration with Mary Scott. Steve Grimmond who was actively involved in the local art scene as a musician and printmaker resigned as vice chairman of the Board in order to apply for the director's post. It was awarded to Dave Jackson in April 1993.
When Jackson, who had been the workshop manager of Cyrenians in Aberdeen, assumed his post as Executive Director McGilvray was being employed as Exhibitions Consultant. The Board had been prepared to pay him £5000 per annum to carry out part-time duties and when Jackson was hired on a salary of £17,000 it was obvious that McGilvray's post would be sacrificed. Obvious to most people except McGilvray that is. He accused Jackson of stealing his job and as far as I know never spoke to him again. McGilvray had been enjoying a privileged position at the Seagate from where he could run the Dundee Public Arts Programme rent free and by doubling up staff could take on three part-time jobs. He remains highly critical of Jackson who, by uniting the printmakers' with the gallery under the banner, Seagate Ltd, ultimately sacrificed it to DCA Ltd.
Jackson perceived McGilvray as the 'clan chief' and was aware of the acrimony his arrival as an outsider had caused. His new broom approach and determination to reverse the collective apathy split the ranks and likely brought about recriminations that affected ensuing developments. The organisation had died on its feet as a result of the dismissing of Jacobs' report , no clear exhibition policy and a lack of proper management. With complete endorsement from his Board of Directors chaired by Sheena Bell, with Douglas Black as secretary, and supported by artists Elaine Schemilt and James Howie, Jackson effected a Nordic House styled policy: to raise the profile of locally-based artists and the gallery while bringing in the best contemporary art he could afford. He recognised the gallery as being the interface with the public and concentrated on its image. An exhibition by James Howie was sent to the Pier Arts Centre in Orkney, an exhibition by Ronnie Forbes was exchanged with one by Ian Brady from An Lanntair in Lewis and an exhibition of paintings by Alan Robb travelled to the Bonhoga Gallery in Shetland. The Saatchi organisation sent up an exhibition of multiples by Dan Lago free of charge. An international artist in residence scheme permitted Milan Milojevic from Tasmania to work in the print workshop. The Seagate's overall profile was being raised by dealing with other galleries. Live events ensured evening audiences and the annual attendance figures trebled. Jackson had been briefed by his Board to make the Seagate break even and this he did by creating a living centre of cross media events. This was proving popular but there were many who mocked him within the arty cliques and pubbing huddles where historic loyalties were watered and cultivated. Steve Grimmond applied to Seagate to hold his private birthday party in the gallery. Jackson and his Board flatly refused. Dundee is a small city with a village closeness and it is all too easy to offend and to incur petty jealousies. I believe it is these little human dramas that effect the course of history. For history is the result of the cause and effect of human relationships: the colliding and denting of egos: the marrying of partners. And this is a story of such.
BANKRUPTCY 1991
The Third Eye Centre in Glasgow was incorporated as a charitable company limited by guarantee on 3rd August 1976 and for fifteen years ran a lively mixed media programme of art events including exhibitions and performances. Chris Carrel was appointed as Director. His previous post had been in Sunderland where he ran a go-ahead gallery with a reputation for embracing the avant garde. Rumour would have it that he was not so competent when it came to managing financial practicalities. At the Third Eye his second in command was Andrew Nairne who had come from a public school background and whose brother occupied a senior post in the Arts Council of Great Britain.
Following a Registration of Charge on 16th January 1989 for securing £76,141 due in favour of TSB Scotland plc Douglas B Jackson of Stoy Hayward, Chartered Accountants, was appointed as administrator to investigate the accounting records for the fifteen months ending June 1991. This revealed a trading loss of £242,873 which compared to a reported profit of £4,618 as shown in the Management Accounts for the year ending 31st March 1991. In his written statement Jackson said, "During the fifteen months prior to my appointment, the company's expenditure on the centre's cultural activities significantly exceeded its grant funding.(£220,100 from SAC and £15,000 from Glasgow District Council per annum) A balance sheet prepared by me on a going concern basis at 18th June 1991 showed an insolvent position with current assets at £106,000 from which to meet current liabilities at £578,000." Six members of the Board of Directors resigned and a chorus of rumours echoed around the art community of Scotland. Stories of travel receipts concealed deliberately and personal extravagances on the behalf of Carrel and Nairne abounded. Councillor Jean McFadden who sat on the Board attempted a cover-up and suitable scapegoats were hunted down. In his report Jackson said, "Subsequent enquiries showed that the company's ledgers and bank account had not been updated or reconciled since 31st March 1990 and therefore management accounting information presented to the Board after that date could not be relied upon."
SAC confirmed their willingness to "provide a dividend fund for the benefit of unsecured creditors". This amounted to £125,000 but of course SAC would also have to settle other accounts to compensate for the embarrassment factor. Someone had to be held accountable for what had gone wrong at the Third Eye. Lindsay Gordon, the Visual Arts Director, had responsibility for the Third Eye so naturally he was first in the firing line. He took SAC to an industrial tribunal and won his case of unfair dismissal but the bitter irony was to follow. Andrew Nairne was appointed to Gordon's vacant office and there he stayed until destiny called in Dundee, The City of Discovery.
CONSULTATION 1993/4
Steve Grimmond has an artistic nature that does not accomodate itself within the corridors of power which are dominated by more ruthless and corrupted characters. When I interviewed him in his office at 21 City Square, Dundee on December 9th 1998 he was distinctly on edge. His body language betraying his casual executive exterior. He had been in his present post as Corporate Planning Officer since 1994. One of the first jobs he had been given was the development of the arts centre project. What he neglected to tell me was that prior to this he had been handed the Dundee Arts Strategy Consultation Document to complete and publish. The first Consultation Document is a spiral bound A4 report of 79 pages. It clearly defines The Arts as being "set out in five generic parts: A. The Visual Arts; B. Literature; C. Music; D. Sound and Vision; and E. Performing Arts." It is an audit of every facility for the afore mentioned within Dundee. It concludes with a "How You Can Help" form to be completed and returned by Monday 14th February 1994.
