CRAIGMILLAR; ARTS THE CATALYST” EXHIBITION
City Art Centre
October 2004 – January 2005

Summary and findings of exhibition and conference.

Mounted by Craigmillar Communiversity and hosted by the City Art Centre in Edinburgh, over 6000 people, including many from Craigmillar who had never been in a gallery before visited this unique Exhibition. All agreed it was an outstanding success. Many left walking tall, saying they were proud to come from Craigmillar and never realized the area had such a proud heritage.

With Craigmillar facing a decisive milestone in its evolution with the once-in-a-life time multi-million regeneration investment, a group of residents and ex-residents, many of whom are professionals, acknowledging the debt their careers owe to the years they spent with Craigmillar Festival Society, decided now was the time to put something back into Craigmillar.

Naming it Craigmillar: Arts the Catalyst and raising funds, they mounted an exhibition designed to explore and celebrate the role the arts can play in the regeneration of socially excluded communities.

Why arts? Because it is arts that makes people human. From the mists of time mankind has used his arts to tell his story.

Using paintings, artifact, music, drama, public art, literature and a testimonial film, The People’s Story, the exhibition traced Craigmillar’s cultural evolution from the days the Gaels named the land Craig moil ard, to today’s regeneration.

It depicted how despite grinding poverty, hardship and social injustice people’s creativity endured down the years. How in the 20th century the people came to win international acclaim when, integrating community arts and community development they pioneered the use of arts as the catalyst for social action, social caring and change. People came from all over the world to Craigmillar to study what was happening and take home the blueprint.

If today’s Regeneration and Social Inclusion Programmes were to invoke this blueprint there would be no need to re-invent the community arts wheel - they would have a head-start!

The blueprint indicates the direction Craigmillar evolution could take if regeneration was to build on the area’s successes and learn from past mistakes. In particular there was the 1930’s social engineering, which brought about many of the social ills of 20th century urban life.

It also shows how providing cultural opportunities, education, training and employment releases people’s creativity and develops their potential. Widening their horizons they become aware of the potential and deficiencies of the environment they inhabit. They then realize they themselves have much to offer in enhancing the quality of life for all.

In Craigmillar this empowered the people!

Growing from the grass roots - not superimposed from the top down - the people set up a ‘shared government’ or ‘co-oporate approach’. This was a democratically elected community infrastructure, working in partnership, with their elected representatives, their officials, the public and private sector, professionals servicing the area and universities. This won for the area many of the missing facilities including, a 6 year school, library, community centre, nursery school, industrial estate and other necessities for community living.

When the European Economic Community started to make resources available for a wide “ Programme of Pilot Schemes and Studies to Combat Poverty,” aware this was not the usual procedure, the Festival Society contacted the EEC direct. It successfully suggested that with a twelve year track record of using arts as the catalyst for social change, the Society had much to contribute to their Anti- Poverty Action/Research Programme. Over five years the grant of £750,000 enabled the Society to run 57 projects. In time it became the biggest employer of labour in the area, employing 600 people – many being Government Job Creation jobs. Craigmillar was the only project in the nine member countries to be run by the people, not by professionals.

In 1978 the Society published the required EEC report in book form. The Gentle Giant who shares and cares. Craigmillar Comprehensive Plan for Action, gives 400 recommendations for improving life in Craigmillar.

This unique community document tells how a school’s reply to a mother’s request for music lesson for her son “It takes us all our time to teach THESE children the 3rs, far less music’ roused Craigmillar mothers to respond not in anger, but creatively. They would prove that everyone is creative and that collectively their creative energies can move mountains. Never in their wildest dreams could these mothers have imagined just how far the seeds of the People’s Festival they started would travel. 43 years later their philosophy is still relevant and the seeds still travelling.

Today all factions in Craigmillar have one common goal - To ensure that the community benefits to the full from the once-in-a-lifetime multi-million regeneration investment.

