Its a Vision Thing...

(for info on the proposed closure of Dartington College of Arts, visit http://www.savedartingtoncollege.org/)

Figures, figures, figures. Charts. Projections. International Arts Incubators. More projections. More charts…

Extracting anything that could be called a ‘fact’ from this thicket of spin has not been easy over the past few weeks. One thing though did pop through. At a recent meeting in Totnes, the CEO of the Trust, Vaughan Lindsay was asked about the impact the closure of the college would have on the community. His reply was that ‘it was unfortunate, but we have to move on’.I would have thought that the draining of £4-5 million pounds from the local economy, the loss of 700 young people to the area, and the ripping apart of the social and artistic fabric of our community was more ‘collateral damage’ than ‘unfortunate’.

However it is the ‘we’, and the ‘move on’ bits that I want to draw your attention to.

Who are we? We are the thousands of people who love our town, our community and the ethos and principles of Tagore and the Elmhirsts that were bequeathed to us. We don’t care that much about status and wealth down here. We love the music and the art and the social interaction. We love having young people on our streets. We love the buskers and the jewellery makers and the artists whose paintings hang on the walls of our local cafés. For us, Dartington and Totnes are inseparable. Think Brixham without a harbour, and you will understand the notion of Totnes without Dartington College of Arts.

We are ‘moving on’. We have been for some time. We have in our midst Schumacher College, the world leader in sustainable living, ecology, environmental awareness and alternative models, both economic and social. Totnes is the first town in the UK to become a transition town – hundreds of people have attended meetings to listen, to learn and to contribute their vision to a future that is based on the new reality that faces us all – dwindling energy supplies, the collapse of consumerist and expansionist economic models, the ravages to our society that the domination of a spreadsheet culture has brought upon us.

Culture, art, music are at the centre of our vision. Tagore was a century ahead of his time. He said over and over again that they were fundamental components of a healthy community and society. Dartington College of Arts is not only a symbol – it is the embodiment of a principle that is at the very heart of who we are and what we want to be.

The CEO of the trust Vaughan Lindsay, and one or two of his trustees, instead of embracing the wealth of talent, experience, knowledge, vision, enthusiasm and good will that surrounds them, prefer to turn to corporate and private wealth, to the superficial status and prestige that comes with it, to exchange spin for substance, dollars for dedication, crassness for community.

The moving on that he talks about is really a step backwards, not forwards. The spreadsheet culture that he is addicted to has long passed its sell by date and cannot even claim the dubious status of being a short term fix. Whereas he turns to Mc Alpine when buildings need repair, we would turn to the many local people who are experts in environmentally friendly, ecologically sound and sustainable building. Whereas he sees the future in involving the private sector we see the participation of the local community. We want to promote art and music for and by local people, he wants to fly them in from abroad. We see the effects of this mentality all around us – in our universities which have become business parks, in our hospitals which have been turned into corporate enterprises, in our schools which have become venues for advertising hoardings. Now they want to make our arts into business ventures.The big problem that he and the very few people who share his vision face is that Totnes is a unique place and the opposition he faces is pretty much unanimous. Never have I witnessed such a huge outpouring of outrage and dismay on a community issue.I would like Mr Lindsay either to join us or leave us – the choice is his.

Technorarti Tags: Dartington College of Arts