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REG BOLTON
Sadly Reg Bolton passed away this year. We pay tribute to his work and vision.
Reg's contribution to the book "Arts The Catalyst Craigmillar".
Just a week ago, I again found myself thinking about, and talking
about Craigmillar. I am twenty-five years and thousands of miles
away from my time as Arts Coordinator with the CFA, but the values
and practices I learned there still inspire me.
I was in Armadale, a low-income suburb some twelve miles from the
centre of Perth, Western Australia. I had been invited (by a third
party) to a meeting of the social affairs group of a large
initiative designed by local people to help their own troubled
youth. The umbrella group is the ANC – the Armadale Nyoongar
Cooperative. The Nyoongars are the indigenous people in this part of
Australia, and Armadale has more than its share of
Aboriginal `problems', with juvenile crime, broken families, drug
use etc. - along with many functional, successful families, of
course.
The main lady of this group reminded me immediately of Helen
Crummy. She asked me to introduce myself, then listened politely
while I talked too much. Like Helen, she combined perfect courtesy
with a powerfully incisive gaze. As I explained about my
background, I found myself talking about Craigmillar, as if everyone
had heard of it. Luckily, it turned out that this lady's niece had
been involved in a recent school circus project I had done, so my
credentials were already established.
What did I learn in Craigmillar?
One. Keep it local. Employ local people, and listen to local voices.
Two. Keep it accountable. Cut no corners, and don't even look as if you're
being casual with public money.
Three. Talk up the successes, not the problems.
Four. Remember that for each child, this is their only childhood.
Don't spoil it with patronising talk about deprivation etc.
Celebrate with them.
Five. Keep it local.
Six. Use the goodwill of anyone who offers it (but beware of evangelists)
.
Seven. Keep the arts at the top of the agenda.
Eight. Keep it local.
I wonder who remembers 1975, when the Craigmillar
Circus was the mainstage event at the first National Community Arts Conference
at
Caxton Hall, Westminster? All roads may lead to Rome, but an awful
lot of them lead from Craigmillar.
2004 copyright Reg Bolton
Published by Communiversity press
Arts the Catalyst Catalogue
2004
This from Mike Rowan aka "Big Rory", who worked with Reg
in Craigmillar.
"
What a glorious, exciting, generous man reg was. I first met him in 1970
when I was 23 and admired him enormously-I had no idea he was only a year
and a half older than me, he was so confident and clear in his head.
More than any other person he changed my life infinitely for the better.
He enriched thousands of peoples lives, I salute him from the depth of my
heart, what a wonderful man he was."
Quote from Pauline Peel, who works in Australia now.
"Reg truly believed in the potential that exists in all of us no matter what
our socio or economic status. I met Reg as a young Australian living in
Edinburgh. Reg gave me a job as his Assistant Director at Craigmillar Festival
Association....an organisation committed to giving the community of this
large public housing estate control over their own destiny. This experience
fundamentally changed my life. I was introduced to circus and the arts
as social action which I've carried through into all of the manifestations
of my career and life in Australia."
From Ken Wolverton from New Mexico, who worked in Craigmillar, Scotland,
Europe and the U.S.A:
"
Because of Reg I was able to expand into a world of art that without him
and his influence I would probably have never found."