Stirling-born David Galletly writes about Stirling Council’s recent arts and culture funding announcement.

The Changing Room, Stirling’s only contemporary art gallery (and one of Scotland’s best) is set to close on Saturday 30 March 2013 as part of a series of cuts to arts and culture made by Stirling Council. The plans for these cuts were announced at short notice and made without consulting the professionals or public affected. The role of Emma Hamilton, the council’s Visual Arts Development Officer, will be lost as part of the closure.

From How Children Learn by David Galletly and Ruefive at The Changing Room 2009. Photo: Ruefive

From its original location in Stirling’s Old Arcade, to its current home in The Tolbooth, The Changing Room has consistently punched above its weight and shown some amazing artwork of international-standing over the last 15 years. The closure adds to an increasingly long list of reasons not to visit the city for those unconcerned with high street shopping. A city without an art gallery? A city without an art gallery? That sounds weird, doesn’t it?

As a local artist, I’ve found the skills and experience I gained working at The Changing Room, both as a volunteer (go admire the very whiteness of the walls I painted before it’s too late!) and as an exhibitor, to be irreplaceable. Many others who also cut their teeth in the gallery now work in the arts throughout Scotland. Without it, the potential loss to Stirling’s next generation is a sore one.

As a Changing Room punter, I have seen work exhibited by (amongst others) David Shrigley, Julian House and Nathan Coley. I have attended a talk by Peter Saville as part of the Six Cities Design Festival and I’ve watched Jack The Hard Worker parade around the space in a wooly jumper and full-on Blue Man Group makeup. I’ve even learned (and subsequently forgot) how to knit there.

The withdrawal of all or part funding from a number of organisations including The Changing Room, Artlink Central, The Tolbooth, Macrobert, Stirling Writers Group and Stirling and District Arts Forum will take effect on 1 April 2013. In the days since the cuts were announced, outcry from the arts community has been loud and focused. Without immediate action, it is feared that the damage caused to Stirling’s culture could be irreversible.

Kirsteen Macdonald, former Visual Arts Development Officer at The Changing Room has set up the Stirling Arts Info Group on Facebook as a place to share and discuss the cuts. The concern of this group is not just the closure of one facility or another, but an objection to the shortsighted, ill-conceived plans proposed by Stirling Council that are based on opinion rather than proper thought and ideas.

For those looking for more news and information on the cuts, I have put together a list of resources that I intend to keep up-to-date as time progresses. On Twitter, the hashtag #stirlingarts is being used to allow people to easily follow the discussion. Many people have also been contacting Stirling councillors directly on the matter.

Where to find out more:
Website | Twitter

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