Watchdogs probe art school’s £20m fundraising drive
An international fundraising appeal launched by Glasgow School of Art after a devastating blaze is being investigated by watchdogs, we can reveal.
The inquiry has been ordered after we revealed how the art school raised at least £20 million after the fire in 2014 despite restoration costs already being covered by insurance.
Instead, the money raised from donors was spent purchasing new buildings and renovating parts of the famous Mackintosh building untouched by fire.
An investigation is now being carried out by the Scottish Fundraising Standards Panel, which adjudicates on complaints about charities.
A senior member of staff at the art school said: “The art school can forever insist that donors were clearly told where the money was going but many, if not the vast majority, clearly thought their donations were helping repair the fire damage.
“In our teaching, by act and by example, we must engender a culture of honesty and integrity.
“It is atrocious that our reputation has been thrown into question by how this appeal for funds was presented and prosecuted in Scotland and around the world.”
After the 2014 fire, which was far less destructive than last year’s blaze, GSA launched a celebrity appeal led by Brad Pitt and Doctor Who star Peter Capaldi for £20 million to restore the iconic building designed by Charles Rennie Macintosh.
Two years later, after millions had been received in donations, a £ 32 million Mackintosh Campus Appeal was launched, which now included upgrading
‘ Heads should have rolled at the GSA
the unaffected east wing of the building and buying nearby Stow College.
The art school said this new appeal reflected “that what the school needed to recover from the fire had become clearer”.
However, fundraising continued to focus on repairing the fire damage even after the insurance money totalling more than £50 million was received.
A fundraiser at a New York restaurant, where tables of 10 cost £ 3,500, was held to help “the GSA recover from the almost catastrophic fire in its iconic and beautiful Mackintosh building”.
A Christie’s auction of works by 25 leading artists, including Turner Prize- winning Grayson Perry, raised more than £700,000. It was also intended to “raise funds and publicity for the rebuilding of the school”.
Higher Education Minister Richard Lochhead confirmed the investigation last week when