November 2003 ArtsFolk: Kathy Hubbard (1)

KATHY HUBBARD has been a moving force within the arts in Shetland, and has been instrumental in getting projects that are not money-making ventures out there. In the week between agreeing to do the interview and my catching up with her by e-mail, Kathy appeared in the United Nations Day celebrations reading poetry, organised and co-ordinated the visit of an opera group from Wales to the North Isles of Shetland and Lerwick, and generally was indispensable to all around her.

The interview appears here unabridged and unaltered - one of Kathy’s pastimes is writing stories and her style clearly shows through. It presents a different side to Kathy Hubbard than the one that we normally see at the Arts Trust and events. Long may both exist!

AR: Kathy, have you always had an interest in the arts?

KH: Yes - although I had a traumatic experience which might have put me off forever when I was four years old and making my stage debut at St Peter's School in Wythenshawe, Manchester. I had to walk on, pushing a cotton wool-covered toy dog on wheels, and reciting "Baa baa black sheep." I wasn't much good at multi-tasking in those days, and I tripped, the dog fell over and all his "fleece" fell off. The humiliation of it!

AR: How long have you been in post?

KH: Just over four years.

AR: How did you decide to do this job?

KH: With great trepidation and self doubt .....

AR: What was your previous work?

KH: I was a probation officer for twenty years, and worked in the criminal justice systems of England, Wales and Scotland during that time.

AR: What did you bring across to the arts position from your other work?

KH: Well, my team would say that an understanding of the criminal mindset is pretty handy, but I think it might have been experience of project management that was the most useful thing. Also, when you have worked in situations which are "life and death" serious, I think it gives you a sense of perspective on everything else. Every now and again a project may not go exactly as we had hoped, or something goes wrong with the arrangements; now although that may be disappointing, frustrating and anxiety-inducing, I know it's not the end of the world, because I have seen what that looks like for a great many people in my previous life, and it's a lot worse than a cancelled show, or a late exhibition.

AR: What does Shetland offer you in terms of art that is different to working in the arts in other areas of the UK?

KH: Hard for me to answer that, as I haven't had this kind of experience anywhere else, but I suppose the obvious thing is that we are lucky that we had extra funding because of the oil investments of thirty years ago. Although that's all starting to look pretty rocky now because of stock market crashes, etc, it has still enabled us to do things that most other cash-starved local authorities would not have been able to do.

Next Page | Previous Page Page 1 | 2