On the 13th December 1993 the DC's Chief Executive, Alex Stephen, issued an open letter bearing the title, 'Dundee Arts Strategy - Consultation' and enclosing a "consultation return form, How You Can Help." By completing the form arts organisations would be invited to attend an informal consultation meeting. This was convened on 27th April 1994 at the McManus Galleries, Albert Square, for 7pm. Its agenda included a 'Welcome' by Alex Stephen; a 'Chairman's Introduction' by Eric Robinson, Director of SALVO (Scottish Arts Lobby); 'Outline Remarks' by Andrew Nairne, Visual Arts Director, SAC; and 'Brief Statements' by spokespersons from the main local groups: Dundee Printmakers Workshop Ltd & Seagate Gallery, Dundee Art Society, Dundee Photographic Society, the Embroiders' Guild (Dundee & East of Scotland Branch), the Saltire Society (Dundee Branch), the School of Television and Imaging (DoJ), Dundee Rep. and several 'Individuals'. Predictably perhaps the only organisation represented that was advocating a City Arts Centre "with an emphasis on a facility like the Printmakers Workshop, but encompassing a broader range of media to include photography and electronic imaging" was DPW Ltd & Seagate Gallery. SAC suggested "that a further consultation paper setting out the goals and priorities of the Arts Strategy should be issued before the District Council agrees the Strategy." SAC also included detailed comments on the proposed new City Arts Centre and suggested "that the Public Art project should continue to receive support from the District Council and other agencies and should be widely promoted to enhance the city's image both in respect of its quality of life and also its artistic and cultural aspirations."
The second Consultation Document is a spiral bound A4 Arts Strategy of 29 pages bearing the characteristic SAC logo (Subsidised by the Scottish Arts Council). It has evidently developed from the McManus meeting and its familiar layout, style and language is so redolent of SAC documents that one concludes DC was led by the nose by its bigger brother organisation (SAC) in its production. This is confirmed in the Introduction, "The development of an Arts Strategy for Dundee compliments the Charter for the Arts in Scotland which was launched in January, 1993 by the Scottish Arts Council." At this time every Scottish city and region was undergoing identical exercises, each one subsidised and endorsed by SAC.
This second draft became a glossy A4 'Dundee Arts Strategy' fully illustrated with colour and black & white photographs and designed for public consumption. Published in December 1994, its idiom is formulaic hyperbole. The DC refers to itself as "a listening Council" who "Aims to confirm Dundee's status as a major regional centre for the Arts." The Strategy informs us that "no art activity is intrinsically superior to any other." and that as a force "arts and cultural activities can make a major contribution to 'putting the heart back into the City'". (A city that was disembowelled, dismembered and emasculated by Thomas Moore and his cronies, Charles Farquhar et al, in their reign throughout the 60s and 70s as demolition and development experts) Anyway, back to part 3.0 of the Strategy and Key Issues under which is defined "the development of a City Arts Centre, primarily for the contemporary visual Arts." On the following page under part 4.0 Strategies we find a highly questionable statement that must be linked to the City Arts Centre vision, "It is only through experiencing the best that would-be artists will be encouraged to excel." Under 4.23, Facilities, the City Arts Centre is described as being "independent", a description that would become all the more ironic with time. This statement is followed by 4.24, Economic Benefits, one being that arts provision attracts tourists and prolongs their time in the City. "To capitalise upon this a longer term strategy will be to develop links between arts, tourism and economic development organisations in the City with a project driven remit to identify high profile initatives." One presumably being the City Arts Centre. Under 4.4, Participation, it clearly states that "Every member of the community should have the opportunity both to practice and enjoy the arts. Access to creative self expression should not be in the preserve of a minority." This ethos is further declared under 4,44, Access and Equal Opportunity, "Underpinning all of the specific Arts Strategies for Dundee is a commitment to ensure equality of opportunities and of access for all." This bold little publication concludes with an Action Plan and the first priority under Short Term Action is to "Establish a Steering Group to develop proposals, locations and costs for a City Arts Centre." This is to be achieved by a grouping of the Chief Executive (Alex Stephen), SAC (Andrew Nairne) and Arts Organisations (those above mentioned as operating in Dundee) Within the glossy publication this list was extended to include a new partner, SET (Scottish Enterprise Tayside) who had obviously been encouraged, through the wording of the second edition of the Strategy, to participate as a major investor contributing £0.5m.
EXODUS 1995 to 1997
Back in Steve Grimmond's office he told me that he was placed in charge of building a partnership that could make the art centre concept work. A concept, it must be said, that was very confused in its expectations and ideology. So much so that the arts community believed that it would be independent and entirely for their benefit. Grimmond's boss, Alex Stephen, who had been in the DC during the Farquhar era and had held the post of Head of Finance and engineered the Arts Strategy, was now manipulating his officer's strings. Grimmond arranged a meeting with Dr Chris Carter at DoJ. The Deputy Principal was very keen on the arts centre proposal from the point of view of a partnership. And, according to Grimmond, was interested in the way such a project might help the college to raise its public profile and connect more strongly with the city. This meeting served to affirm the college's role as a partner within a major investment, the costs of which could not be met by the DC or any one partner alone.