With Craigmillar understanding its social evolution and the forces that made it what it is today examined in the exhibition the community see that to transform Craigmillar and make regeneration visionary, successful and sustainable it should invoke the blueprint buried in its psyche. Using the knowledge to unlock the community’s collective creative energy, resourcefulness, enthusiasm and aspirations and building on its cultural foundations it should use the arts as the springboard for social action, social caring and social change.
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The community could start by

*updating the Comprehensive Plan for Action. For example adding the vision, (pages 71-83 in the catalogue) and the recent innovative suggestion to refurbish the vacant 193O’s art deco Whitehouse building, to a high standard and operate it on Gothenburg principles where 95% of the profits are ploughed back into the community’.

* establishing a ’creative shared government partnership’. - a democratically elected community infrastructure working in partnership with their elected representatives, the public and private sector officials, professionals servicing the area, local industry, universities and other institutions. With strict built in safeguards, the partnership would be accountable to authorities and the community. With the community in the driving seat speaking with one voice, this could drive and deliver sustainable regeneration.

*Training and educating local volunteer activists, where necessary to degree level then employing them as Neighbourhood/Community workers. While the new schools and the existing life-long learning network must provide the high standard of education required for advancement. Responding to needs and aspirations the Communiversity would vastly improve the well being and development of the people.

* Head hunting dynamic visionary artistic professional(s) who would help to enable Craigmillar people develop an Arts Strategy emanating from the exciting new Maxwell Arts & Enterprise Complex . This would unleash the creativity of all age groups and provide innovative opportunities to develop their potential. The arts could then become the catalyst for social action, social caring and social change.

* With arts central to every aspect of community life, annually the people of Greater Craigmillar, making the most of all their cultural assets, in particular the historic Craigmillar Castle, would come together in a glorious festival of drama, music, arts and sport. A shop window and a stable for local talent it would also be a showpiece for a forward and outward looking, creative, caring, sharing community.


Books, CDs published by Craigmillar Communiversity Press for
the exhibition
· Art the Catalyst catalogue
· Barony Bard – mining poems by ex miner George Montgomers
· Let the people sing – a story of Craigmillar by Helen Crummy (reprint)
· Craigmillar Gold – Words & music from Craigmillar Musicals by Douglas Galbraith
· Mine a Rich Vein- a history and vision of Craigmillar by Helen Crummy
· CDs….
· Craigmillar Gold – Songs from Craigmillar Community Musicals
· Janet Howie & Friends


Communiversity Exhibition organizing group
Andrew Crummy.
John Somerville
Bob Cairns
Steve Burgess
Helen Crummy
Mickey McPherson (Plum Films)
David Black
Muriel Wilkinson
Heather Henderson
Veronica Thomson


Groups who took part in the exhibition
Craigmillar Community Arts
Womenzone
Craigmillar Artists
Individual artists
John Prentice
Mick Barry
Chrissie Brown

Eddie Anderson
Andrew Crummy
Pat Whyte
Lynda Whyte
Linda Somerville
Kay McCallum
Bert Torrance
David Black
Muriel Wilkinson
Rev Ian Cowie
Scott Whitelaw
Peter Jewel – Bill Douglas


Catalogue contributors
David Harding
Jimmy Boyle
Andrew Crummy
Helen Crummy
Douglas Galbraith
Steve Burgess
Reg Bolton
Frank Creber
Mike Greenlaw
Ruth Wishart
Gordon. Baron of Prestonguange
Richard Demarco
Professor EricTrust
Judy Greenwood
David Black
Bill Douglas


Thanks to the 200 who made positive comments in the memory book. It will be held in Craigmillar archives.


Exhibition organizing group..
Andrew Crummy – Curator and Co-ordinator
Rev Douglas Galbraith
Eddie & Denise Anderson
Helen Crummy
Steve Burgess
Veronica Thomson
John Somerville
Bob Cairns
Heather Milligan
Muriel Wilkinson
Chrissie Brown
John Brown
Mickey McPherson – Plum Films
John Murtagh
David Black
Sandi McGeough
Lee Cormack

Sponsored by…..
Craigmillar Partnership
City of Edinburgh Council

Castle Rock Housing Association
Dunedin Housing Association
Scotland UnLtd
Awards for all
Canmore Housing Association
Work Track
Craigmillar Capacity Building