BILL SCOTT

Edinburgh College of Art
Bill Scott enjoyed a lifelong professional home in the Sculpture School at Edinburgh College of Art. He commented that “From the moment I first saw the Sculpture Court as a student, I felt the magic of the place”.

Scott’s career within the College began in 1961, and he became Head of School in 1990 and Professor of Sculpture in 1994. During this time he influenced generations of students.

His sculptural practice and leadership in culture and education were “parallel expressions of the community spirit, democratic professionalism and problem-solving which were central to his working method”.

Royal Scottish Academy
Bill Scott was a regular exhibitor and active member of the RSA, first showing in 1961. He was first elected in 1973, becoming a full Academician in 1984. In 1997 he was elected Secretary of the RSA, and in 2007 he became the first sculptor in its history to be elected President.

Scott assumed office at a time of change. He was committed to the transition from the annual open students’ exhibition to the RSA New Contemporaries, an annual selected show of work by recent Scottish graduates in art and architecture; and to changes in the format of the Annual Exhibition. He encouraged the expansion of the temporary exhibitions programme, and the increased role of the RSA in the awarding of artists’ residencies. Keen on forging international connections, in 2011, he led an Academy delegation to Beijing and Chengdu in China.

In 2008 he was elected an Honorary Royal Academician, and an Honorary Royal Hibernian Academician. He was a member of the Board of the Fruitmarket Gallery from 1980-1990, and a member of the Faculty of the British School at Rome from 1985-1990. He was Chairman of the Awards Committee of the Scottish Arts Council from 1987-1990, and from 2000 served on the committee of the Edinburgh Visual Arts and Crafts Award Scheme.

Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop
Scott had a long relationship with the Workshop, supporting its development from the start by encouraging former students to self-organise and adopt a space to work in together. He was to become actively involved as Chairman in 1999.

The new Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop at Hawthornvale is a lasting and concrete legacy for this ambition. As Chairman he helped raise significant funds to create the new building (named The Bill Scott Centre) and worked with the architects Sutherland Hussey to realise spaces that would be both functional and inspiring for artists to work in.

“Scott’s vision was to see that a community of practice could also be a community of place. He relished the effect of people around him – the collective effort of artistic and familial practice that he was always part of – and, ever generous, he modestly but assuredly galvanised and inspired many, many others.” Andrew Patrizio.