An Lanntair – 40 years as a beacon for the island arts scene​

In 1985, the first iteration of An Lanntair was officially opened in the original upstairs premises in Stornoway Town Hall, with one of the island’s most esteemed sons, Iain Crichton Smith, doing the honours.

To mark the anniversary, 40 artworks by 40 artists with links to An Lanntair over the 40 years are to go on show. The exhibition will run until May 17.

Announcing its exhibition, An Lanntair said “a lot of water has gone under the bridge” since it first opened but it is now “a leading light in the arts firmament of Scotland” – a beacon, just as the name suggests. To mark the occasion, the exhibition will be both retrospective and a look to the future.

It includes signature works from artists including Donald Smith, Steve Dilworth, Will Maclean, Anne Campbell, Sandra Kennedy, Moira Maclean, Annie Catrell and Anna Macleod.

An Lanntair showcased powerful photography in its very first exhibition, which included a photo-essay by Murdo Macleod and pieces from Paul Strand’s Tir a’ Mhurain. So it is appropriate now that there will be strong representation from photographers including Gus Wylie, Sam Maynard, Murdo Macleod and Paul Strand.

Roddy Murray, head of visual arts and literature, has been with An Lanntair since the beginning, initially through a Job Creation Scheme. Forty years on, he is preoccupied by the logistics of bringing in pieces from far and wide, and getting them all to Stornoway in one piece.

The challenges range from safely transporting a sculpture by Steve Dilworth over the Clisham to a piece being impounded by customs in Inverness and An Lanntair having to pay for its release.

He found time to look back to his first days with An Lanntair. Roddy started on a Monday and the first exhibition was on the Friday. His job title was a supervisor and his first task was to clean the dais in the main exhibition room, where county councillors used to meet.

Roddy recalled: “That dais was scorch-marked. They had been smoking and put the cigarettes out with the soles of their feet, so my first job was taking a sander to it, so it could be varnished for the opening exhibition.”

Back in those days, Comhairle nan Eilean had given An Lanntair use of the upstairs area of the Town Hall free of charge, as a form of ‘in kind’ support for the venture. “We had no electricity bills, no gas bills, no rates, that kind of thing… which we now have in abundance,” recalled Roddy, wistfully.

The Scottish Arts Council put money towards the new venture in the first year, to match the contribution from the Manpower Services Commission. Then the Comhairle put in some hard finance in year two. That was in turn matched by the Scottish Arts Council which “kept us afloat” and “the next ten years created the real foundation for where we are today”.

Looking back over 40 years, Roddy sees its history in four distinct decades. First were the foundation years of “amazing projects” and the great exhibitions which included As an Fhearann in 1986, which marked the centenary of the Crofting Act, and Togail Tir, the mapping of the Western Isles, both of which toured widely. “We were punching well above our weight”, said Roddy.

Then a feasibility study was commissioned in 1994, under then chairman Ken Kennedy, to establish if there was demand for a custom-built arts centre in Stornoway and where that might be. The next ten years, to 2005, “very quickly became almost totally dominated by the campaign for this building” and it was not plain sailing.

An Lanntair was awarded National Lottery arts funding, receiving £3.8million. Because there was also EU money involved, the commission to design a bespoke arts centre had to be advertised in the Official Journal of the European Union, while the Scottish Arts Council wanted a new-build rather than conversion of an existing building.

At the time, this ruffled some local political feathers among those who had wanted An Lanntair to make use of Lews Castle, which was at that time dilapidated and in search of a purpose. Architects “from all over Europe” were applying to build the arts centre, and there was around £4.5million available.

Dundee firm Nicoll Russell were appointed but when the initial design went out to tender the bids came back “way over budget”. Dr John Smith, who was An Lanntair chairman from 1995 to 2005, recalls travelling with Roddy to a crisis meeting with the Scottish Arts Council in Stirling in March 2000 when they were told: “This can’t go on.”

However, the Arts Council offered a lifeline by not withdrawing their money and instead ordered the design team to go back to the drawing board. Tenders for the second design came in roughly on budget and the new arts centre was opened on October 1, 2005, on the site of the former Louise Carnegie school hostel which had latterly been used as a car park.

