My Gurus

Frank Cottrell Boyce

Frank is probably the artist I have most enjoyed working with, partly because he’s incredibly nice. Somewhere in him there must be a monstrous ego screaming to get out. When he was being interviewed on the morning of the London 2012 opening ceremony he was asked to describe it in one word. He answered “generosity”. A generosity of spirit defined ‘The Return of Colmcille’ which he created with us and Walk the Plank for the Derry~Londonderry City of Culture programme [Graeme was Executive Programmer]. It was a true highlight and recently won Best Outdoor Event at the Event Awards. It sounds a little out of step in an age of instrumentalisation in the arts and culture business, but I work for a national arts centre and generosity should be at the heart of Wales Millennium Centre’s aims. We make money, but we do so in order to be generous – to inspire our young people, to provide excellence, to bring people together, to provide leadership, to give something to the nation…

Speaking about Colmcille, Frank quoted George Orwell: “Nothing ever stands still. We must add to our heritage or lose it, we must grow greater or grow less, we must go forward or backward.” As a national arts centre, Wales Millennium Centre also has a responsibility to grow Wales’ heritage – to retell great stories and create new ones, to help to define our national identity. I believe that the arts can help communities of people to grow greater.