Future of Arts in Fife

Wed, Oct 28th 2020 at 1:00 pm - 1:00 pm

Rotarian Heather Stuart advises the Scottish Government. She is CEO of Fife Cultural Trust. She is also Rotary District 1010 governor elect.

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The St Andrews Rotary Club welcomed Heather Stuart as its guest speaker. Heather became CEO of the Fife Cultural Trust when it was formed, in October 2012, to manage Fife’s libraries, archives, museums, and four theatres, on behalf of the Council. The Trust faced a dual challenge: establishing a creative synergy between these hitherto largely separate services whilst simultaneously reducing costs. It had succeeded in making savings, year on year, through efficiencies and modernisation and was generating over a third of its income - even though many of its services, such as libraries, are free of charge - when faced with the new challenge of Covid-19. This has impacted every aspect of the Trust’s operations but the response, wherever possible, has been to seek new ways of working that will still be of benefit once the epidemic has passed. Examples include the use of online library services by people who were previously reluctant to try them and more outdoor events, such as the popular Advantage café that operated during the summer outside the Adam Smith Centre in Kirkcaldy. Theatres have been especially hard hit by the pandemic, not only because their financial viability depends on sizable audiences but also because live theatre is, quintessentially, a shared experience. Here too the Trust has been exercising its own creativity by forging a partnership with Pitlochry Festival Theatre to produce an outdoor Christmas show. Arts and culture really matter, for our well-being, and Fifers are lucky to have, in Heather Stuart, an enthusiastic and energetic champion. The Rotary movement is lucky too because she is a committed member of the Burntisland and Kinghorn Club and is soon to become the District Governor for Scotland North.

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