The stress of wondering if they would be able to fund a new centre was followed by the pressure of managing the build. Roddy said: “The original project that we spent three years taking to tender basically had to be shelved … and it was touch and go as to whether it was going to be scrapped altogether”.

As well as having dedicated exhibition space, the new Lanntair provided Stornoway with a big multi-purpose auditorium for the first time. It could seat around 200 – and also function as a cinema. There was a bar, a restaurant and a larger shop.

However, there were new challenges ahead, and Roddy described phase three as being the years 2005 to 2015, when they realised An Lanntair had become a much bigger and more costly beast to feed. He recalls being told: “Building the building’s the easy bit. Running it’s the hard bit.”

And so it proved. The old An Lanntair had no more than eight full-time equivalent staff at peak. The day the new building opened, “in one fell swoop we went to 38”. Now it is closer to 50.

That brought operational challenges and an “astonishing” workload. It was also clear that “the money that was there to keep this train on the road was massively insufficient”. In the early years of the new building, there were overheads of about £160,000 “before you even put on a single event or exhibition”. Those ten years were about establishing a base – financial, managerial and operational. By 2015, there was “a degree of equilibrium”.

Significant developments over the years have included the addition of an education and outreach programme in the late 1990s, leading community commemorative events such as the Iolaire centenary memorial and special performative projects such as Hebridean Women and Ballantyne. There is also the annual Faclan book festival, among others.

During the pandemic, An Lanntair put on a ‘degree show’ for arts graduates from the islands who were not able to show elsewhere because of lockdown. There were around 14 artists taking part, all had graduated that year and, says Roddy, “pretty much all of them had at one time been involved through our education programme”.

He said: “There’s actually a whole generation now of artists who first set foot in the building when they were wee, wee kids. There are artists now working in the creative industries who were coming to Saturday art club as five-year-olds.”

Anyone who visits the annual Grinneas nan Eilean exhibition can see how much creativity there is in the islands, across all ages, and Roddy believes that An Lanntair today, just like An Lanntair 40 years ago, is still “in many ways representative of the community”.

As well as being a charity, where any profit is reinvested back into projects, it is a membership organisation, with board representatives drawn from the membership. Looking back, Dr Smith said: “I’m very proud to have been involved in the building of An Lanntair because it is, literally, a beacon for the arts and culture in Lewis and Harris. As a performance venue it has hugely enhanced the scale and type of performance that can be put on.”

He paid tribute to Roddy – who was director from 1986 until organistional restructuring in 2012 - and Alex Macdonald, head of performing arts and cultural projects, for all the work they have done over the years “largely unnoticed and unappreciated to a large extent, beavering away in the background, providing a comprehensive variety of performances from Alex and an interesting programme of exhibitions and festivals from Roddy”.

For her part, Alex said “it would be very difficult to imagine the town without An Lanntair now” while the growth over the years was testament to “a whole raft of people and wouldn’t have happened without determination for it to be there”.

She spoke of An Lannntair’s importance in importing arts and culture events, such as performances from the national opera, ballet and theatre companies, but also of exporting performances and showcasing local talent out into the wider world. “Importantly, it also provides a venue for the community and a complete set-up – from stage, auditorium and technical support – for local events such as the Mod.”

Alex says: “I’m the diary keeper for the auditorium and I can tell you it’s an elastic diary. I juggle not only our own programme but the Mod, the festival, two pantos… The list goes on. It’s not just giving people a space, it’s also providing the back-up of marketing, ticketing, a really good, experienced technical team to run your event, so we’ve provided that as well for the community.

“You get all the support you need for whatever you’re doing and that is a service that we have provided since coming into the new building. You could have a hall anywhere but you’re not going to have all that going on. It’s about support for community events as well as bringing in these national companies.”

Alex said: “Forty years is cause for a celebration. Every business has highs and lows and we’ve had ours.”

Sean Paul O’ Hare, An Lanntair chief executive for the past three years, said: “It’s an extraordinary achievement for any arts organisation to grow and flourish over 40 years and to have such a successful programme running for such a time. And it’s testament to board members, artists, staff members and people down through the years who had such determination and passion for what they do. It’s delivered a brilliant programme over the years and it resonates with local people.”

