THIS month's issue of the Business Bulletin features some of the excellent projects that are already taking place to support culture and the arts in the North-east.
We want to showcase examples of the collaboration between business and the arts and we want to inspire more businesses to get engaged to create an even more vibrant cultural landscape for our city.
Support from business can takes many forms; we have the 20th year of Opera in the Park supported by BP, a French cinema season at the Belmont sponsored by Total, and the recent SPECTRA festival of light sponsored by NEXEN and supported by many others.
People also give their time serving on boards and committees and helping to bring experience from business to the arts.
Helping address the apparent funding deficit from bodies such as Creative Scotland should be a priority.
We punch below our weight in the number and quality of funding applications from the North-east compared to the Central Belt and correspondingly get a smaller share of the cake.
There are excellent examples of composers, writers and poets producing collaborative work and of employees who learn about innovation, creativity and teamwork from skilled artists.
The transformation of our Art Gallery and the Music Hall are big ticket investments that will deliver for the city for years to come and both will need significant private sector investment.
And we shouldn’t forget the recently approved plan for a new AECC that will no doubt host major events on our cultural calendar.
Aberdeen is not a cultural desert - there is a lot going on in our city - but we need to address issues of funding, as well as the volume and quality of projects.
Too few of our graduates from the creative industries are able to practise their skills here, we need to create an environment that allows them to stay.
We need to imagine an Aberdeen where the people of the city act with one voice and celebrate what we have, rather than what haven’t got.
As a people, there seems to be an almost irresistible habit of defaulting to the negative, rather than celebrating our positives.
Why does our glass feel half empty when the evidence on the ground would suggest that it’s at least half full?
If you want to see what a successful bid looks like, where people from across their city speak with one voice, and share one vision, you only have to watch the UK City of Culture 2017 bid film from Hull, it’s available at www.hull2017.co.uk.
Despite what you might think of Hull, even before the result they looked like winners.