ScotPop Centre news
Sadly it looks like we have run out of time to find a home for the centre in time for the summer. Everything from what we have been offered to very visible worldwide promotion has gone well beyond all my expectations but I’ve been unable to find a home or any substantial financial support.
Money is now a huge issue and I will need to focus on that while putting the centre if not quite on the hold at least on the back burner. Avalanche/myself has financed this idea for over three years now and Avalanche will almost certainly need to return physically to raise the funds needed. Quite how that will be done is still to be decided but it certainly won’t be achieved by selling new releases !
Despite the support of Donald Wilson the Culture Convener and Paul Lawrence the council’s Chief Executive of Place it is clear that the centre is in no way being treated as would an art exhibition be by the council. What is more it is also clear that the more I fight the corner for pop music as art the more some folk are irritated. I guarantee the council will give plenty of space free of charge to the visual arts during the Festival despite saying they need to bring in an income for all their buildings and the Festival being the prime time to do that and of course saying that just annoys them more.
The next deadline is to have something ready in time for the museum exhibition finishing in November and by coincidence Avalanche has an offer to work on a very exciting project about that time with investment from Europe. I can’t pretend it isn’t a huge opportunity lost to promote Scottish music in an alternative but complementary way to the museum’s plans but while there was huge confidence after the Fruitmarket Gallery pop-up that individuals and businesses would come forward to offer support actually it mostly generated several enquiries from Glasgow !
And before folk ask yes if I get a firm offer from Glasgow the centre will open there. I had always hoped to eventually have something in both cities and possibly others too and once the opportunity to coincide with the Rip It Up exhibition is lost then there is no reason not to open in Glasgow first. I have already had offers that I haven’t had time to explore fully though nothing permanent.
Some ScotPop Centre related things are already in motion and will still go ahead and there are one or two fund raising ideas too. More of that very soon. I won’t even start to try thanking people just now for all that has been done to get this far for fear of missing folk out but though I say so myself it should not be underestimated just what has been achieved. Given what I’ve managed to get done dedicating most of my time to the centre I estimate there is still about three years work left and of course often more leads are generated so as such it will probably always be an evolving idea which no doubt is a good thing.