Grimmond also told me that his job entailed establishing a "greater clarity". This was achieved by "listening to the different ideas of what an arts centre might be." His general recollection was "that there wasn't a huge discrepancy between what the DC wanted and what those at Seagate wanted." Grimmond's recollections are highly suspect for although the Seagate artists expected the arts centre to be independent of DoJ the DC could not develop the project without Dundee University, DoJ's parent organisation."The vision", Grimmond went on to say, "was, from the outset, that a new art centre would contain the printmakers' workshop and that the galleries would be the principal enhancement. They would have to be better than what we already had. If they weren't the whole project would be a waste of time. There were also ideas for cinemas, artists' studio space, a ceramic workshop and sculpture studio." There were even possibilities for live arts too. These informal Steering Group meetings encouraged an open forum which included Dave Jackson and James Howie from the Seagate, Ian Howard and Charles McKeen from DoJ, and the DC's Steve Grimmond and John McDougal (Finance Dept) augmented by engineers and architects. The Steering Group discussed and examined forty potential sites within Dundee. The most significant of these being MacLean's Garage in the Nethergate. A large, city centre site commanding a view of the River Tay and virtually straddling the boundary between the university campus and the city centre. From the point of view of all the major partners, DoJ, DC, SET it was the site that offered the most spectacular economic benefits in terms of its central location and tourist potential. Such a key development would also attract significant funding from SAC and other agencies. By this stage Seagate Ltd (a brand name devised to unite the print workshop and the gallery) was being castrated. It had neither the financial muscle nor the strength of a unified community of artists with which to fight off its emasculators.
This was a very condensed and energetic period in which the steamroller began to gather a momentum that was not to ease off enough for people to take stock until the building was underway. During the spring of 1995, to prepare for single tier government, while the old DC was being shadowed by Dundee City Council (DCC), a new administrative organisation was put into place. Arts & Heritage was established in April and with it a restructuring of staffing levels was implemented. Clara Young lost her role as Keeper of Art. A role that permitted local artists direct access to the McManus Galleries in terms of talking through projects and ideas. Young was replaced by a Team Leader and a Chief Arts Officer, Andrea Stark, was recruited from Sunderland in July of that year. Before relinquishing its bank account to DCC the DC purchased MacLean's Garage for the sum of £390,000. The role of the Steering Group was over. The policy of open debate was also at a close. It was time to consolidate and to develop. A private company Dundee City Arts Centre Ltd was set up and the major partners were invited to send representatives to attend regular meetings.
At this stage Seagate Ltd believed that it held a third stake in a new arts centre and felt confident that its reps, Sheena Bell and Douglas Black would report back to the Board all that was being discussed behind DCAC Ltd's closed doors. However, this naive belief was unfounded when the reps refused to inform the Board as to what was going on. No minutes were made available. Minutes that were being kept by Steve Grimmond who, when I questioned him in his office about the role of SAC and its rep, Andrew Nairne, declared quite categorically that they "were observers only. They maintained an arms length approach throughout." he said and then continued. "They never sent an observer. They received minutes........As far as I recall they were never represented." I found his statement incredulous for although SAC certainly do favour an arms length policy when it comes to dealing with their revenue clients they had certainly showed enough interest in the arts centre project from its first murmurings to take an active part through attendances by Andrew Nairne at several meetings. I asked Grimmond if Andrew Nairne had ever attended meetings of DCAC Ltd. "My recollections are," he declared, "that he was never there."
On December 22nd '98 I kept an appointment with Professor Ian Howard in his office at DoJ at 9.45am. This tall, over-grown schoolboy type had been involved in the arts centre project from the outset. He had been asked by Dr Chris Carter to attend meetings as a representative of the School of Fine Art in the company of Charles McKeen from the School of Architecture. I was hoping that his memory would be sharper than the man's who had kept the minutes. "The SAC were observers more than advisers." he confirmed. But they did attend meetings either in the person of Sue Pirnie, Amanda Catto, or Andrew Nairne. "We met once a week or once a fortnight." he continued. "SAC came once a month." According to Howard another feasibility study was commissioned. A number of consultants tendered for the job and it was, once again, awarded to Pieda. He referred to this as an interim report which outlined various options by which the arts centre might proceed. One option was chosen. "We built a much larger vision." he said. "Other consultants were brought in to develop the Business Plan." and "A bigger plan enabled it to be a larger project. We wanted to achieve 'critical mass'." he explained. Originally the college investment would have been for post-graduate studios only but as the project became bigger the potential for research facilities began to look obvious. "We have no custom-built research facilities here." he explained. "Only teaching facililties. Custom-built laboratories would make for more interesting developments, different synergies and links." I was beginning to see how dreams are made, especially when they can be endorsed and supported by large, state financed institutions, corporate development and a powerful City Council.
Howard's relatively open approach to my questions confirmed one thing. Grimmond's uneasy and edgy display had been a clumsy attempt at concealment. A botched cover-up. But what was he trying to hide? From the time DCAC Ltd appeared with a controlling influence of the project all sorts of rumours about coercion and small town gangsterism began to emerge. It was alleged that Councillors and Council employees had begun a campaign to weaken the administrative structure of Seagate Ltd. Particular Board members were harrassed. Asked to stand down. Abdicate their responsibilities. Effectively turn a blind eye to what was going on. A local guitarist with aspirations to establish an annual Guitar Festival was advised, reputedly, that the Council would not fund his event if... The past president of Dundee Photographic Society and an employee of DCC was coerced into resigning from the Board after serving on it for ten weeks only. He believes the command filtered down from a higher authority within the Council. The bully-boy tactics of the past were still in evidence. When James Howie threatened to withdraw Seagate Ltd's support of the arts centre he received a threatening letter from Alex Stephen suggesting that he was jeopardising the future development of the city. Seagate Ltd had, by this time, taken legal action to ensure that minutes of DCAC Ltd meetings were released to the Board. Later their firm of solicitors informed the Board that they could no longer represent them. At the AGM in November 1996 it was noted that Sheena Bell and Douglas Black had resigned from the Board on the 28th November 1995 while maintaining their positions in DCAC Ltd. They wanted to to preserve a continuity, but a continuity of what? Self-interest?
