On turning a page
A personal note from our CEO, Abigail Pogson.
“Two things loom large in the North East this week – it’s back to school, the weather and light are clearly turning and we’re all sitting up straight and looking at what lies ahead in the autumn. And Alexander Isak has finally signed with Liverpool.
Meanwhile in minor and personal news, I’ve announced that I am going to leave The Glasshouse to join the Barbican team at the start of next year. This is nothing in the scheme of the world, but for me and my family a new chapter. Perhaps it is the time of year or our love of the Magpies, but all of this has made me think about the nature of turning pages, passing the baton and making transitions. And in particular where the arts and culture come in to this.
The reason I came to The Glasshouse a decade ago and the reason why I will go to Barbican are the same. I know that arts and culture have a huge role to play in the health and wealth of the nation, in individual places and for individual communities.
Culture has so many superpowers. It may be hugely undervalued in the moment, but point me to a century or a people which is not remembered for what its artists have created.
Culture also brings people who have very different perspectives together to have a joyful, happy experience in a world which can seem too complex and perplexing. It drives tourism, spending, inward investment and reputation. The Glasshouse boosts the North East’s economy by nearly £40 million every single year. It shapes the look and feel of a place – literally in The Glasshouse and the Barbican’s cases.
And – in my view most importantly – it enables education. For young people so obviously. One of the biggest privileges of my decade here has been watching a generation of young people across the North East develop ambitions and skills in the creative sector. I have seen a musician who learnt the trumpet at The Glasshouse’s Centre for Advanced Training go off to music college and return to the North East as Royal Northern Sinfonia’s trumpet Section Leader. I have seen children in some of our most under-resourced communities making music in school every day and learning alongside professional musicians from RNS. They describe how their lives are better and that it gives them confidence to seize opportunities that they never thought were for them. It’s also education across a whole lifetime in communities and towards professional skills in fields as diverse as medicine, engineering and farming. Culture is the ultimate example of lifelong learning!
All of this means culture surely has a role to play in how we design the country for the 21st century. How we create – buzz word alert – ‘inclusive growth’: fair growth; growth that works for everybody.
“I had watched with wonder as The Glasshouse was born – with its aspiration to hold inclusion and excellence in the building, its programme, its people, its relationships. It was groundbreaking.”
“A decade ago I took a leap of faith in moving – with my family and no ties – to the North East. I had watched with wonder as The Glasshouse was born – with its aspiration to hold inclusion and excellence in the building, its programme, its people, its relationships. It was groundbreaking. The visionary generation who created it entrusted it to us as a next generation.
Likewise now there is a next generation ready to take the organisation forward. I am so happy to be passing the baton at The Glasshouse to the most extraordinary team, led by our new Chair Andy Haldane and our Interim CEO Fraser Anderson.
At Barbican the Corporation of London’s vision over 50 years ago of creating a community of housing, education, trade – all with a cultural centre at its core – was so ahead of its time. So bold, so inclusive, so excellent.
For me, what ties these two organisations together is their shared willingness to break new ground, to be radical, and to take risks. That’s what art and culture do. They push us beyond our instincts to play it safe — and in doing so, make us braver. And they do so in a way which can be safe and inclusive.
These two organisations are only part of a rich tapestry across the country – from the furthest parts of the North and South West to the rural and major cities.
As the year turns, players transfer and I make my small transition in the scheme of things. I am convinced more than ever that culture has to be part of how we design our future. Because it contributes to health and wealth; because it makes us braver, it allows us to dream and to imagine what might seem impossible. How about a country where there are chances for everyone?
It is with all of this in mind that I take a step into my transfer. With my new pencil case.”