Plug in to the matrix

Defining Clackmannanshire, the smallest county in Scotland, as ‘wee’ couldn’t be more appropriate: its entire population wouldn’t even fill Hampden Stadium. But the area is a microcosm of the country itself, with all the good, bad and ugly contained within the average rural or urban centre. But during the past seven years, creative leadership has transformed the reputation of Clackmannanshire – the area has gained local, national and international credibility.
 

How? ‘Matrix management’ that cut across services leading to a holistic approach that attracted mutual commitment from both key artists and local and national business. Local authority staff worked in tandem with recognised artists to forge creative strategy. Crucially, what the Cultural and Community Service (CCS) Manager was responsible for and what the Cultural Planner would do was established and made clear very early on. The CCS Manager initiated what is known as a matrix system, which included heritage, libraries, community learning, training for employment and performance review. This offered proactive support to the Cultural Planner to develop a remit of public art commissioning, formal education projects and residencies.

GROWING ORGANIC STRATEGY
Without meaning to state the obvious, for a cultural regeneration project to work it does need to engage all sectors of the community. For Clackmannanshire, we felt our strategy also needed to allow for a level of fluidity. We worked, for instance, with artists on a freelance basis which not only reduced costs but allowed regeneration to take shape organically. Grass roots cultural and community action was allowed to flourish from the bottom up, rather than being structured into rigid, conventional strategy that imposed strict methods of cultural delivery. But it takes confidence and credible leadership – from the perspective of the cultural planning department of the local authority and the artists it employs – to ensure that by using such a deliberately flexible method the project isn’t left to flounder. Done well, however, it can work wonders with both sides working together.
Promoting professional development in the region was critical, particularly as a tool to market the area. Respecting personal ambition and the professional identity of all parties working to boost Clackmanna-shire’s cultural profile was key to the region’s evolving creativity. And creativity, of course, was the central conduit for regional achievement. We developed the concept of Imagine Alloa in 2009, a £2.9m culture change-led regeneration project.

RESPECT LOCAL ROOTS
Industrial heritage was an obvious theme for the area, given its rich history – it is still home to one of Europe’s oldest surviving glassworks. The aim was to revive old traditions in a contemporary economic culture, by integrating formal educational opportunity and community learning, and encouraging local participation.
Contrasting urban and rural creative centres were developed within a farmstead and by converting empty shops. A Leyland bus was converted into a travelling art gallery to give access to the hardest to reach people in the community. The gallery took the Scottish students onboard and toured villages and the town, taking votes on public art. Artists were as inspired by the matrix approach as we were receptive to their innovation.
Creatively managed, led and fed regeneration also engaged local business: Retro Glass partnered with the local authority to offer workshop provision and education. As a result, it attracted international artists and audiences. Moreover, designers from all Scottish art schools have been nurtured by the management emphasis on professional development of ‘Scottish talent’ fostered by the strategy. The matrix system has met the challenges of Cultural Capacity Building and created foundations for future success in Scotland’s smallest region.