A new cross-sector board has been established to lead the development of Beò! 2029, the Inverness-Highland bid for UK City of Culture.
The Creative Highland board brings together senior influential leaders from culture, education, business, tourism, community, and the public sector, to champion the bid and shape the long-term vision for arts and culture across the region.
The board will initially be co-chaired by Cllr Bill Lobban, Convener of The Highland Council, and Ellen Fogel Walker, Chief Executive of Visit Inverness Loch Ness, with Derek Brown, Chief Executive of The Highland Council, and Vicki Nairn, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI), serving as Co-Vice-Chairs.
Inverness-Highland will find out later this month if it has been shortlisted for UK City of Culture 2029. The city and region are competing against Blackpool, Ipswich, Middlesbrough, Milton Keynes, Portsmouth, Sheffield, Swindon and Wrexham for the title.
The Creative Highland board will provide clear leadership, accountability and decision-making for the Beò! 2029 bid, while also guiding wider work to develop an arts and cultural strategy for the Highlands.
The board will work alongside the newly established Highland Cultural Assembly, a permanent cultural forum which recently brought together more than 100 artists, creative practitioners, arts organisations and cultural bodies to help create a stronger, collective voice for the sector.
Cllr Bill Lobban, Convener of The Highland Council and Co-Chair of the Creative Highland Board, said: “The Creative Highland Board brings together a wealth of experience, insight and passion to create a lasting cultural legacy for the Highlands.
Ellen is a highly respected leader with expertise working across the tourism and heritage sectors, along with a deep commitment for the people, places and communities of the Highlands. I look forward to working closely with her as Co-Chair, and our fellow board members, to support the ambitions of the bid and develop a shared cultural vision for the Highlands for years to come.”
Ellen Fogel-Walker, Chief Executive of Visit Inverness Loch Ness, said: “I am honoured to take on the role of Co-Chair alongside such an experienced and diverse Board, bringing together people who share a commitment to the cultural future of Inverness and the Highlands.
Our bid to become the UK City of Culture represents a defining opportunity for our region. It is not simply about celebrating our extraordinary cultural heritage, but about reimagining the place culture holds in our communities, our identity and our future.
Throughout my career, my work has focused on protecting social memory, recovering histories at risk of being lost and understanding the relationship between people, place and cultural identity. From working with some of Scotland’s earliest ancient monuments, to helping shape the understanding and care of Culloden Battlefield, and now leading one of Scotland’s most iconic visitor destinations, I have seen first-hand the importance of ensuring that communities remain at the heart of how we understand and celebrate our heritage.
As we look towards the future, I am determined that this bid reflects the voices, experiences and ambitions of the people who make our region what it is. We have an opportunity not only to tell our stories, but to shape the cultural legacy we leave for generations to come. I look forward to working with my fellow Co-Chair, the Board and our communities to realise that ambition.”
As the only Scottish entry in the UK City of Culture 2029 competition and the first in its history to represent both a city and wider region, Beò! 2029 showcases the Highlands as place of living culture - ancient and modern, rooted in the region’s people, place, language, landscape and creativity.
The bid highlights the richness and diversity of culture across Inverness and the Highlands, while demonstrating the vital role culture plays in supporting thriving, resilient and sustainable urban, rural, coastal and island communities.
It sets out how cultural investment can help address challenges such as depopulation, increase participation, strengthen wellbeing and build confidence in the region as a place to live, work, study and create.
Members of the Creative Highland Board continues to grow and currently includes:
- Charlotte Mountford, Director of Lyth Arts Centre, Lyth, Caithness
- Chris Taylor, Destination Development Director, Highlands and Islands, Visit Scotland
- Cllr Bill Lobban, Convener of The Highland Council, Co-Chair
- Colin Marr, Chief Executive of Inverness Chamber of Commerce
- Derek Brown, Chief Executive of The Highland Council, Co-Vice-Chair
- Eilidh Primrose, Highland Youth Convener
- Ellen Fogel Walker, Chief Executive of Visit Inverness Loch Ness, Co-Chair
- Fiona Dalgetty, Chief Executive, Fèis Rois
- Frances Gunn, Chair of the Flow Country Partnership
- Ingrid Henderson, Producer and Musician, Lochaber
- John Morrison, Chairman of MG ALBA
- Karen Dick, Director of Place, Partnerships and Communities, Creative Scotland
- Laura Walker, Theatre Producer, Inverness
- Leah McBain, former Youth Convener, The Highland Council
- Lucy Conway, Director of the Isle of Eigg Trust
- Rebecca Holt, Chief Executive of Eden Court Theatre
- Sinéad Hargan, Artist
- Steve Walsh, Chief Executive of High Life Highland
- Stuart Black, Chief Executive of Highlands and Islands Enterprise
- Vicki Nairn, Principal and Vice Chancellor of the University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI), Co-Vice-Chair