Other livesScotland This article is more than 11 years oldObituaryAlexander Dunbar obituary
This article is more than 11 years oldOur father, Alexander Dunbar, known as Sandy, who has died aged 82, had a lifelong passion for the visual arts. In 1963 he formed the North Eastern Association for the Arts, based in Newcastle. He later became its director. It was the first regional arts association in the UK, and expanded under his tenure to become the biggest in Britain, known as Northern Arts. In the latter stages of postwar austerity, promotion of the arts did not feature highly on the government's agenda and his success in one of the more depressed areas of Britain gave confidence for the concept to be expanded nationally.
Sandy was born in London, the younger son of Sir Edward Dunbar. After national service, he was educated at Pembroke College, Cambridge. Called to the bar at the Inner Temple in 1953, he worked as a lawyer for ICI before moving to Newcastle. He served as UK director for the Gulbenkian Foundation from 1970 to 1971, and as director of the Scottish Arts Council for nine years from 1971.
He inherited Pitgaveny estate, near Elgin, from his grandfather's cousin, James Brander Dunbar (the model for John Buchan's John Macnab). When he was 29, Sandy's friend bet him £20 that he would not run naked the five miles from his family home in the village of Duffus to Pitgaveny. Sandy won the bet; his cousin was impressed and indicated in a tantalising way that he might leave Pitgaveny to him, but he said the same to others, so nothing was sure until the old man died in 1969.
In 1981, having studied agriculture for a year, Sandy and his family finally moved to Pitgaveny. He became closely involved with the Scottish Wildlife Trust and the Moray Society, and was a member of the Carnegie Trust's Arts and Disability Inquiry from 1982 to 1985. He was fiercely protective of what he felt was best for the community, arts and the landscape.
He loved the outdoors and was a regular participant for many years in the annual Trevelyan manhunt in the Lake District. He was only the second person to catch all six "hares" in one hunt. He was still running marathons in his 60s and latterly he was a familiar figure on his racing bicycle.
He is survived by his wife, Susannah, whom he married in 1965, five grandchildren, a brother and us.
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