Grimmond had been so emphatic that he had repeated it twice. "They (Sheena Bell and Douglas Black) were representing the interests of the membership (of Seagate Ltd) which largely consisted of local artists." I had asked if local artists' interests were represented at DCAC Ltd. Clearly they were not. Local artists' only grasp of what was going on with the arts centre development was via a wilting grapevine. Seagate Ltd was effectively reduced to a scramble as Howie valiantly attempted to recruit people to sit on the Board in an attempt to hang onto threads of communication and control. The Council withdrew its financial support of £8,000 per annum and SAC likewise saved itself £80,000. And although Seagate Ltd was earning up to £30,000 a year it was evidently perceived as an organisation worth sacrificing for a greater good.The one person who should have taken up their cause, the Visual Arts Director of SAC, did not. One could be forgiven for thinking that he had set his ambition on running the new gallery now that Seagate Ltd was effectively out of the picture. According to Steve Grimmond, however, the decision to subsume Seagate Ltd if the arts centre went ahead had been discussed during the Steering Group meetings to which those at Seagate were a party. "The revenue funders," Grimmond stated, "would not duplicate their commitment. And in terms of the Seagate reps they stuck to that principle." Dave Jackson was made redundant in March '97 despite being employed to take Seagate Ltd forward as an arts centre. He took Seagate Ltd to an industrial tribunal who found the company guilty of unfair dismissal. The meek did nothing. They were hoping that those in power would allow them to inherit the earth.
VISIONS 1996 to 1999
Professor Ian Howard was not alone in taking the university's vision of a Research Centre for national and international collaborations forward. For not only did his colleague Charles McKeen attend DCAC Ltd meetings, but so too did Dr Ian Graham-Bryce, Dundee University's Principal, and Alex Stephen, DCC's Chief Executive. From reasonably modest beginnings a major development began to take shape. Arts & Heritage were incorporated into the vision along with the Steps Film Theatre which had occupied space within the Wellgate Public Library since April 1979. The vision did include the printmaker's workshop but its membership was dismantled and it was reinvented as the Print Studio. According to Howard there will be, "A continuum from local to international." The Print Studio providing the link between the ordinary practising artist with an interest in printmaking and the international research fellow invited to work in the 'Laboratory' on cutting edge, high-tech projects. Links too will be developed between the Research Centre and local industry as well as other faculties within the university, such as the Medical School.
Howard's vision is in harmony with Dundee City Council's Economic Development Plan 1996 to 1999 which seeks
"To exploit the opportunity for business creation and development through the cultural activities associated with the City and to positively channel these activities with the aim of promoting the City's image and tourist potential."
"To establish through appropriate strategies, a range of initiatives which foster the link between cultural facilities and activities. The promotion of the City as a regional centre for the arts and culture through the creation of a diverse cultural diary of events."
The Dundee Partnership that will make this come about will be the "arts sector, DoJ and other relevant local and national organisations." And the Expected Outcome - "Higher company/business birth rate. The creation of a more diverse economy. Increased profile and altered image of the City."
In the Council's Corporate Plan 1996 to 1999 it says that a new City Arts Centre "will be a significant focus for the development of Dundee's cultural industries which is a sector of the economy the City would need to achieve growth in." One-person and small businesses operated by artists and craftspeople, musicians and writers did not count as "cultural industries" for the partnership that drove forward the development of the City Arts Centre did not include them. The partnership consisted of state subsidised "cultural industries" that had access to major capital funds.Nowhere is there any mention of supporting and promoting the work of local artists who, if they create outside of the medium of printmaking, are not to be catered for within the arts centre at all.
In April 1996 an architectural competition to find a suitable design for the City Arts Centre was launched. It was advertised in the European Journal and attracted over fifty submissions. From this a panel comprising DCAC Ltd, SET, DCC, SAC and the Competitions Unit of the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland, selected a short list of eight. The eventual winning design was developed by Richard Murphy Architects from Edinburgh who have won six RIBA awards and been twice short-listed for the Stirling Prize. Their portfolio consisted of several tasty house conversions in and around the leafy suburbs of Edinburgh, adventurous schemes for unrealised projects and the renovation of the Fruitmarket Gallery also in Edinburgh. Dundee City Arts Centre would be their first major rebuild. The package to present to the Lottery Board was taking shape and it must be concluded that the decision to go for a major Lottery award had been taken during the early stages of DCAC Ltd because the Lottery as a capital funding source came on stream in March 1995. Andrea Stark, Arts & Heritage's Chief Arts Officer who had begun to attend meetings of DCAC Ltd was put in charge of the application. A comprehensive Business Plan was commissioned from Pieda. It runs to over 60 A4 pages and begins: "The Dundee City Council, in conjunction with Scottish Enterprise Tayside, is seeking Scottish Arts Council National Lottery funding to develop the Dundee City Arts Centre. The project will provide a unique experience within Scotland allowing visitors to view and participate in state of the art visual arts exhibitions and processes. The project cost amounts to ś8.6m and a contribution of ś4.8m is sought from the Scottish Arts Council (National Lottery)"
Interestingly, Background details say, "More recently the project has been championed by the Dundee Printmakers Workshop." No mention of Seagate Ltd as a driving force or a partner is made. No mention of Seagate Ltd as an organisation with a director and board of directors is made. On page 53 under Construction Costs it states that "the disposal costs of the Seagate Gallery, have been included." It goes on to say, "The disposal cost has been calculated to be £168,000, if the Council has to buy out the lease from 1998 to 2010." Presumably these details were being discussed at meetings of DCAC Ltd while Seagate Ltd still had a director on a salary and an understanding that he was to be responsible for taking the arts centre project forward. Dave Jackson and James Howie were quite right to feel concerned for it is obvious that Seagate Ltd as an organisation was to disappear while its 'sub brand' organisation who shared the same building would survive. Through a misleading and confusing use of brand names Seagate Ltd had been divorced in people's minds from the print workshop. If the gallery was to be redundant so too was its director despite the fact that as Executive Director he was responsible for both organisations.This underhand strategy made economic sense because the new Print Studio relied on the old DPW Ltd equipment while the gallery was simply an empty space with no material assets to carry forward. We can also assume that this strategy and the entire contents of the Business Plan were being debated and finely tuned during meetings of DCAC Ltd.
