Go Local - appointment of Development Manager

Jacquie Shortland joins GANE as GoLocal Development Manager, responsible for raising awareness and participation in the campaign across the North East of Scotland and nationally. Jacquie has over twenty years commercial business experience, originally working in recruitment in London - where she hails from, briefly overseas in Sydney, and in the last twelve years settling in Aberdeen, she has specialised mainly in business and event development.

Following a long held ambition to study Fine Art, Jacquie returned to University in 2005 to complete a degree in Sculpture at Grays School of Art.  Since graduating she has re-directed her considerable commercial experience towards socially engaged and community arts based practice.  Her project management skills have been utilised by SMART Consultants where she facilitated the growth of the highly successful Tea Cosy – alternative art, craft & design fair and developed a new collaborative exhibition with local business.  More recently she has been working on a yearlong project with Tenant’s First Housing Co-operative to deliver arts activities to residents of a new housing development in Peterhead.  Jacquie is delighted to be working to promote collaboration between arts, culture and local business, believing that our towns and cities need to be looking at creative and exciting new ways of keeping our communities vibrant.  Jacquie lives on the Dunecht Estate just outside Westhill with her partner James and their sprollie, Chisel.

The first Go Local campaign took place in Banchory, launching on 9/10 September 2011, and we are seeking to roll out the campaign across other towns and villages in the North East. How about yours?

Get involved!

We are encouraging local arts organisations, private businesses and communities to work together to promote, develop and sustain the cultural life in their own area. We need your organisations and businesses to become part of the scheme, and leading it in your community!

If you'd like to find out more or want to help us to deliver this exciting campaign and keep your local community vibrant, please visit the Go Local website or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it directly to note your interest.

Go Local is led by GANE in partnership with HI-Arts, North East Arts Touring, Aberdeenshire Council, sound and Woodend Barn.