Wasps: A Blueprint for Scottish Arts?
Kaitlin Dryburgh 30th August 2023
When the country endures a cost-of-living crisis, when public spending budgets are squeezed within an inch of their life quite often the arts become the first sacrifice. You see it in schools, in community projects and support for artists. In the court of public opinion if it’s between health or arts and culture a politician will never win votes supporting the latter. This is a fundamental flaw of Scotland because what really shapes a country is their arts and culture. It’s how we develop, how we’re remembered and how we enjoy our life. We’ve known the enduring importance of art since someone scribbled the first cave drawing.
The problem is it’s really hard to be an artist in Scotland right now, especially if you’re just starting out and on the up. There is very little support out there, or at least not enough that really encourages or allows anyone to consider a career as an artist. Fair pay for the work that is being done, reasonable rent for work spaces and support with the business aspects of being an artist such as tax returns and contract negotiations is hard to come by.
When the situation becomes so dire that even well established and critically acclaimed artists are earning below minimum wage, the private and charity sector steps in to pick up the pieces of the failed government response. Sometimes it works but quite often even with great intentions issues start to crop up.
Wasps which stands for Workshops & Artists Studio Provision Scotland is the organisation which is trying to plug that gap and champion the artist and have done for several decades. By providing studio spaces all over the country Wasps can now count over a thousand artists, thirty-three organisations as residents in twenty buildings across Scotland. Now standing as one of the biggest studio providers in the UK, Wasps has raised over £30 million which they say has been invested in buildings and studios to allow artists to flourish. This makes them the biggest provider of creative spaces, even more effective than the Scottish Government. As well as providing the creative spaces an aspect of their strategy is regeneration. By acquiring derelict and perhaps run down buildings in areas where deprivation is prevalent Wasps has a chance to reach people who are not often exposed to art. It also gives an opportunity for the community to improve their surroundings. Bustling in Wasp’s twenty buildings is a whole host of social enterprises, artists, charities, exhibitions, and digital creators, all helping to provide employment opportunities to the surrounding area.
What’s admiral of Wasps is its inclusivity and acknowledgment that not all art is created within the central belt. With studios located in Orkney, Skye, Nairn, and Shetland Wasps hasn’t fallen into the usual trope that in order to be an artist or to access art within your community you need to live within a city of close to either Edinburgh or Glasgow. Although some of these spaces are relatively small or run in partnership with other art trusts there is still an attempt to solidify arts in the community. However, it is hard to question how much can ever be achieved if policy makers don’t encourage this for the public sector. If something doesn't change soon soaring costs and an inconsistent arts scene will make it incredibly difficult for Scotland to champion its artists.
Perhaps one of the most resounding successes Wasps has had pertains to their Inverness Creative Academy. The academy came about when it was identified that the Highlands needed a larger central hub, as well as their smaller local artists spaces. Currently standing in the old Victorian Royal Academy buildings and part of a £6 million restoration project, it was one of their largest undertakings to date. One of the vastest buildings in their roster the Academy offers studio spaces and exhibitions spaces, but so much more. Members of the public can attend art classes in clay and collage making, etc, there are hotdesking opportunities for smaller businesses, event spaces and openings for small social enterprises to move in. With the aim of making this a creative hub for the highlands Wasps has certainly made an impact with more than 30,000 people visiting the Academy in its first year. Allowing people to pursue their passions without moving from their home is one thing, but for some this has become a vital social hub in a world where online connectivity can lead to loneliness. One of those who have attended classes at the Creative Academy says that often it’s their only opportunity that day to actually interact with other people. The restoration project of such a grand building also provided some opportunity for retrofitting and extra grants were provided to fit energy efficient lighting and heating source.
The foundations in which Wasps is built upon is an admiral goal to have for the arts in Scotland. Work spaces dotted up and down the country, ample support for artists, better avenues for the public to pay artists directly for their work, and a boost for communities who perhaps don’t regularly feel included within the arts.
Yet recently Wasps has come under fire by some of their resident artists. When it was announced that Wasps were intending to close the doors to their Edinburgh Dalry studios which hosts over 50 artists and small businesses, the residents were perplexed. Wasps had purchased the former industrial buildings for £1 just two years prior, having run the artist studios for around 28 years in total. Yet in that time they had accumulated thousands of pounds in rent but according to residents they struggled to see the investment when the building was starting to crumble around them. In an attempt to fight back the “Save Our Studio Campaign” was born.
The Edinburgh residents are not the only ones who feel let down by Wasps management. More recently in the centre of Glasgow residents gathered to demonstrate their distain for the new direction of Wasps, one that they claim is not prioritising the artist or creativity but instead profits. Although it must be stated that the organisation is a registered charity. Many residents have taken umbrage with the new top-down management style, which seldom considers the thoughts and experiences of the artists themselves. The tipping point for many residents was the increased rents and energy bills which many have declared will price them out of their studios and communities, which are already deprived of the arts.
The chair of Wasps Karen Anderson refuted these claims and simply believes that the organisation is still very much artist-led and unfortunate rising energy costs has given them no other option but to raise their fees. Yet, she is also in agreement that there may be some cultural issues within the organisation, however as chair she seems very much motivated to overcome these issues.
Perhaps the problem is that without the public sector filling the need there will always be a conflict in priorities when others step in. Wasps is a great example of what Scottish artists need, imagine if there was an Inverness creative academy in every town, the knock-on effects would be tremendous. Just like in many instances it shouldn’t be the role of the third or private sector to develop the arts and culture through-out Scotland. I hope resolution can be found between the artists and Wasps so they can carry on expanding and supporting their residents. However, the government need to recognise the contribution that artists make to Scotland and establish a solid infrastructure which allows them to flourish without fear of being priced out.
