Information Bulletin
05 December 2005
New Arts Trustees Appointed
Shetland Islands council and Shetland Charitable Trust are pleased to announce that the Board of the new Arts Development Agency has now been appointed.
The successful appointees are: Lynsey Anderson; Gussie Angus; Geoffrey Bevan; Ivan Coghill; Joanne Jamieson; Jim Johnston; Christine McLean; Donald S. Murray; Roxane Permar; and Cameron Rae. Interviews were held last week to appoint the ten new Trustees who will assume responsibility for the new organisation from 1 April 2006.
SIC's Cultural Spokesperson and member of the Interviewing Panel, Mr Eddie Knight, said "We were extremely impressed with the number and quality of the candidates who put themselves forward. It was a very difficult process because we had to try and ensure that we achieved the right balance on the Board in terms of skills, knowledge and experience. We also tried to get a good balance in relation to age, gender, geographic location and artistic interest".
The SIC's Project Board, which is overseeing the management of this process, is hoping to arrange the first meeting of the new Arts Development Agency Board sometime before the Christmas holiday. This will provide an a opportunity for new Board members to find out about what needs to be done before the organisation assumes full responsibility in April for the development of the arts in Shetland.
A comprehensive induction and development programme has been organised to take place in January to be delivered by Arts & Business Scotland to provide the new appointees with information about all aspects of their responsibilities as Board members.
At present, a draft of the new Trust Deed is with the Inland Revenue for the purpose of securing charitable status for the new organisation. In the meantime, the new Trustees will be fully involved in the process of appointing a new Arts Development Manager and other members of the staff team.
The new Board will also have a responsibility for working up the details of the new service and deciding what aspects should be given priority. These details will be set out in a Service Level Agreement between the new Agency and both Shetland Islands Council and Shetland Charitable Trust.
This process will be informed by the Shetland Cultural Strategy, which is managed by the SIC's Community Development Services, as a means co-ordinating all aspects cultural development in the Islands. Head of Service Mr George Smith said: "This is an exciting new phase for arts development in Shetland and we look forward very much to working in partnership with the new Agency".
Ends….
For further information please contact:
Mr George Smith
Head of Community Development Services
Shetland Islands Council
Hayfield House
Hayfield Lane
Lerwick ZE1 0QD
Tel: 01595 744039
or
Ms Hazel Sutherland
General Manager
Shetland Charitable Trust
22-24 North Road
Lerwick ZE1 0NQ
Tel: 01595 744990