Financial support and recognition from Creative Scotland and the Comhairle are crucial, Sean Paul said, particularly given the “tough times” in today’s economic world. He hoped the Comhairle would keep supporting it into the future and pointed to the wide community impact the organisation has, through its programme and offerings.

There are a number of jointly-funded posts such as a recently appointed Gaelic arts officer, who will be shared between An Lanntair and the library service.

Sean Paul said: “We get £47,500 a year from the council and we welcome that. Of course we wish to see more but I also know that it’s tight times for everyone concerned and there’s a lot of people looking for support. We’re not alone in that so we know that it’s not easy”.

Creative Scotland recently awarded An Lanntair £1.7 million over three years. All the way back to the early days, An Lanntair’s “unique selling point” for continued national funding has been its status as a Gaelic arts centre. That part of its remit always has to be kept to the fore to distinguish it from many other arts centres around Scotland which are also clamouring for money.

Sean Paul said: “Cultural and arts activity can make a massive impact on social and economic regeneration, on communities, families and individuals. It’s a powerful tool that at times I don’t think is utilised enough.

“Arts centres can’t meander. We have to always be to the fore of trying to create events and activity that resonates and connects with local communities.” Having survived and flourished through 40 years of challenges, the future for An Lanntair looks bright.

Photographer Sam Maynard, architect Andy Bruce and artist Malcolm Maclean, who became the founding chairman, conceived and delivered An Lanntair over the winter of 1984-85. Malcolm Maclean looks back to these early days.

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Creating An Lanntair was a great adventure achieved on a wing and a prayer. We had an idea but no money so we brass-necked our way into what we called jigsaw-puzzle funding. Some enlightened spirits in Comhairle nan Eilean gave us access to premises in the Town Hall, the Arts Council agreed to fund our arts events, the HIDB paid for lights.

Thatcher’s Manpower Services Commission’s job creation programme paid for staffing and somehow we opened within a year of our first planning meeting. Sam, Andy and I then had the great privilege of programming all An Lanntair did for the next six or seven years.

It is easy to forget how radical it was at the time. Opening the first public art gallery in presbyterian Stornoway in the mid 1980s was swimming against various tides. Some local churches were sceptical and lowland attitudes towards the islands could be patronising at best.

Being Scotland’s first arts centre with a Gaelic policy in the days before Gaelic TV, GME and any Gaelic normalisation was especially controversial. It was by no means obvious what this new organisation could become.

My previous experience as a founding board member of Peacock Printmakers in Aberdeen was useful and we copied their membership structure and constitution. Sadly, many of our first board of directors have since passed away and key contributors such as Doc Finlay Macleod, Robbie Neish, Deirdre Macdonald and Ina Maciver should not be forgotten

Our vision was to establish a creative space for all ages where the unexpected could happen; where cultural roots and creative risk were equally celebrated and where local artists could show their work alongside much more famous names, We aspired to showcasing the best of island culture from Seann Nos events to Calanais alongside some of the best from the wider world. For us it was always about ideas that often led to very heated debate.

Our early programming ranged from Angus Og cartoons to Will Maclean’s Cairns and The Living Paintings. Music events included traditional ceilidhs, classical music recitals, Mongolian Throat-singers and Ali Farka Toure before he became a world music megastar.

I got to curate most of An Lanntair’s numerous touring exhibitions including As An Fhearann in 1986 which toured Scotland and Canada for four years while the book based on the exhibition got to number five on the Scottish best sellers list,

Over the past 40 years An Lanntair’s innumerable events, ceilidhs, classes, film screenings and exhibitions have delighted generations of audiences. They have also drawn many millions of pounds into the island’s economy, employed hundreds of islanders and promoted the best of our islands across Scotland and overseas.

An Lanntair’s midwives send their congratulations to the many - paid and unpaid - who have kept An Lanntair afloat for the past four decades, and to CEO Sean Paul and his team for securing its funding for the next few years. We wish them good luck in navigating their next forty.