The Business Plan is a very comprehensive document and its Mission, "to increase audiences, extend participation, and to engender a greater understanding and appreciation of the contemporary visual arts and film." sounds exciting, innovative and extremely seductive. "The aims and objectives for the Dundee City Arts Centre are as follows:
DUNDEE CONTEMPORARY ARTS LTD
The first issue of Artifax, Dundee's alternative voice (a listings magazine), arrived in December 1997. Its stated aim was "to provide a publication which will inform, entertain and encourage debate on the arts and music scene," Issue No. 3 Feb/Mar '98 published a feature on Dundee Contemporary Arts showing an artist's impression of the L-shaped building beneath lists of facilities which it will house: Visual Research Centre, Print Studio, Activity and Meeting Rooms, Caf‚, Shop, Cinemas and Galleries. It would also house the offices of Arts & Heritage, Dundee Public Arts Programme, and Health Care Arts. In short, every so-called independent visual arts organisation in the city except Generator, a young group of recent graduates. There was also a two page interview with Andrew Nairne, DCA Ltd's Director.
DCA Ltd had been formed in May 1997 after the dissolvement of DCAC Ltd and three months after its director's post had been advertised. Many rumours about the charmed chancer, Andrew Nairne, had preceded this frustratingly superficial interview. His appointment had been a "stitch-up" according to one academic at DoJ. Allegedly he had been in a position to negotiate his own salary when, as an SAC rep, he had attended meetings of DCAC Ltd. Almost everyone in the know in Dundee will tell you how he handed in his resignation at SAC two months before the post of Director was advertised. The post was advertised in February 1997 and, according to Prof Ian Howard who assisted with the interviews, attracted a fairly wide field of applicants. Only two, however, were deemed suitable. An anonymous person from London and Andrew Nairne. Both were interviewed by Andrea Stark, Ian Howard and Councillor Andrew Lynch, convener of Arts & Heritage. All three having attended meetings alongside Nairne throughout the planning and development of the city arts centre project. No wonder conspiracy theories multiplied. Nairne took up his post in May 1997 and according to the Pieda Business Plan was to receive a salary of £21,740. But then at this time the company with responsibility for the operation of the galleries, print studio, cinemas and caf‚ franchise was to be named Dundee Visual Arts Ltd. Later the word 'Visual' was to be replaced by 'Contemporary', a trade name to describe a hybrid, homogenised artform that often denies its cultural origins.
Nairne gave little away in his Artifax interview. What he did say actually raised more questions for at the time no one had the benefit of the facts as collected herein. This story is, in many respects, a response to the inadequacies of the interview and the circulation of fanciful rumours. 'Prime', the opening exhibition (at the time of writing six months overdue) Nairne did say, will be "a large group exhibition with artists from Scotland, London, Europe, America, Japan, Australia and so on." They are to be Tatsuo Miyajima, Callum Innes, Louise Hopkins, Sarah-Jane Selwood, Ann Hamilton, Kiki Smith, Andy Warhol, Anish Kapoor, Tony Cragg, Catherine Yass, Joseph Beuys, Johnny Warrangula Tjupurrula, Rebecca Horn and Anya Gallaccio who, "will be doing one of her wonderful daisy chains. These are huge daisy chains made of red gerbera and they will run all the way from the ceiling down to the floor and they'll decay over the time of the exhibition." This inaugural show will not include any Dundee-based artists but nine collaborative works do include five locally-based artists. These being: a text and image collaboration between John Burnside and Will MacLean; five pieces for guitar composed by John McPherson and performed by Alan Neave; a small souvenir free to the first few thousand visitors by Cathy Wilkes, 'Transformation', a short film plus associated poster work by Simon Starling; a poem by Don Paterson; a text work by Douglas Gordon; a planting project by Anya Gallaccio which will establish indigenous moss, lichen and other plants on the terrace wall; and an action/performance piece by Elin Wikstr"m. George Wylie performed his contribution, 'A Bucket of Ice' on the evening of December 10th '98 to a select audience of eighty people mostly from the ranks of DoJ and DCC. Wylie erected his portable spire, played his ukulele, signed a few ice cubes, waffled on slipping in trite references to Patrick Geddes, and said some 'nice' things about Dundee. These DCA Projects are referred to as collaborative projects between the DCA partners, the first series as described being funded as part of the Lottery support for the new building.
"Artifax: Will there be space for local artists to show?
AN: If they fit the vision of what we're trying to do in the centre there certainly will be space. We are not a gallery for local art, however, I know we will be showing artists who are based in Dundee or this part of Scotland." What was beginning to emerge was a familiar story of cultural imperialism mixed with elitist values that might well disenfranchise local artists completely.Dundee-based artists most likely referred to those associated with the Research Centre and not the broader community who have decided to work here permanently.
"Artifax: Will there be gallery space for the Printmakers' Workshop?
AN: There's not a specific gallery for work made in the print studio, however, there will be small exhibitions in the shop space." The historic link with the printmakers and Seagate Gallery had ensured quality exhibition space for printmaking permitting the showing of large works. This appeared now to have been lost and although £8,968,756 had been spent creating an arts centre that had the complete backing of the local art community at the consultation stage the fundamental issues surrounding how it might best serve its congregation had been lost during its development. Nairne's interview precipitated healthy ire in following issues of Artifax and the local press. The angriest voice was that of Dundee Photographic Society.
DPS ECLIPSED
As part of Dave Jackson's campaign to make DPW Ltd & Seagate Gallery viable he invited the local photographic society to hold their weekly meetings in the gallery every Monday night. At this time their past chairman was on the Board of Seagate and there was a strong sense of partnership. The weekly meetings soon led to DPS moving their equipment into the Seagate's darkroom. Not only had Jackson increased his gallery attendance figures but he had also boosted DPW Ltd membership to 233 by offering associate membership for a token fee of £5 per annum to the photographers.
