Lighthouse Chief Executive Elspeth McBain has been made an Honorary Fellow of Arts University Bournemouth in what she describes as a ‘career highlight’.
The prestigious award was conferred at the university’s annual Graduation Day at Bournemouth Pavilion on Friday 25 July and sees Elspeth join a select group that includes film director Edgar Wright, actress Adjoa Andoh, costume designer Jenny Beavan, architect Lord Norman Foster, and the late designer Dame Vivienne Westwood.
“Lighthouse and AUB both are dedicated to supporting the creative industries and the young people who want to work in them and I am truly honoured by this award and deeply grateful for the recognition of Lighthouse’s contribution to the cultural life of the region,” says Elspeth.
“On a personal level, it is of course, a career highlight, but the whole team at Lighthouse is thrilled. Thank you.”
Elspeth joined Lighthouse, one of the UK’s largest regional arts centres, in 2009 and has led the team through a period of great change, that has included the constant pursuit of quality and diverse programming, a multi-million pound refurbishment and, of course, the unprecedented existential challenges of the Covid lockdowns and subsequent recovery. In that time, Lighthouse has become a place that champions the importance of giving people a start in the creative industries – from young people’s traineeships and work experience for students from partner schools, to the artists supported by Lighthouse as part of its Sanctuary artist development programme.
In offering the Honorary Fellowship to Elspeth, AUB’s Board of Governors cited her “unique contribution to the field of artistic programming, developing Lighthouse into one of the leading creative institutions in the south of England and with strong links to AUB over the years.”
Having accepted the award, Elspeth has now returned to her day job juggling many and complex priorities and challenges towards delivering a world class programme of diverse arts and entertainment in an iconic building in which artists, audiences and the wider community can take pride and feel at home.
