Scottish Artist Craig Coulthard Wins £460,000 London 2012 Cultural Olympiad Commission

Arts Council England and London 2012 announced today (Thursday 22 October) that Scotland based artist Craig Coulthard has been selected as the Scottish winner of a £460,000 (Lottery funded) commission for Artists taking the lead, one of the major projects for the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad.

Forest Pitch was selected by an independent panel of artists and producers from the five projects shortlisted in August from a total of 98 Scottish entries.

Craig Coulthard’s Forest Pitch involves a football pitch hidden within a forest. Trees are felled to make way for a football pitch and used to create a stand, goalposts and a shelter that will act as both changing room and exhibition space. One football match is scheduled to be played on the pitch, open to spectators and once the match has taken place, the pitch will be left to become taken over by nature again. The changing room is kept as a simple exhibition space to document the project.

The pitch itself, with surrounding infrastructure will be taken over again by the natural world, to become a living relic of the Olympics, in contrast to the new buildings created in London for the Games.

Forest Pitch is one of 12 commissions that will be realised across the UK over the next three years, each inspired by their location and celebrating the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. There is one commission for each of the nine English regions and the nations of Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

Artist, Craig Coulthard said:
‘It has become clear while putting in the hard work for the Forest Pitch proposal and presentation that this is an achievable and exciting idea and I am extremely grateful to have been given the opportunity to realise it and am delighted to be a part of the Cultural Olympiad.  I am confident that this project will be a great success and look forward to working with the Scottish Arts Council and many other people to make it happen.’

Jim Tough, Chief Executive of the Scottish Arts Council said:
‘These 12 extraordinary projects redefine what public art will mean in 2012. From spectacular events and monumental installations to very personal explorations of culture and creativity, the active involvement of individuals and communities will be key to their success and we look forward to seeing many more people encouraged to enjoy the arts through this the most ambitious and wide ranging art commission in the UK.
‘I would like to congratulate not only Scotland’s own winner for his ambitious, personal and engaging work, but also  the 12 winners and 59 shortlisted artists from all across the UK;  they demonstrate that our nation bursting with creativity, and that London 2012 will be a catalyst to make many amazing things happen in Scotland and right across the country.’

London 2012 Chairman Sebastian Coe said: 'The winning commissions will be the catalyst for a truly national showcase of culture inspired by the London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games. Each project will explore the nation and region's creativity as part of a UK-wide celebration of London 2012.'

The other winning commissions across the UK are:
EAST: On Landguard Point, Pacitti Company
EAST MIDLANDS: Lionheart, Shauna Richardson
LONDON: Bus.Tops, Alfie Dennen and Paula Le Dieu
NORTH EAST: FLOW, The Owl Project and Ed Carter
NORTH WEST: Projected Column, Anthony McCall and FACT
NORTHERN IRELAND: The Nest, Brian Irvine and John McIlduff
SCOTLAND: Craig Coulthard, Forest Pitch
SOUTH EAST: The Boat Project, Lone Twin
SOUTH WEST: nowhereisland, Alex Hartley
WALES: Adain Avion, Marc Rees
WEST MIDLANDS: Godiva Awakes, Imagineer Productions
YORKSHIRE: Leeds Canvas, Leeds Canvas

The winning commissions will be developed across 2010 and 2011 in close collaboration with local communities. All twelve will take part in a final unifying celebration, prior to the opening of the London 2012 Olympic Games.

The value of the commissions awarded to the winning artists is:
Nine English regions £500,000 each
Northern Ireland £190,000 (Lottery funded)
Scotland £460,000 (Lottery funded)
Wales £230,000 (Lottery funded)

The winning commissions for each nation and region were selected by independent panels of artists and producers with a range of experience in commissioning major arts events.