The publication of DPW Ltd's Financial Report for the year up to 31st March 1996 showed that although the company turned over £38,205 in sales and received £80,000 from SAC plus £20,000 from the DC it had only £306 in the bank. This caused some notable concern within DPS's ranks. Fearing that DPW Ltd might cease trading altogether DPS implemented a complete inventory of all their equipment in DPW's darkroom and considered removing it entirely to a "place of safety." Seagate Ltd Chairman's Report for the year 1995/96 declared, "The City Arts Centre project has now become a reality with the successful lottery bid being managed by Dundee City Council. As our funding bodies SAC and DCC are unable to fund both organisations Seagate Ltd has called in a consultant to ensure it is wound down in a business like fashion whilst attempting to give the best possible service to its membership and the general public until its closure."
By the time this statement was made widely available at the AGM in November '96 DPS was already in correspondence with Andrea Stark. In a letter to her dated 6th November the society detailed rent payments of around £1300 and membership and darkroom fees of £120 per annum it had made to DPW over a three year period form 1994 to '97. This implied that DCA Ltd might enjoy similar financial benefits if it was to permit access to DPS. A meeting with Andrea Stark at the McManus Galleries on the same day at 4.00pm to discuss future availability of Seagate and the opportunity to be a part of the new arts centre did not encourage DPS at all. Stark made it clear that the meeting room in the new arts centre would accommodate fifty people maximum. DPS required space to seat eighty. Stark offered the use of other buildings within the city, eg the Caird Hall, the Steps Film Theatre. Such alternatives, however, offered no storage space for equipment or darkroom facilities. In a letter dated 13th November from A. Stark to John Stewart, DPS's president, the Chief Arts Officer says that the new arts centre plans "currently incorporate darkroom facilities within the print workshop area that will be designed to be accessible to groups and individuals." She continues by informing DPS that the meeting room in the new arts centre "may be a little small for your needs and may not be able to be offered to you exclusively every Monday evening." Again she suggested looking at alternatives via George Docherty, a contact officer with whom DPS should liaise. John Stewart replied on the 15th November saying, "we are effectively being excluded from using the new arts centre for our 39 weekly meetings of the year and that the darkrooms as drawn do not meet the requirements for teaching darkroom skills." He continues by suggesting altering the size of the meeting room to accommodate parties as recommended in the Arts Centre Business Plan, page 23, "to facilitate the independent hire by corporate, community and other users." DPS had examined the plans for the arts centre and deduced that the meeting room could quite simply be extended by moving walls, none of which were load-bearing.
A meeting with George Docherty at the McManus Galleries on 5th December '96 at 4.00pm to discuss this proposal and to suggest that Docherty act as liaison between the architect and David Watt, Print Studio manager, who was effectively in charge of equipping the new facility resulted in stalemate. Docherty was "no help at all". He said that plans could not be altered and tried to persuade the society to take his offer of the Marryat Hall, an annexe of the Caird Hall. A solution that DPS had already examined and turned down. DPS suggested to Docherty that he arrange a meeting with them and the architect plus David Watt. This he could not do without Ms Stark's consent. In a letter from Andrea Stark to the DPS dated 23rd December '96 she again hopes that "you will at least consider the use of the Marryat Hall." She continues, "The darkroom plans are also now finalised. I would refer you to Mr David Watt of DPW who will be happy to discuss with you the darkroom set-up and how it is to be organised for use." With regard to a meeting with the architect she says, "I am afraid this would be neither possible nor productive. As stated above, the plans are finalised and, as the Council is the architect's client, he could only be instructed by the Council." The Council was indeed proving to be a "listening" one but also one whose mind was firmly made up and whose attitude was inflexible. Stark concludes, "It will be important to the Council that all groups, including your group, have the opportunity of access to the Centre which is why, among many other things, darkrooms and printmaking facilities have been incorporated." This appears to have been her final word on the matter and as a consequence DPS turned their collective back on hopes of being a part of the new dream facilities in the Nethergate. The society found a church hall near to the new arts centre in which to hold their weekly Monday evening meetings. They hire darkroom space from Ardler Community Centre for £1 an hour, a deal unlikely to be bettered by DCA Ltd.
While giving me a guided tour of the new Print Studio on December 15th '98 David Watt, who had joined the staff of Seagate Ltd in 1996 as a Collaborative Printmaker, told me that he thought DPS had been unreasonable and intransigent. The largest of the new darkrooms will accomodate three Kaiser enlargers and take a class of no more than six users. He exaggerated when he said DPS's plans would have taken up half of his available space. Apparently the cafe area had been extended after the plans had been 'finalised' thereby diminishing the scale of the Print Studio. He said there were still opportunities for dialogue and he would welcome DPS's input but clearly their engagement as a body of eighty-plus members was not on. Watt would welcome them as individual users in order to fulfill his remit of permitting access to the public and amateur artists. I could detect a whiff of exclusivism for Watt wants to attract semi-professional artists and recent graduates whose skills might link up with production facilites downstairs in the research labs.
A PREVIEW FOR ARTISTS
On Wednesday 29th April 1998 a DCA Ltd orchestrated event took place at Discovery Point, a key heritage location on the waterfront displaying the sailing ship, 'Discovery'. Few artists in the community had any inkling of what the university's role within the new arts centre would be or, more crucially, what access for locally-based artists would be. Again rumours abounded and the air was thick with disgruntlement. Due to strict fire regulations the audience was restricted to 120 although 500 invitations had been mailed out. No one not on the mailing list would be admitted. I don't think anyone was turned away. The audience comprised some artists, people involved in the arts, and 'captains of industry' whom DCA Ltd and the university were eager to court with a view to establishing financial partnerships with the Research Centre. Andrew Nairne sent apologies for absence. Apparently his wife was giving birth in Glasgow's maternity hospital. Norrie Colston, Arts & Heritage Manager, deputised. He was surprised to see so many artists present, he said. After telling us that the new arts centre offered great opportunities for artists in Dundee he handed over to Bill Black, the project architect who gave us a simulated guided tour of the building with the aid of video projection. Norrie Colston then gave us a brief historical run down of the development process and some of the benefits we could expect including an improved education and outreach programme, artist-led projects relating to the community, a better grant scheme, a meeting room for artists' groups, an activity room for community action projects, a much improved cinema with two screens, a caf‚ bar and an artists' information point.
