LANCASHIRE LEADERS By Rob Kelly
University of Central Lancashire. Jenny says: “She did the most wonderful work which was a powerful immersive installation about the global themes of textile production and trading and enslaved people.”
She adds that the biennial is creating conversations that challenge perspectives: “We don’t want to be preachy but it’s quite useful to be a little bit provocative.”
In her role with the Super Slow Way, Jenny takes pride in the arts initiative along the Leeds and Liverpool canal.
She says: “It’s a really amazing stretch of canal with all these really vibrant and multicultural communities that live along it which has huge opportunities to create imaginative cultural places using its heritage assets and green spaces.”
LOOKING TO GET MORE CREATIVE
When it comes to driving change Jenny Rutter’s creative impact is hard to ignore.
Whether it is in her role as chief executive of the British Textile Biennial (BTB), chair of the Creative Lancashire board, or associate director of the Super Slow Way arts programme, the mum-of-two continually bangs the drum for the county.
Jenny believes the local economy is benefitting from arts and cultural offerings including events such as the biennial which attract people from around the globe.
However, she is concerned that Lancashire is underfunded when it comes to the arts and speaks of a “real disparity across the country.”
She says: “It has been previously highlighted in a number of big reports looking at the disparities in in arts and cultural funding.
“Most of that is being delivered from the National Lottery, the money raised through people buying lottery tickets.
“The places that buy the most lottery tickets are often the poorest in the country, so they can be funding activities in often the wealthiest places in the country. You could say it is a kind of very regressive tax on the disadvantaged.”
Jenny is now on a mission to ensure arts and culture are at the heart of Lancashire’s economic and social regeneration.
She says: “I want to be having strategic conversations with the combined authority about where culture sits in their plans moving forward.
“For too long it’s been ignored and if it has not been ignored it has been kept in a document somewhere. It needs to be front and centre.”
She believes that culture can be a powerful regeneration tool. “It’s about working with people and making culture that is accessible and is about them being able to voice and tell
their stories to collectively make Lancashire a better place.”
In her work Jenny has also organised and secured funding for projects and made the biennial an internationally recognised event.
She recalls: “We did the Adidas collaboration for the first biennial in 2019 which was one of the highlights. Trainer collectors from all over the world came to visit Blackburn.
“People were queuing outside the Cotton Exchange and they even camped out overnight to get the chance to buy the first pair of the Blackburn Spezial trainers that were being launched. It was slightly surreal.”
Another highlight was working with Turner Prize-winning artist Lubaina Himid, who is also a professor of contemporary art at the
Jenny, who lives in Preston with her two children, says a thriving cultural sector supports broader inward investment ambitions. “If you’re not going to invest in the places a workforce will want to go then that is a problem and we should be delivering for our current and future communities.”
In her work with Creative Lancashire, Jenny champions the county’s creative economy. “We’ve got a lot of amazing, thriving creative businesses, a lot of freelancers,” she says.
Remote working post-Covid has opened new doors. “People now realise they can live and work in Lancashire and still have a presence in London or New York.”
She does want to see more support for the next generation of creatives, adding: “Ten or 20 years down the line we’ll be kicking ourselves that we didn’t raise awareness about the importance of developing creative sector jobs.”
Her next focus is preparing for October’s biennial. For her, it’s all about helping others see what she’s always seen: the untapped creative power of Lancashire. “We don’t want to be Manchester or Liverpool,” she declares. “We want to shape our own future through culture.”
JENNY’S TAKE ON LEADERSHIP
What do you think makes a good leader?
Good leadership is about passion, authenticity and collaboration. You have to be able to inspire people and genuinely care about the work you are doing and model that through your own actions and values every day. Equally you have to be able to work with people, bring in their perspectives, ideas and approaches – no man is an island and all that.
Which leaders have inspired you?
I’ve been really blessed in my career to work with a long list of fantastic women, who lead cultural organisations. Stella Hall, who was director of the Preston
Guild celebrations in 2012, made a huge impact on my career and my wonderful colleague and friend, Laurie Peake, is still an inspirational leader and someone it’s a joy to work alongside every day.
What qualities does a leader need?
Humility, resilience and bravery, I’d say. You’ve got to be able to imagine the seemingly impossible and push on. It’s important to have the humility to acknowledge mistakes and missteps along the way, learn from them, adapt and ultimately do better. And I think be generous with your time, support others on their career paths where you can and give credit where its due.
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