Three of Fife’s most celebrated sons and daughters yesterday gave powerful personal reflections of how Kirkcaldy’s popular library, museum and art gallery had expanded their horizons.
Speaking at the official opening of Kirkcaldy Galleries after an 18-month £2.5 million refurbishment, MP Gordon Brown and author Val McDermid told how they developed their love of reading and interest in the wider world at the galleries as children, while artist Jack Vettriano told how the gallery helped him realise his talent as a painter as a young man.
Declaring the building officially open for business, Mr Brown said: “Kirkcaldy has just about the best library, art gallery and museum for a town of its size and I am delighted that I have had the privilege of performing the opening ceremony of a library I used as a school pupil.
“The £2.5 million invested in the upgrading, the new exhibitions and the modernisation of the library will be of as much benefit to today’s younger generation as the library was to me when I was growing up in Kirkcaldy.”
Val McDermid said: “The importance of reading can’t be overestimated. Stories are the lifeblood of our society, developing the fundamentals of imagination, creativity and literacy, expanding our horizons, changing our perceptions, and boosting our ambition.”
Jack Vettriano said: “I’m possibly the only person here who owes their career to this outstanding facility and collection of art.
“Kirkcaldy Galleries is something we can admire. The design and quality of the work undertaken by Fife Council and all those involved, including the vision and design, is something that John Nairn would surely have been thrilled with.”