David Watt then described the range of machinery and facilities that would mark such improvements from the old print workshop at Seagate. "The equipment", he said, "would be unparalleled in the UK." Artists would be able to "work at the interface between traditional and new technology." Three new screen printing tables, the largest of which is 6'x4', will be power assisted as is the new guillotine for slicing etching plates. There will also be paper making equipment and a large format multi purpose, motorised press capable of printing to 60"x90". There are three separate darkrooms, one with a screen exposure unit, vertically mounted to accommodate 6'x4' format, a screen drying rack with a 6'x5' light-box built in to the top surface. There are also separate rooms for acid processes and aquatint. Two computer terminals with A3 inkjet operating to 1440 dpi will permit artists to make colour separations and link to other associated processes.
Later, during my guided tour of the near-completed Print Studio, David Watt told me a little of the financial implications. Users will pay a notional registration fee of £10 per year which will start them off with a laminated, photo-identity card on the reverse of which one's expertise will be graded. As the user passes training sessions on particular machinery and processes the more s/he stands a chance of moving downstairs to work in the Research Centre. Training sessions will cost over and above normal session fees and material costs. However, the Print Studio will be subsidised whereas the Research Centre will not. Artists trained to use the hi-tech equipment in the Research Centre will have access if they bring the necessary funding to pay for hire and material costs. From what I have been able to gather through talking with David Watt and Ian Howard and listening to Deirdre Mackenna's talk at Discovery Point the Research Centre will specialise in producing the art of DoJ staff, post-graduates, invited artists and collaborative projects with industry. A rapid prototyping system has been installed with the aid of the European Regional Development Fund which contributed £1.56m to the project. This technology permits three-dimensional models to be produced in a range of materials from computer generated artwork or even body scans. The potential for selected artists to work with medicos in recreating body parts is futuristic. A high-speed automatic screen-printing machine for large edition publications has also been installed as part of the publishing centre which will have its own imprint for fine art books and electronic publications. Howard's vision is one of a truly collaborative research culture which is project led and international in flavour. He describes a continuum from local artist to international artist with the public having occasional access as spectators. Any project, he explains, must have a public access aspect. He also informed me that the university had invested "very little" in terms of capital funding (Grimmond had informed me that the university's share of the capital investment had been £0.5m) but the official figure is c. £197k and it will pay between £60k and £70k per annum in rent to DCC. It's as though this cutting edge art laboratory for a cultural elite, made possible by punters chasing fantasies of immeasurable wealth, is being justified by giving the public an insight into mock science which is beyond their grasp. Such a hierarchical structure can only widen the gap between professional and amateur artists and help to drive a wedge between those science-linked research artists and those outside of the institute.
MUSICIANS UNITE
Artifax No 4, Apr/May '98 published a feature on dance in Dundee. It informed us "that Scottish Dance Theatre has secured a 14.2% increase in funding from SAC, funding from the Baring Foundation over a 3 year period and a grant of £95,117 from the SAC National Lottery Fund." It continued: "The proposed Dundee College centre has already attracted a £2.3 million grant from SAC National Lottery Fund." This news assured a place for dance within Dundee but it is curious that this expression was never considered within the plans for the new arts centre. Perhaps the root lies within SAC's decision making process which favoured keeping dance as a separate case altogether.
Dance is relatively new to Dundee culture whereas music is an integral part of the city. That there is no contingency for it within DCA Ltd reflects the poor understanding of those responsible for developing the project. As more information about the arts centre has seeped out into the community Kevin Murray has risen to the fore as spokesman for local musicians working in the idiom of rock, jazz and popular music. Murray is vocal in his criticism and political in his attack. You either like him or hate him. He has been a professional musician and composer for nineteen years since the age of twentyone. He says, "There's no medium in music I'm not afraid to trash." This approach has led to commissions from the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Dundee People's Orchestra, BBC2 and Channel 4. Born in Dundee, Murray has an intimate knowledge of the city's musicology and explains how the transition from the old DC to the single tier DCC marked a dramatic change in attitude and funding. In July '96 DCC set up a Music Consultation Forum to discuss a lack of music facilities in Dundee. In October that year it was announced that the music education budget for the city had been cut by £165,000.
Last July it was announced that Arts & Heritage had won yet another tranche of Lottery funding. This time £180,000 was to be invested in music development. In real terms there was no financial gain because this sum merely replaced what had been cut from the music education budget in '96. According to Murray there had been no consultation with the Music Consultation Forum prior to the application although it had used the Forum's name alongside DCA Ltd and those who belong to the Dundee Music Partnership to secure its bid. This comprises Traditional Music Dundee, Royal Scottish National Orchestra (RSNO), Dundee Guitar Festival Trust, Dundee Jazz Festival, and the Forum. "The Lottery is not meant to be a substitute!" declares Murray in anger.
One of Kevin Murray's many anecdotes concerns 'Discovery Day'. The date of its staging was not missed by Kevin Murray, "It took place on April Fools Day 1996 and only one Dundonian musician performed at it!" He was a member of the Dougie MacLean Band and the entire event had been organised by Headline Events from Sunderland, coincidentally the city from which Andrea Stark had come to fill the post of Chief Arts Officer. Six months after her arrival in Dundee she had been responsible for organising 'Discovery Day'.
While she was Head of Arts Development with Sunderland City Council, Stark was not entirely popular with locally-based artists. They disliked her closed door tactics which appealed to Sunderland City Council. Some, however, thought her a "sharp cookie". An astute woman who was 'good' at her job. So far she has not cut much ice with Kevin Murray. Further angered by Arts & Heritage's decision to spend the £180,000 lottery windfall, over a three-year period, on creating the post of Music Development Officer and awarding variable amounts per year to each member of the Dundee Music Partnership while there are no live music opportunities within the city arts centre Murray called an open meeting at the Westport Bar on September 7th '98 at 7pm.
