Ok, last post on this for a while - I know it's probably pretty tiresome for folks who don't live in / care about Stirling. I guess now that the (pretty grim) 21/02/13 Stirling Council meeting has come and gone, it's more useful to share some resources for furthering the discussion than to have another moan. I will keep this list as up-to-date as I can with the most important links. Please feel free to share / bookmark this post - it's not going anywhere.
UPDATE 22/02/13 at 6pm: The Changing Room will be closing its doors on Saturday 30 March 2013 for the final time. From the Tolbooth Stirling Facebook page.
UPDATE 27/02/13: More links added.
Discussion & Information:
Stirling Arts Info Group - A public Facebook group. This is probably the best place to go to discuss the cuts, access / share the most current information and to find out if there's anything you can do to help.
The Changing Room on Facebook - news and info from Stirling's only contemporary art gallery. All Facebook discussion that directly mentions The Changing Room should appear here.
#stirlingarts - When discussing matters relating to Stirling's arts & culture cuts on Twitter, it may be useful to include the #stirlingarts hashtag in your tweets. Doing so means that anyone can easily follow a focused public discussion by searching for that tag.
People on Twitter:
@parrallines - Kirsteen Macdonald. The Changing Room's former Visual Arts Development Officer. Kirsteen will likely share a lot of useful links and information.
@Kevin_Harrison - Kevin is director of Artlink Central, an arts charity working across Central Scotland. He lives in Stirling and has been active in discussions on the arts cuts and, like Kirsteen, will likely put some good comment / info out there.
@davidgalletly - Me! I talk a lot of rubbish but I'll always tweet whenever this post has been updated or if anything new comes to light.
Stirling Council:
Stirling Councillors - Stirling councillors need to know your thoughts on the art cuts in Stirling. There is contact information on this myStirling page.
An Email From Councillor Benny - a frankly terrifying email from councillor Neil Benny sent just before the 21/02/13 meeting to Kate Sankey and shared on Facebook.
@neilbenny - Councillor Neil Benny's Twitter account features a fair amount of comment on the cuts. I've not included this in the above Twitter recommendations as, well, I don't recommend you follow him.
Stirling Arts & Culture:
The Tolbooth - Tolbooth veune homepage.
The Changing Room - Changing Room art gallery homepage.
Creative Stirling - A non-profit creative hub in Stirling.
The Smith Art Gallery - Exhibitions on natural history, heritage and culture.
Artlink Central - An arts agency established in 1988 working across Central Scotland.
Articles, Letters and Opinion:
Stirling Likes to Spend on Roads, Not Culture - Fantastic a-n article on the cuts by Kevin Harrison.
Letter from Peter Russell - Peter Russell writes beautifully on the fall-out from the 21/02/13 Stirling Council meeting.
Email From A Concerned Artist - an anonymously written email voicing concern on the closure of The Changing Room. Written a few days before the 21/02/13 meeting.
Stirling Council Plan to Close The Changing Room Gallery - a blog post by myself written on 20/02/13
Change - a blog post by Stirling artist RueFive written on 21/02/13.
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If I've missed anything you feel is important, let me know on Twitter or leave a comment below.