WHY THEY’RE STILL FIGHTING FIRES AT THE MACK
Sackings, resignations, unhappy students – and incendiary allegations of bullying. And why, after two devastating fires, Glasgow School of Art is still a hotbed of discontent
WHEN the Glasgow School of Art pressed the green light on a worldwide search for a new director this week, it stressed the need for a figure with vision and passion; someone able to grasp its ‘crucial importance’ to Glasgow and the wider artistic community, and the skills to lead one of the world’s greatest creative institutions.
Given the school’s recent past, it might be reasonable for the selection panel to check the successful candidate’s firefighting qualifications into the bargain.
Such a suggestion is only half in jest, not just because the next director will face the daunting task of masterminding the rebuilding of the Glasgow School of Art (GSA) – and the architectural masterwork at its heart, which was destroyed by two devastating blazes.
Whoever takes on the role will do so also knowing that relations between the previous permanent incumbent, Professor Tom Inns, and his board of governors broke down irreparably before it was announced that he was resigning after five difficult years in the post. When a series of incendiary internal emails leaked by a whistleblower suggested Professor Inns was effectively ousted by the board after being told he was unwell and unfit for work, it lit the blue touch paper.
The school has been unable to stem the rumours of poor morale, bullying and intimidation that have erupted from its charred ruins. In all, 70 of the 400-strong staff have left GSA since the building, designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh and known as the Mack, suffered its second catastrophic fire in June last year. Among those who quit was another executive, the school’s finance director, Alastair Milloy, who departed in August.
Candidates to replace Professor Inns will be aware that GSA has been heavily criticised by alumni, staff and politicians, who claim that it failed to do enough to protect a jewel of Scottish architecture following the first fire.
The school’s management has also had to defend itself against suggestions that it diverted cash earmarked for the restoration project at the Mack to fund expansion plans elsewhere on its burgeoning campus, suggestions it hotly denies.
In the summer, Master’s degree students who paid up to £20,000 a year to study there complained about a lack of tutors and having to work in dilapidated buildings.
The latest National Student Survey found that while 52 per cent of GSA’s fine art painting and printmaking students expressed satisfaction with their course, only 29 per cent felt it was ‘well organised and running smoothly’.
GSA is adamant the art school will rise from the ashes but Glasgow Tory MSP Adam Tomkins summed up a growing disquiet. ‘The more one hears about the School of Art and how it was managed, the more pressing the case for a full public inquiry into the future of the Mackintosh building,’ he said. ‘My view is there are, at best, grave doubts about the capacity of the current management of the School of Art to be the custodians of one of Scotland’s national treasures.’
In light of such a damning appraisal, any candidate for the top job might feel entitled to ask a question of their own: just what is going on at GSA?
Scrutiny has been increasing for some time. When the west wing of the iconic Mack building was severely damaged by fire in May 2014, it was deemed a tragic accident that could not have been foreseen. When the entire structure, which was built in two halves between 1896 and 1909, was gutted by a more severe blaze in June last year, shortly before its £35million restoration was due to be completed, the verdict was far less forgiving.
Last year, architect Gordon Gibb, an alumnus and part-time lecturer at the school, told a Holyrood committee that in the first 105 years of its life there were no fires and, for most of that time, no concept of formal health and safety.
An outspoken critic of the present management, he pointed out: ‘All the staff and students in that time knew how to look after this important building.’
Mr Gibb, director of professional studies at the GSA’s architecture department, claimed that years before the devastating blazes, bosses had been advised to install a highpressure mist fire suppression system that would have saved the Mack. He said they had prioritised expanding the campus instead with the construction of the Reid Building and the purchase and redevelopment of Stow College.
He told the committee: ‘I would not disagree with those who say that [the Mack] should not be redeveloped or run by those individuals in charge during the two fires.’
FoR someone so closely connected to the GSA to be so critical is certainly surprising. But it is nothing compared to the extraordinary exchange of emails, which preceded Professor Inns’ abrupt departure on November 2 last year.
The emails, leaked to a newspaper, apparently show that after a meeting he attended with board chairman, broadcaster and writer Muriel Gray, the director was told he was unwell, unfit for work and should go home until the school’s occupational health advisers could assess him. When he refused, it is alleged his IT access was suspended.
Professor Inns, responsible for 400 staff and 2,500 students, then used a personal email account to tell colleagues of the ‘totally bizarre position’ and warned ‘should there be an emergency or critical incident over the weekend, our normal email communication links have been compromised’.
He wrote: ‘Although the last 16 weeks have been stressful, I am totally capable of fulfilling the role of GSA director.’ The emails were sent several weeks ago by a whistleblower to the Scottish Funding Council, which gives the art school £15million in grants a year.