This meeting was attended by a relatively silent gathering of musicians, a small delegation from DPS and one or two visual artists who politely and attentively listened to all that Murray had to say. There was a consensus that something should be done to lobby for a live music venue in the city which would be comparable to Aberdeen's Lemon Tree. Following from this positive gathering meetings were convened to air the musicians' views in the company of DCC.
On 7th December '98 at 1pm an informal meeting of the Dundee Music Consultation Forum was held in the Assembly Rooms in Gellatly Street. This was attended by Andrea Stark and Norrie Colston from Arts & Heritage and chaired by Councillor Robin Presswood. Also present were representatives from most interested musical groupings within the city as well as Artifax and numerous individuals. Although being billed as 'informal' the meeting had a set agenda during which all reps had their say. Brian Lindsay of Artifax raised a complaint about the triviality of the last meeting's minutes which "had read like a press release" and had no formal or objective substance. Particular points raised had been censored giving the distinct impression that there were no voices of dissent present when evidently there had been. The minutes had been kept by DCC who offered a rather limp excuse saying that the minutes reflected the informality of the meeting. Such a procedure would not have occurred during the time of the old DC for then all minutes were rigorously kept. Here DCC was obviously setting an agenda for talks that were disguised as informal, with edited minutes, that carried decision-making weight while excluding any voice of dissent. DCC and Councillor Presswood in particular wanted to maintain control.
Steve Grimmond was called upon to explain his role in the development of a new music venue. He spoke about forming a partnership with a business which would operate a venue as a commercial concern. DCC, he explained, had no money to invest in the project but was prepared to assume the role of liaison ensuring that all members of the Dundee Music Partnership gained from the deal. DCC were merely building on an historical relationship between the music industry and corporate business. Kevin Murray then addressed the assembly putting forward the case of MIDI (Musicians In Dundee Initiative) which had been formally constituted to take forward the idea of a purpose-built music centre. Murray is determined to reverse the procedure of public forums whereby MIDI sets the agenda and makes demands on DCC. MIDI, he believes should be able to put in a Lottery bid to raise the necessary capital to build a music centre in Dundee.
There is a distinct cyclical pattern emerging but with one obvious difference. Politicised cultural workers like Kevin Murray have learnt not to be so naive and trusting in their dealings with the DCC bully-boys and ambitious career-minded arts administrators as previously mentioned visual artists were.
EPILOGUE 1999
Of course it is far too premature to judge how DCA Ltd might fulfill its own remit in the Business Plan because it is not scheduled to open until March of this year. However, we can assess its character on the evidence of what has emerged in this story. After a period of consultation followed by a duplicitous development when artists were not informed as to what was being discussed behind closed doors a partnership representing the interests of powerful organisations within Dundee, with the complicity of SAC, railroaded through a vision that failed to address the needs of local artists. The resulting institution will enhance the career prospects of those who were directly responsible for its development and further the careers and status of an exclusive minority who operate within its studios and laboratories.
DCA's internal hierarchy is based totally upon the assumption that the 'best' art is produced by those with an art college training. It fails, therefore, to acknowledge that some of the 'best' art of the 20thC was produced by artists who were outside of this self-acclaimed elite. Names like Van Gogh, Gauguin, Scottie Wilson, Adolf W"lfli and Alo‹se Corbaz spring immediately to mind while there are many more. Academic research during the last fifty years has shown that there is an equality within art which DCA's philosophy denies. Instead of commencing from the basis that all artists are equal it imposes a pyramidal power structure onto art, at the top of which are the staff of DoJ. Local artists will provide a workforce for the facilities within the institution and perform outreach and educational roles. That the exhibition policy excludes locally-based artists on the assumption that their work would not attract tourists speaks for itself.
That the welfare and interests of the local community of artists was sacrificed by DCA's perspicacious and career-blinded developers in favour of a corporate vision is obvious by the way they refused to accommodate the city's largest grouping of amateur and professional photographers who have been promoting the medium (and the city) since 1880. The photography darkrooms are geared to service the requirements of printmakers and not necessarily individualistic photographers.
The absence of a creche is a blatant denial of the existence of women artists with young children. These artists are the most vulnerable in terms of the struggle to create. Without a caring support structure many simply give up. That the developers represented a white Christian majority within a city of a diverse cultural blend must also be noted.
Despite all the rhetorical devices employed to secure Lottery funding the keystone to DCA's existence is its claim upon the territory of tourist and economic development. That Dundee University has 11,257 students plus staff on campus and contributes approximately £10m to the city's economy is the central reason why it was invited to join the arts centre partnership. Not only is its rent and investment crucial to the building's economic viability but its staff and students will produce the art component, provide an audience for events, and help staff the facilities.
There has always been an unhealthy umbilical connection between art groups in Dundee and DoJ as mother figure. Such symbiosis has not assisted a truly independent artscene with sufficient cultural distance from 'mother' to make radical and original art. Now that DoJ has secured an even stronger position within the heart of the city and within the very citadel of art production which also houses two public art bodies, the art cinema, and the DCC's art administration offices there is absolutely no cultural distance whatsoever between state run institutions and art. The state has the controlling influence on art in Dundee and this does not bode well for a culture that is taking its first steps towards independence. That the state is so firmly behind the construction of DCA as a "unique cultural institution" with links to similar hi-tech institutions in Europe reflects New Labour's millennialist vision for the 21stC rather than a more modest and fundamental solution as proposed by Dundee-based artists. With New Labour's aspiration influencing Lottery funded projects, which tend towards over-excessive schemes requiring vast sums to maintain and operate at the tax payers expense, there is a danger that those sectors of the community most in need will be disenfranchised and alienated. This state of affairs being exemplified in Dundee where individualistic and self-taught artists will shy clear of DCA because it has little or nothing to offer them.
Not only has the original notion of an arts centre independent of DoJ and serving, first and foremost, the interests of the local community of artists been lost, but the very name 'arts centre' has gone from this new institution's corporate logo. The building is now called Dundee Contemporary Arts (DCA) and a pale, electric blue neon sign, visible from the waterfront and railway approaches to the city, advertises it as such.