Key Note Address

Painting Over the Cracks - Paul Heywood

Paul Heywood is the advisor to the Vice Chancellor at Salford university whilst also being the chair of NAFE. NAFE supports visual arts within the UK. Paul has a wide background in art and design but specialises in community based practition.

I was a bit put off straight away by the talk, due to Professor Paul Heywood's opening slide said 'Isn't art sort of pointless?'. However, he did tell us to be a bit selfish this week and get everything we can out of it, which is sound advice. I found it hard to keep up with what Prof Heywood was sayin at first about chairs. It seemed a bit pointless to me and I really felt lost.

Paul's nest point hit home. Everything changes. This is so true with every creative outlet. I came to University with the aim of becoming a freelance photographer and now I really love to edit. This is similar to Paul's' experience of practice.

Paul then got onto some more statistics, with regards to the very current global economic crisis and recession. He told us that 1.6 million companies, in the US alone, avoid payroll taxes. These are the taxes that go towards things such as pensions. There has also been around 100billion capital flight from Africa each year. Add to this 3.1 trillion that illegally evade tax each year and we definitely have a problem.

Paul the went on to talk about his career, which is quite impressive. Most of his career has been spent in Manchester, as he is from around that area. His role in Salford is to make learning co-operatives across the city. He aspires to bridge the gap between agencies and creativity. I think this is a great thing to aim for.