About COAST

COAST Festival has been designed to build on the existing interest and demand for creative activity in the Banffshire coast area, notably the existence and activities of Duff House which hosts collections of the National Galleries and the growing demand for arts-tourism in the area whereby visitors can participate in art courses as well as having the opportunity to view and celebrate art created by others.

COAST has a strong professional structure designed to drive forward the implementation of the Festival. It is run by The Banffshire Visual Arts Festival Ltd, a company set up by a voluntary Board of Directors consisting of local Business people and Artists. COAST also has a public Festival Forum Group made up of local artists, business people and other members of the community who contribute to shaping the event and where appropriate, this group includes a representative from Aberdeenshire Council's Arts Development Team and the Manager of Duff House Country House Gallery.

In addition to the above, a Festival Director is also in place to undertake the executive activities of COAST.

COAST Festival of the Visual Arts is supported by Scottish Enterprise Grampian, Aberdeenshire Council and EventScotland.

 

Meet the Board:

Sara Schena
Sara is a Visual and Dance Artist, with an MA in Art and Design from Grays School of Art; Sara was Dance Officer in residence for Aberdeenshire Council between 1997 and 2002 and is currently taking a sabbatical to raise a family.

 

 

Bryan Angus
Bryan is an arts graduate in painting from Gray's in Aberdeen, but for most of his career has worked as an arts manager. Bryan is now is now running his own arts business 'Creative Retreat' with his wife, Carla Angus.

 

 

Patricia Seligman
An active community participant, Patricia has previously been the Chair of the Friends of Duff House and is a Director of the North East Preservation Trust and deputy Lord Lieutenant.

 

 

 

Duncan Hynd
Duncan is a businessman who moved from London to the Banffshire coast in 2006; he runs his two current businesses from home and recently became a Director of COAST Festival at the beginning of 2008. He is also a member of the Banffshire Coast Tourism Partnership.

 

Meet the Festival Director:

 

New COAST Festival Manager : Jenny Ebdy

Jenny trained as a theatre designer and was based in London for a number of years. After starting a family she moved back to Scotland and her career moved into arts development and administration. She set up a charity which ran over 30 projects and events in the community and wider. She is now looking forward to helping make COAST 2010 a great success and a wonderful weekend experience for community and visitors alike.

 

More info on funders and stakeholders:

COAST Festival of the Visual Arts is supported by Scottish Enterprise Grampian, EventScotland and Aberdeenshire Council. The funding COAST has received from these organisations will provide essential continuity for the first three years of COAST and with other fundraising efforts; this will guarantee the establishment of a major festival.

Cllr Peter Argyle, Chair of Infrastructure Services Committee, Aberdeenshire Council
"Any project which looks to boost tourism in Aberdeenshire is always welcome and the Council is glad to have given support to the Festival through several channels. This project provides an excellent platform for the arts community in Aberdeenshire and I am sure that the Festival will be a success and will feature for many years to come. The effort by local artists, and supporters, to get this Festival off the ground has been impressive."

David Littlejohn, Scottish Enterprise
"Promoting the Banffshire Coast as a visitor destination is a vital element of Scottish Enterprise's work with the tourism industry in Aberdeen City and Shire. The Coast Festival of the Visual Arts will play a significant role in delivering the vision of the Banffshire Coast tourism strategy and its success is very important to the area's economic growth. Scottish Enterprise is delighted to be one of the supporting partners."

Paul Bush, Chief Operating Officer of EventScotland, the national events agency
"This a very exciting time to be involved with events in Scotland and I'm delighted that we have been able to support the COAST Festival of Visual Arts this year."

"The growth of events and festivals within Aberdeenshire is important as it helps sustain the rising reputation that Scotland as a whole is gaining for staging events. It's also important to recognise that successful events act as a key driver in attracting visitors to the area and boosting the local economy."

"The Regional Events Programme is a fantastic opportunity for events within Aberdeenshire, and the rest of Scotland, to achieve their growth ambitions."

COAST would like to thank the above organisations for their support.