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Scotland, CEMA and the Arts Council, 1919–1967 : background, Politics and Visual Art Policy

The book is the first history of the development of the Council for the Encouragement of Music and the Arts (CEMA) and the Arts Council of Great Britain in Scotland. It is founded on extensive archival research and makes several original contributions to art history, political history and policy studies within its field. They are:

The first detailed account of the origins of CEMA in adult education and the voluntary sector, to show why it emerged under the wing of the Board of Education. In particular, it uncovers the overlooked importance of the Ministry of Reconstruction’s 1919 Report into adult education for the founding ethos of CEMA; Showing that decisions made in Scotland between 1940 and 1945 played a crucial role in the development of CEMA and the Arts Council; these include the decision that there should be a single British arts grant and establishing the principle of territorial representation; Offering new insights into the policy of John Maynard Keynes as Chairman of CEMA/the Arts Council, in particular his strong resistance to organizational devolution; Analyzing the parallels and connections between Scottish demands for devolution within CEMA/the Arts Council and wider political campaigns for Home Rule. It also shows that the electoral success of Welsh nationalism in 1966 lay behind the re-branding of the Scottish and Welsh Committees as ‘Councils’; This theme resonates with the current debate about Scotland’s constitutional position and with more general debates in the UK about political power in the age of devolution; It provides the first analysis of visual art policy in Scotland between 1940 and 1967. The analysis uncovers the platform on which the success of visual art in Scotland over the last three decades was built, without which that success cannot be properly understood or seen in context.