Burrell sets benchmark: A capital idea comes out of recession

speed.

The Burrell set a new benchmark and opened a memorable decade when

Scottish art and artists, past and present, drew international acclaim

and kudos to Scotland. The development agencies quickly recognised their

economic pulling power and now, especially in Glasgow, involved the arts

in their long-term strategies.

But Angus Grossart, chairman of the National Galleries of Scotland

(NGS), also believes that the potency of the arts is especially

important in a period of recession. With an eye on 1996 (designated

Britain's Year of Visual Art), and the coming millennium, he and his NGS

trustees are proposing to create something new.

''We are not just aiming to move things around a bit because we are

short of space. We want to originate an entirely new gallery which will

act as a magnet for wonderful works: a home for Scottish art and applied

arts.''

The concept of The National Gallery of Scottish Art (or Scottish

Gallery as it is known for short) has created terrific controversy since

it was launched last August, but shows no sign of going away. Indeed, in

the last 12 months, it has been keenly fought over by both Glasgow and

Edinburgh.

A new open-mindedness has recently resulted in an encouraging amount

of consultation and collaboration between the two cities. And, after

all, Glasgow and Edinburgh are only 45 miles apart.

With an improved M8 (soon to be aesthetically attractive as well as

efficent, courtesy of Motorola and Pat Leighton among others) and --

some day -- high-speed trains, there is no reason why the two should not

act together to achieve what is best for Scotland.

Last week the impossible happened. Trustees of the NGS spent a day in

Glasgow looking at possible sites for the proposed Scottish Gallery.

Locate in the West? Outside the capital? Well, why not?

''Since I arrived nine years ago, it has always worried me that the

NGS are seen as an Edinburgh organisation when, in fact, they are

national and funded by everyone,'' says Tim Clifford, NGS director.

''Long before the Scottish Gallery was mooted, I had looked at lots of

buildings in Glasgow. I was keen to establish a branch of the NGS there.

Were the new gallery to be situated in Glasgow, there would be the

immediate advantage of a conurbation of nearly three million people.

Glasgow Museums and Galleries have a proven track record of attracting

very large audiences.''

Clifford adds: ''Glasgow is already blessed with a major holding of

Scottish art. The introduction of the National Collection would

immediately combine to make it the finest holding of Scottish art in the

world.''

Moreover, as he wrote in the August issue of Antique Collector

magazine: ''All the sites and buildings on offer from Glasgow will be

free.'' In Edinburgh all cost money, some in excess of #12m.

Last week's invitation to the trustees came from the Glasgow

Development Agency, supported by the district council, and backs up the

agency's initial bid for the Scottish Gallery made in December and

publicly announced in March. ''Glasgow didn't hang around, and we won't

let it rest,'' says Julian Spalding, Glasgow's director of museums and

art galleries. Stuart Gulliver, GDA chief executive, concurs. ''It's

bruited that the GDA will do anything to get the Scottish Gallery to

Glasgow.''

Lunch at the City Chambers, hosted by the Lord Provost and attended

by, among others, Jean McFadden, Pat Lally, and Gulliver, was followed

by a visit to Glasgow Art Gallery to be shown what top calibre art and

artefacts are on offer. Then, despite pouring rain, two new-build sites

in Kelvingrove Park were inspected before a visit to the old sheriff

court in Ingram Street. ''We walked from George Square via John Street

and the Italian Centre so they could get the feel of the city centre,''

explained Spalding.

He went on to say that Kelvingrove would provide a link with the

Hunterian and Glasgow Art Gallery while the sheriff court, where

Classical House and Page and Park have provided the development plans,

is near Stirling's Library, soon to be Glasgow's new Museum of Modern

Art. Over in Edinburgh a prospectus of eight sites includes an idea to

link the Portrait Gallery by a bridge to an adjoining St Andrew Square

building.

This was one of the more feasible suggestions examined in an appraisal

by planning and economic consultants Pieda, commissioned by the NGS

trustees, funded by the Scottish Office to the tune of #50,000, and

published in May. All agree that the trustees' first option, Dean

Education Centre in Belford Road, must be ruled out as too distant.

Clifford is also interested in a site near Holyrood while Martin Kemp,

Fine Art professor at St Andrews University, has mooted an extension to

the National Gallery on the Mound over Princes Street Gardens --

although this does not feature in the Pieda report which, unlike the

secret document on Edinburgh's new Museum of Scotland, was sensibly made

public.

So what did the visitors see last week? Did it go well? ''We were very

impressed by Glasgow's presentation. Top form. You can quote me on

that,'' says Grossart. ''The 'make it happen' factor is important to us.

Glasgow has that ability and commitment. But it's early days.''

While all concerned, both in Glasgow and Edinburgh, are playing it

cool (''no foregone conclusion; just a beginning; essential that a

statesmanlike decision is reached''), I personally am bowled over by the

sheriff courthouse proposal. It's sensational; to my mind by far the

most exciting, imaginative, startling, yet feasible concept possible. It

catches the imagination, fires the spirit, and could result in the first

truly international, world-class city centre public building for

Scotland.

Its strength comes from the design concept, which at a stroke gives

the NGS what they want and also transforms the heart of the Merchant

City. It's a mix of new build and conservation; the best of both worlds.