Mr Gibb said the episode raised ‘very clear and very serious questions’ about how the director left his post. Professor Inns, who earned a salary and pensions package in excess of £180,000 a year, is thought to have received a pay-off of £250,000 when he stepped down.
When his resignation was announced, Miss Gray said he had ‘the most challenging tenure at the helm of GSA and we are truly grateful for all his enormous commitment and hard work, especially over the course of the past few months’.
For the final months of his tenure, the burnt-out shell of the Mack became a focus for growing anger and ill will towards the GSA when a huge exclusion zone was thrown around the building and surrounding streets, leaving residents and businesses in the Garnethill area displaced and facing uncertainty.
The art school’s management was accused of acting in a high-handed manner and of failing to engage properly with its neighbours. The exclusion zone was only relaxed gradually with the achingly slow demolition of the site. The ill will has scarcely been quick to dissipate either.
Appearing before the same Holyrood committee last year, Miss Gray accepted criticism of the board’s dealings with the public in the aftermath of the fire. ‘We thought we were communicating, but that’s not good
enough if the message is not getting through,’ she said.
But she insisted that management of the historic building had been ‘exemplary’ and that although she had been ‘heartbroken’ by the fires, she would not have changed any of the decisions about how the building was run.
Miss Gray denied that GSA had caused additional fire risk by having its staff occupy part of the building alongside construction company Kier during rebuilding, insisting that far from breaching fire regulations it was ‘part and parcel of our governance that we were actually in the building and had oversight of it’.
She also dismissed concerns that no effective sprinkler system was in place during reconstruction, saying regulations banned the use of sprinklers as too damaging to the library and books and no effective mist suppression system was available at the time.
The committee said it was not satisfied with the board’s management and there were ‘not sufficient measures taken to protect the building from fire’.
It will be for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service to determine the actual cause of the fire, but its final report is not expected until next year. Fire chiefs admitted this week they have yet to access parts of the building’s basement still buried under tons of debris.
In the void created by a lack of information, the blame game continues. An international appeal which raised £20million to rebuild the Mack after the first fire, even though insurance payouts covered the work, has raised questions.
Critics claim GSA failed to make clear where the donations were being spent and that cash given to rebuild the Mackintosh was spent on purchasing new buildings and renovating parts of the building untouched by the fire – allegations rejected by GSA.
The school has insisted donated cash was used properly and transparently to enable the school to ‘recover from the consequences of the fire’ and that all donors were made aware of that. It added: ‘In 2016, the Mackintosh campus appeal was launched to support a more holistic approach to the Mackintosh building restoration.’
Since leaving his post, Professor Inns has called for the restoration of the Mack to be carried out by an Devastation: The Mackintosh building ablaze in June 2018, the second catastrophic fire to hit the college in four years independent trust rather than the board of governors. In a submission to MSPs, he said the Mack should be rebuilt but by a separate trust, while the board runs the art school.
Paul Sweeney, Scottish Labour MP for Glasgow North East, has called for an investigation into the apparent rift in the school’s senior leadership team. He said: ‘It is dismaying to see this level of dysfunctionality at the top.’
Since the second blaze, 40 staff have resigned, while 30 have been made redundant. Six signed confidentiality agreements, while payoffs to departing staff totalled £210,000. A former staff member said many colleagues had left because of the management culture, including allegations of bullying and a lack of leadership from the art school board.
THE ex-staff member said: ‘There is a really unstable operating environment which must raise serious questions about their sustainability as an independent institution if they keep going like this.
‘Some of the staff who left had been there for many years. They didn’t want to leave but felt they had to. The morale is dreadful. People are just worn down.
‘The art school used to have a very strong community feel to it but it is a very fragmented community at the moment.
‘There has been a huge amount of disruption and fragmentation because staff have been decanted and put in different buildings while still being expected to deliver well.
‘I have heard a lot of people talking about a culture of intimidation and bullying. People are scared to speak up. They have been told at meetings that they are not allowed to discuss the fire.’
In June this year, Miss Gray revealed she was stepping down for a ‘temporary period’ for family reasons. Her husband, TV executive Hamish Barbour, was diagnosed with cancer in 2017.
As things stand, GSA, regarded as one of the world’s ten best art schools, is being run by an acting chairman of the board, Professor Nora Kearney, and an interim director, Professor Irene McAra McWilliam, who was appointed last November for a 12-month term but who will now remain in post until a successor is found.
Asked about the claims of unrest within the GSA, a spokesman said they could not comment on specific circumstances relating to members of staff, past or present, but added: ‘Our staff turnover is comparable with the higher education sector.’
And so, the Glasgow School of Art begins its search for a new director – its third in two years.
Charles Rennie Mackintosh once wrote: ‘There is hope in honest error.’ He was talking about how true art can only be achieved by learning from failure. There may be a lesson in there for those who seek to rebuild his legacy.