The clues were there from the moment Granite Noir was launched in 2017; this was another brilliant idea from the little grey cells of Jane Spiers.
As a dynamic chief executive of Aberdeen Performing Arts from 2012 to 2022, the woman who has received an OBE in the King’s Birthday Honours List, was a tireless figure in creating new events and spreading her message that it didn’t matter whether it was theatre, opera, film, dance, music or festivals….everybody was invited to the party.
Under Ms Spiers’ leadership, APA delivered the £10m Music Hall redevelopment, introduced three new festivals to the city, Granite Noir, True North and Light the Blue, expanded and diversified work on all stages, deepened engagement with communities, and established Freshly Squeezed Productions to commission and produce work.
It was a mark of the impact she made in the role that, in 2019, APA was named Business of the Year at the Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce Northern Star Awards – the first arts organisation to secure the prize – while she also became the first woman to be recognised with the Lifetime Achievement honour.
Yet she has always been less interested in trinkets and trophies than taking art in all its myriad forms to places where it has never gone before.
Jane’s joy at OBE in King’s Birthday Honours 2024
In her current role as chairwoman of the National Theatre of Scotland, she said about the news of the OBE in the King’s Birthday Honours: “I’m still pinching myself. I feel so fortunate to have spent a lifetime working in the arts and now to be given an honour for doing something I love.
“I couldn’t accept it without acknowledging all the people along the way, back and front of house, who have played a part in my life, encouraged me, believed in me, given me chances and I couldn’t have asked for a more fulfilling and rewarding career.
“It’s an honour in itself to be part of the cultural community in Scotland, which is an amazing community of artists and creatives, storytellers, activists, entertainers, changemakers and placemakers.
“In my career, I have been driven by the power of artists as agents of change. And now, more than ever in these challenging times, artists and creatives are not a ‘nice to have’ [item], we are a ‘must have’ at the centre of a just society.
APA’s former chairman Craig Pike, spoke warmly of his colleague’s immense contribution when she departed stage left two years ago.
He said: “We have benefitted hugely from Jane’s vision, ambition, energy and passion in a role that she has made her own, with an outstanding level of dedication.
Jane is ‘inspirational’
“She has been an inspirational leader, never more in evidence than during the pandemic [when the curtain fell on arts venues], tirelessly advocating and fundraising to keep us solvent and safeguard jobs with the welfare of her work family in mind.”
At the moment, Ms Spiers is a trustee of the Glasshouse in Gateshead; of Edinburgh UNESCO City of Literature Trust; and of Peacock Visual Arts in Aberdeen.
And she was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Letters in 2021 by Robert Gordon University for her contribution to the arts.