Good that the Amsterdam Arts Council wants to invest in culture, but more is needed.

Maarten van der Meer

has been active in various places in the cultural sector since 2000. Trained as an International Lawyer at the University of Amsterdam, he started his career at the European Cultural Foundation. Via the Office of the University of Amsterdam and the Art & Culture Department of the City of Rotterdam, he joined the Amsterdam City Council in 2002. As spokesman for Urban Development, Finance & Economy and Art & Culture, he was partly responsible for the development of a new independent Arts Plan policy and the 'whitening' of ID jobs in the Culture & Welfare sector. In addition to his Council membership, Maarten worked as an independent cultural consultant for governments and institutions in the period from 2003. In that role, he wrote Arts Plan applications, helped with reorganisations and advised various governments on Culture Policy development. In 2011, Maarten became Business Leader of Theater Bellevue (one of the finest theatres in the Netherlands!), before spending a period in 2014-2015 as City Intendant of Deventer building new initiatives and projects. Besides being a partner of Silver Lining Advies & Ontwikkeling, Maarten is an advisor to the Amsterdam Fund for the Arts (multi-year committee Theatre) and a member of the Board of the Leeuwensteinstichting. He is an avid long-distance runner (marathons-half marathons), hockey player and father of 11-year-old son. Born and raised in Amsterdam, Maarten focuses primarily but not explicitly on this city and its cultural and urban development.View Author posts