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GSA director gets pay raise amid salary cuts at many art schools

GSA director gets pay raise amid salary cuts at many art schools

In fact, Penny Macbeth, director of art at the Glasgow School, should have had a busy summer. At the Mackintosh conference in Glasgow in June, she admitted that GSA needed new figures and estimates for its now three-year-old Business Plan for the rebuilding and “faithful reconstruction” of the iconic Mackintosh building destroyed by fire.

“The Business Plan needs to be updated,” she said. “We’ll look at the costing again, how the building is phased, maybe in two phases.” She said it would be “a separate piece of work”. But there needs to be plans and figures up front. How much? £200m? £400m? No one has any idea.

Macbeth should be the perfect person. Her bio and CV are filled with words like ‘partnership’, ‘city and community engagement’ and empathy. ’ Even her own textile work ‘explores the potential as a catalyst for empathy and community cohesion. ’ According to Manchester, where she led their Metropolitan University’s £35M School of Digital Arts project, she is someone capable of institutional transformation. ’

GSA under the hat
GSA under wraps

Her efforts were recently rewarded with a 27% or £52,000 pay rise, taking her salary to £243,000 in 2023 – who knows what in 2024? It would be interesting to see how this was justified by the art school’s Board of Governors Remuneration Committee. Was it to ensure she remained in Glasgow, a good candidate doing a difficult job in a poisoned chalice? Was it to associate her with other Scottish art school and college professors? Was it to cover up the catalogue of incompetence (not all of it, to be fair, hers) that has reduced GSA to a byword for utter ineptitude. Is she perhaps being rewarded at a level that recognises the school’s size and former status?

Whatever the reason, the timing is generally tactless; many Scottish colleges, schools and universities are asking their staff to accept significant pay and pension cuts. As one observer noted: “The optics of a 27% increase do not look good for the head of an institution that gets half its income from taxpayers, especially during a cost-of-living crisis and when costly management mistakes have been made in connection with her time in office. The financial consequences of these mistakes by the board and Penny Macbeth’s management team will run into tens of millions of pounds.”

There was a failed nomination process last year when Architects John McAslan Partners was the original top scorer, but the job was subsequently awarded to another firm, Hawkins Brown, after a ‘recalculation’. McAslan understandably took legal action. This and the years of delays in the planning that followed are one such example, which raises the question of whether such a large award is justified.

Of course, you can’t expect Macbeth to be able to do two jobs. Running GSA is enough for anyone without a historic landmark. The iconic Mack should be in trust and owned by the nation. I and others have been saying this for years, long before the two tragic fires. Westminster needs to step in. The Mack is a building of national importance. Responsibility for its restoration should be taken from GSA and placed with an independent body.

In June, on the 10th anniversary of the first fire, several key figures, leading architects, politicians, writers and heritage experts expressed their anger and dismay in newspapers and magazines at the lack of progress. “Voices are growing louder for a separate, independent entity to be set up to continue the rebuilding,” said Paul Sweeney, MSP. He asked why the Holyrood government had not been hands-on. “This is the most important architectural achievement in Scottish history, so it is astonishing that it is not being treated with more urgency,” Sweeney said.

GSA must accept that the project is now so big that they cannot realize it alone. “The ownership of the building and its restoration must be taken out of the hands of GSA,” said another MP.

GSA for the devastating fire
GSA for the devastating fire

This furor may have led to the recent appointment of two architects, Reiach and Hall, to work with Purcell, along with cost and economic consultants, to update the old 2021 strategy and outline the business plan. The goal, we’re told, is to “robustly test the GSA’s previous assumptions, costs and economic impacts, timelines, and completion.”

A tender process for actual architects to do the detailed design work will be launched later, with work starting ‘perhaps’ in 2026. The restoration will take place in phases, with a possible completion in 2035. It’s a long, long road.

There is, of course, the issue of money. Mack’s insurers are contesting the payout, so the art school has turned to arbitration. This is a whole other future article – but as a friend says: “Arbitration is the method of choice for companies that want to keep things secret, although there is no reason why either party should not issue a briefing detailing, at least, the nature of the dispute. The insurers here, reportedly the Travellers syndicate at Lloyds, will not do this. Why would they? GSA certainly can, especially if, as suspected, they are dealing with a complete disclaimer. In my experience, arbitrations can take ages – which can be convenient for some.”

Think of Glasgow without the Mackintosh Building. I find that totally unacceptable. Whatever happens, I truly believe that the only way to restore the reputation of Glasgow and GSA is to restore the iconic, world-famous heart and soul of the city centre: the GLASGOW SCHOOL OF ART.

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Glasgow School of Art, GSA, GSA Director, Penny Macbeth