Opinion BY Armin

A Not Conservative Conservatoire

Formally established in 1968 but with roots as far back as 1847, the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (formerly Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama) is Scotland’s “national centre of professional vocational training in performance arts.” RCS offers undergraduate and postgraduate degree programs — in music, Scottish music, acting, musical theatre, modern ballet, and technical production & arts among others — to about 800 students and currently has 873 people on staff, giving it the “highest staff-student ratio of UK Conservatoires, offering intensive one to one tuition.” This past September RCS announced its name change and introduced a new identity designed by Glasgow-based Stand.

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Opinion BY Armin

The Land of Scot gets Creative

Established on July 1, 2010, Creative Scotland is the new representative body for the “arts, screen and creative industries” in Scotland. “We think,” states the website, “Scotland’s arts, culture and creative industries are worth shouting about. We’ll lead the shouting.” Creative Scotland replaces two institutions that previously represented the arts, Scottish Screen and the Scottish Arts Council. (The latter might sound familiar to some as it was, supposedly, the logo that Quark ripped off back in 2005). The identity was designed by Edinburgh-based Leith who were paid between £25,000 and £35,000 depending on the source and because the money came from public funds, the public is entitled to their opinion. Nuggets of criticism include “rubbish,” “wretched,” and “ugly.”

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