Gibbons to quit in September
Shetland Arts Director Gwilym Gibbons is to leave the organisation in September after eight years in the job, it was announced today.
Mr Gibbons was the first man to be appointed as the agency’s director and oversaw the tricky opening of the cinema and music venue Mareel.
He plans to develop a new Shetland-based consultancy agency offering practical support to the UK cultural and heritage sector known as Creative Help Ltd.
He said: “It was after careful consideration and with a certain sense of sadness that I tendered my resignation as SADA’s first director.
“The past seven-and-a-half years have been an extraordinary, full-on journey for me both professionally and personally and I’m hugely proud of the growth of Shetland Arts over the period of my tenure, and of the range and impact of its activities during that time.
“I have always maintained that the individual who leads Shetland Arts through the challenges of its post-Mareel construction and opening phase should be someone different from myself, someone with a fresh approach and new ideas. Now is the time to make a positive move that will facilitate bringing those fresh ideas into play.”
He thanked the board, staff and volunteers at Shetland Arts insisting: “It has been a huge privilege and a joy to work alongside such a talented and skilled team of people who are an asset to Shetland Arts and to the community they serve.”
Shetland Arts chairman Danus Skene said: “We share the sadness that Gwilym expresses surrounding his decision to leave Shetland Arts after his eight years with the organisation. On behalf of the board and staff of Shetland Arts I thank him for exemplary service.
"He has made a unique contribution to the wellbeing of the Shetland community through his leadership of an agency which provides such diverse services to so many.
“The scale and breadth of the work of Shetland Arts under his leadership deserves to be widely celebrated.”