The panel for the Scotland:
The Scottish Arts Council established a judging panel for Artists taking the lead by using
their pool of specialist advisors, external artists and experienced Scottish Arts Council
staff:

• Stewart Laing, a director and designer of theatre and opera. Current projects Stewart is involved in include Pamela Carter's new play, An Argument About Sex, at Tramway in Glasgow; David Sawer's new ballet, Rumplestiltskin, for Birmingham Contemporary Music Group; Bela Bartok's Bluebeard's Castle and The Miraculous Mandarin for Malmo Opera; and Benjamin Britten's Peter Grimes at La Scala, Milan.
• Toby Paterson , won the Beck's Futures prize in 2002 and received a Creative Scotland Award in 2006. Recent projects include exhibitions in Belgrade, Madrid, The Hague, London, and Dallas and permanent commissions for BBC Scotland and Warwick University. Paterson's interest in cities and their architecture is manifested throughout his work in the form of painting, sculpture and photography.
• Svend Brown, Creative Director of Perth Concert Hall (producing around 40 concerts per year); Artistic Director of the award winning East Neuk Festival ( www.eastneukfestival.com ) Bid Director of the City of Glasgow's successful bid to become a UNESCO City of Music and a freelance writer and speaker on music. He plays piano happily but badly and loves music of many kinds.
• Bryony McIntyre, co-director of Arika, a company that curate and produce festivals and events that explore experimental arts and aim to see more people experience experimental work, more regularly in more places across the UK. The Kill Your Timid Notion festival has run for five editions at Dundee Contemporary Arts and Instal has completed it's eighth festival at The Arches in Glasgow. Previously, Bryony distributed and promoted the work of Scottish filmmakers and worked at a variety of international film festivals.
• Clive Gillman, Director of Dundee Contemporary Arts, Scotland's largest arts and media centre. He has a background in working with media-based arts, both as an artist and also through working on the development of the cultural infrastructure in the UK. He has shown works internationally and has developed a number of internet-based public art projects including Metroscopes' ( www.metroscopes.net ), a permanent public work in the centre of Liverpool.
• Neil Gillespie, design director of Reiach and Hall Architects. Many of his buildings have won awards, most recently a Civic Trust Award 2009, nomination for Mies van der Rohe Award 2009, European Union Europa Nostra Award 2009 and RIBA and RIBA National Awards in 2008. Neil is the current 'Architect of the Year' and has established many National Lottery funded artist/architect collaborations and set up sleeper, an independent art space supported by Reiach and Hall.
• Ian Munro, studied music in Glasgow, followed by studies in Economics and Surveying in Edinburgh. His early career was as a professional Surveyor and Projects Director in private practice, with specialism in cultural developments in the UK, Canada and Russia. In 1996, he joined the Scottish Arts Council and is currently Co-Director of Arts, his work spanning a diverse policy spectrum with corporate responsibility for Lottery matters, Creative Industries, Education, Equalities, and Audience and Organisational development.
• Leonie Bell, Creative Programmer for the Cultural Olympiad in Scotland. Within this role she is responsible for developing the Scottish Arts Council's plans for both London 2012 and Glasgow 2014. Leonie was previously Programme Director at The Lighthouse, Scotland's Centre for Architecture, Design & the City where she developed and delivered a wide ranging programme within the building, across Scotland and internationally.

Notes to editors

• Ideas that are original and led by artists
• Ideas that reflect or are inspired by the location in which they will take shape
• Ideas that show a legacy for communities and artists beyond 2012
• Ideas that celebrate London 2012 and reflect the values of the Cultural Olympiad

For further information see www.artiststakingthelead.org.uk

For press information on London 2012 please contact Paul Woodmansey at LOCOG, 0203 2012 461 or paul.woodmansey@london2012.com

About Arts Council England
Arts Council England works to get great art to everyone by championing, developing and investing in artistic experiences that enrich people’s lives. As the national development agency for the arts, we support a range of artistic activities from theatre to music, literature to dance, photography to digital art, and carnival to crafts. Great art inspires us, brings us together and teaches us about ourselves, and the world around us. In short, it makes life better.

Between 2008 and 2011, we will invest £1.3 billion of public money from government and a further £0.3 billion from the National Lottery to create these experiences for as many people as possible across the country. www.artscouncil.org.uk

About the Cultural Olympiad
The Cultural Olympiad is a national celebration of culture which is happening now and is about:

• Giving everyone in the country a chance to be part of London 2012
• Bringing sport and art together on a scale that has never been done
• Using the power of the Olympic Games to inspire creativity across all forms of culture, especially amongst young people.
• Making a real impact which will leave a lasting legacy well beyond 2012

Contact email(s)

media.office@scottisharts.org.uk

Issued by: Scottish Arts Council