Moreover it doesn't need a costly, time-consuming architectural

competition and as the plans keep the nineteenth-century Greek

Revivalist exterior intact, the Prince of Wales need not interfere. At a

push, if the November decision deadline is adhered to, it can be ready

for 1996. At #14m it's cheap; #4.2m cheaper than Edinburgh; #3m cheaper

than the Pieda report estimated.

So, take one dirty black sheriff courthouse. Retain the imposing

shell. Clean it. Demolish the interior. Suspend a huge curved ship-like

container inside, floating high overhead under a brand-new,

Palladian-style roof to form the top three and a half floors. Entered

from Ingram Street via a ground floor atrium, this would form the

self-contained Scottish Gallery.

Close off the two adjoining streets (Brunswick and Hutcheson) and

transform the whole area into a paved pedestrian space full of trees and

cafes. Make it people-friendly, a truly European place. Invite visitors

to linger. Abutt commercial development: quality shops, restaurants, and

bars on the ground floors. Make elevated terraces in the style of the

original Greek town planning stoas.

By day a bustling commercial Merchant City containing an international

flagship Gallery of Scottish Art: by night, an illuminated landmark

''cultural liner'' to rival Paris's Pompidou Centre or Stuttgart's

Staatsgalerie.

An intelligent, imaginative, and eye-catching building design in

itself is, of course, not enough. The interface between commercial,

retail, and civic use -- and funding -- (Glasgow benefits from EC money;

Edinburgh does not) is a plus. The wholehearted backing of a development

agency like Glasgow's also helps.

But in the end the trustees can only recommend; the siting of the

Scottish Gallery is up to Ian Lang as Secretary of State for Scotland.

There are few Tory votes in Glasgow. Will this be the deciding factor?

Cynics would say yes. Others are not so sure. ''You're pushing at an

open door when you raise part of the project budget by sharing costs

with the private sector,'' says John Sheridan of Classical House.

Spalding agrees. ''I believe the long-term economic factors and

benefits from the GDA, EC funding, and the business community that

Glasgow can provide will override political imperatives.''

Does he see it as an invasion of his territory?

''Not at all. I am very keen for the Scottish Gallery to come to

Glasgow. We have asked the trustees what they want and offered to find

it for them. If they want a city centre site they can have it; a

greenfield site for new build, they can have it. After all, Pieda found

in favour of Glasgow.''

Kevin Kane, GDA's head of international city projects, argues that

with Glasgow, Scotland would get a better gallery, containing better art

and applied arts, with better funding, EC money, more income, and many

more visitors. The Scottish Gallery would be good for Glasgow and

Glasgow would be good for it.

Kane elaborates. ''The product on offer in Glasgow gives a different

product to what is on offer in Edinburgh. I think the trustees realise

that and are excited by what we put on the table. This includes all the

small but important mechanics that make a project achievable. This

includes parking made easy, no planning hassles, etc. Plus, a vital,

genuine, warm welcome.''

Kane also believes that Grossart and Clifford are aware the game plan

has changed since they first flew their kite back in August last year.

The siting of the Scottish Gallery is no longer just a question of

location and logistics (short or longer lines of communication in

administration, conservation, public relations, etc). The trustees face

a more fundamental decision which could rejuvenate the NGS and allow it

break into a much bigger, brand-new market in the West. But only they

can decide what kind of animal they want for 2000 AD.

Moreover the plan involved, a broad sweep of Scotland's culture

embracing the fine, decorative, and applied arts on one site,

strengthens Glasgow's case. Both Clifford and Spalding advocate this and

all agree it should have been done in the context of the new #32m Museum

of Scotland in Edinburgh's Chamber Street but crazily was not.

There is no possibility of this sort of interaction in Edinburgh. A

Glasgow Scottish Gallery could, however, take advantage of loans from

world-class collections like the Burrell and Hunterian.

''A Scottish Gallery is not intended as a crude display of

nationalism,'' says Clifford. ''This mix makes good sense, showing on

the one hand the pictorial development through images: portraits of her

great men, historical events, feats of arms, commerce, industry, sports,

and pastimes, while on the other showing the contemporaneous development

of a separate and quite recognisable Scottish national school.''

Kemp recognises but does not back this view. ''It's a solution to the

current political climate across the world which is focusing on national

identities, but it may go out of fashion.''

I believe there is still a lot of hard thinking required on the

Scottish Gallery. The danger of a ghetto is admittedly ameliorated by

the broader brush, art-and-applied-art approach, but great care must be

taken not to damage Scottish artists' still fragile hold on their

internationalism. However robust Raeburn, McTaggart, Peploe, Paolozzi,

Davie, Bellany, and Campbell may be, they do not need isolationist

tactics from their homeland. That said, Scotland could do worse than

glory in and support its own homegrown talent.

The trustees' recommendation is expected to reach the Secretary of

State for Scotland in November. Spalding is blunt. ''Glasgow will help

the NGS make its case to the Scottish Office if they choose Glasgow, but

not otherwise. The trustees need to decide who they are going to run

with.''

Kane quips: ''If you're going to spend #17m, you don't build an

extension. You move house.''

Clifford remains circumspect. ''I am ambivalent. As far as I'm

concerned it could just as easily be in Glasgow or Edinburgh. Above all

it's essential that a statesmanlike decision is reached which is the

right one for Scotland.''

What's a statesmanlike decision? Only time will tell. Meanwhile my

vote goes to the sheriff court: dignified and classical outside,

flamboyantly hi-tech inside. And two minutes from The Herald. Can't be

bad.