Can Arts Boost The Caithness Economy?

13th May 2005

The answer has to be yes. Caithness Arts are taking forward the study Revealing the Vision of Caithness and aiming to have a strategy to move forward the ideas contained in it.

Highland Council commissioned this Arts Development Study for Caithness through a steering committee in September 2002. This is the most comprehensive and up to date look at the arts in Caithness showing what is already on the ground and looking at what might be possible. The printed version is 91 pages and all of it is reproduced here. A summary is included if you want a quick overview.

Caithness Arts is getting ready to fund work that will develop the local arts infrastructure using the study as a starting point. The idea is to produce a plan for implementing the priorities in the study. One of the basics in the study is the impacyt of a healthy arts community on the local economy of Caithness in terms of job creation, tourism, retail and service industries. In addition one of the biggest factors is in the improvement of the quality of life for people living and working in the county. Professor Ian Brown of Queen Margaret College, Edinburgh, one of the authors of Revealing the Vision of Caithness, has been invited to undertake the development of the strategy, which should be completed by the end of the summer this year.

If you were in any doubt that there is a thriving arts and music community in Caithness take look at the numbers of entries already in this new Arts section of Caithness.Org. This new arts section is being developed by the Caithness.Org at the request of Caithness Arts. You can support the ongoing developments and receive the newslwetter by joining Caithness Arts for only £5 a year.