Fiona and Robert, I did an internship with the Open Museum at Glasgow Museums last summer. Upon returning to the States, I had to give a seminar about my internship experiences at my university. The first half of my talk was devoted purely to the politics at Glasgow Museums (I opened with a slide I had taken of graffiti I found at Haggs Castle reading "Fuck Spaulding". It was rumored to have been written by an employee of Glasgow Museums!!!). It certainly got everyone's attention! I haven't really found much information on the goings on there since I left, with the exception of a newspaper article a friend sent me. In talking with people who worked for all branches of Glasgow Museums during the 2 months of my internship, I found that people either like Julian Spaulding (the minority) or they absolutely hate him. Working at Haggs Castle I heard the bitter saga of the closure of the Hagg's Castle Children's Museum (when I was there the building was used only as office space for the Open Museum staff). The anti-Julian faction claimed that he had his eye on closing the children's museum since he arrived in Glasgow and even lied about visitor figures to justify starving it of funds until it was eventually closed. How true that is I do not know. I do know, however, that it was done pretty hush-hush (and in my opinion, shady as well). The children's museum was closed in March yet all summer long at least a couple people (with kids in tow) would show up every day expecting to visit the museum. As far as I could figure, it was never generally announced that it was closing. It was just left up to the staff left working there (ie the Open Museum staff) to tell the children that the museum was closed and would never be open again. Originally, Julian expected to get the profit from the sale of the building for the museums, but the council owns the building and said no way. I don't know what has become of the building. The biggest indication I had of rampant anti-Julian sentiment came from an odd story related to me by a staff member. I was told about the cat (Smudge) who was placed in the indoor garden of the People's Palace by the parks department for pest management. Eventually the cat had the run of the museum as well as the garden (it even showed up on the People's Palace mugs in the gift shop!). Smudge was apparently a fixture at the People's Palace. Smudge was eventually taken home by a staff member because, according to my source, JULIAN WAS GOING TO POISON THE CAT AS A POLITICAL MOVE AGAINST HIS OPPONENTS. Personally, I find this hard to believe (well, the motive anyway) but some people earnestly believed it. In addition, Julian did not win fans by opening his new gallery of modern art. I think there are several reasons for this: 1. It occured at the same time as major cuts in staffing levels and other funding at the other institutions within Glasgow Museums. 2. The collections that they do have require additional care which they can't afford. I've seen some of the worst storage areas myself (not that it is all bad). 3. Glasgow is a very working class city and many of the ordinary people I met while collecting oral histories were not the least bit interested in having their money spent on that museum (especially with rumors of closing one or more days a week at the other museums or charging entrance fees). I think Glaswegians in general feel pretty connected to their museums (in spite of falling visitor numbers in the last few years) and would rather support the ones they have than create a new one. This is not to say that modern art is not valid or worth collecting (or that Glaswegians are to "working class" to enjoy it). It is a matter of timing and finances. 4. The modern art museum is JULIAN'S Museum. He oversaw every little detail--much to other staff's distress. He would do things like choose a paint color and then change his mind after the walls were painted, requiring the worker's to repaint. He would buy things for the collections without consulting the curators, etc. 5. Julian has pissed off so many people (staff and public alike) that even if he came up with a great idea, very few would support him out of general principle. I don't know if this helps you any, but it is just a couple of the things I heard/saw last summer. I am sure it is hopelessly out of date as the saga certainly continues. I do agree with you that Spaulding and his lot have been very politically astute, using the city's desire to improve its image and increase tourist revenue to further their own agenda. One oft repeated fear I heard was that with the new museum in the city centre (and another one planned by someone else in St. George's square--can't remember who/what) and Julian's emphasis on it, that the other museums would become marginalized in terms of visitors in addition to money. Getting tourists out of the city centre (with a couple of museums, shopping, restaurants, the train station, etc) to the places such as Kelvingrove or the People's Palace was seen as a definate problem. I'd be interested in hearing the latest about what is happening. Nancy Russell [log in to unmask] On Fri, 8 Aug 1997 08:17:21 +0100 robert and fiona forsythe <[log in to unmask]> writes: >Is there anyone reading this able to give a different angle to the >continual press reporting (which may/may not be spot on) about the >incredible saga of Glasgow Museums? Apparently some 40 members of >staff >have left this year with two senior management staff in the last ten >days. Their stories have been strongly reported and what is happening >this year is only the present state of a saga that has run throughout >the decade with protagionists like Julian Spalding and Elspeth King. > >For anyone who may one day come to analyse and pull together this >incredible soap opera (worthy of a TV show) we have assidously kept >cuttings from the Herald throughout these years. > >Quite apart from the capacity of this story to inspire new drama, >there >is a serious debate here about how a city's genuine culture like loco >manufacture and shipbuilding, and social history (the People's Palace) >can be taken over by a highly intelligent art lobby able to link their >interests to the political desire to remodel the city's image. It is >interesting that the individuals able to contribute to Glasgow's own >artistic heritage (the expert on C R Mackintosh today) are amongst >those >being fired. > >(Ps if you know of any other mailing list that may be discussing this, >please tell us). >-- >fiona and robert forsythe >