John Whiteman

John Whiteman
Director of the Glasgow School of Art
In office 1990 (1990)–1991 (1991)
Preceded by	Bill Buchanan
Succeeded by	Dugald Cameron
Personal details
Born	1934 (age 89–90)
Nationality	Scottish
Education	Glasgow School of Art
Occupation	Architect, educationalist

John Whiteman (born 1934) is an architect; and former Director of the Glasgow School of Art. He was director from 1990 to 1991.^[1]

Life

Whiteman was born in England.^[2]

He is a registered architect and planner in both England and the United States.^[3]

He became a professor of architecture and urban design at Harvard University. He also became a professor at the Chicago Institute of Urban Studies.^[4]

Art

In 1990 he was made the Director of Glasgow School of Art.^[1]

He got embroiled in a row with Pat Lally, the then leader of Glasgow District Council, who seemed to unliterally declare that paintings bought for the Royal Concert Hall in Glasgow would only be hung for a period of 10 months. The artist at the ceremony Ian McCulloch then stormed out.

The Scotsman carried the story and interviewed Whiteman as a prominent onlooker.^[5]

Among astonished members of the audience was John Whiteman, new director of Glasgow School of Art, who said he had never heard of an artist being savaged in such a way in public before. Mr McCulioch accused Mr Lally of censorship. Strathclyde [Regional Council], which spent about £500,000 on the suite, a luxury reception area, said the 7 paintings will not be taken down. The commission is one of the most valuable awarded in Scotland.

He made the headlines again when he was invited to speak at a dinner at a penthouse in Carrick Quay overlooking the Clyde. He ended up buying the flat and was pictured at the Crow's Nest, the balcony of the penthouse.^[4]

Whiteman was not afraid to speak his mind. His arrival at the School of Art coincided with the end of Margaret Thatcher's tenure as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He saw Thatcherism in his field causing a political run-down of the Arts during the 1980s:^[2]

Britain’s higher education system has taken a bruising through the decade of Thatcherism, and Arts has been particularly discriminated against. Things seem to be changing now, and in my dealings with the Scottish Education Department I have been surprised how constructive and direct they have been. The Eighties have been a demoralising time for staff at the art school, which has made them defensive, but there is a lot of enthusiasm there.

He left the post abruptly. It transpired that Whiteman's marriage was struggling under the transatlantic distance; so Whiteman made the decision to return to the United States. The Scotsman had the story:^[6]

John Whiteman had come from Chicago, and appeared a rather glamorous cosmopolitan figure who cut a stylish dash in his new habitat. Yet he left abruptly nine months later amid public accusations that the art school old guard had been too resistant to change. That analysis, much debated in the press at the time, now appears to have been more than a little economical with the truth. It has since become quite clear that the main reason for Whiteman’s sudden resignation concerned family and marital difficulties which he felt he could not resolve transatlantically. His wife did not come with him to Scotland.

He was replaced by Dugald Cameron after nine months in charge of the art school.^[6]

References

1. "Whiteman, John - Glasgow School of Art: Archives & Collections". gsaarchives.net.
2. "The Scotsman - Thursday 17 January 1991" – via British Newspaper Archive.
3. "Back Matter". Perspecta. 27: 212–217. 1992 – via JSTOR.
4. "The Scotsman - Thursday 29 August 1991" – via British Newspaper Archive.
5. "The Scotsman - Wednesday 12 December 1990" – via British Newspaper Archive.
6. "The Scotsman - Saturday 30 November 1991" – via British Newspaper Archive.