Dick Schuur, one of the founders of Kunstpodium Campis in Assen, died. The versatile Assenaar was distinguished earlier this year as a knight in the Order of Oranje-Nassau.
In 2023 the merits of Schuur were also awarded a Golden K. That is a national prize that is awarded to people who have worked in a particularly positive way for the visual arts. In addition to the arrival of Campis in the center of Assen, Schuur was also one of the driving forces behind Kunst aan de Vaart.
There, photographer Harry Cock from Assen got to know him. “At Kunst aan de Vaart he was chairman and an important inspiration for a long time. He did that for years and it really started to bloom at the time.” In 2007, the first edition of Kunst aan de Vaart was organized in Assen since then.
When the visual art center ceased to exist in 2016, Schuur thought that a cultural gap had been created in Assen. “According to Dick, that was certainly in terms of showing modern art,” said Cock. A group of about five Assenaren, including Schuur and Cock, started working together during that period to set up a stage for modern art. That eventually became Campis on Kerkstraat. “Especially because of Dick’s enormous efforts, that was especially for us. If Dick had not been there, Campis would not have been there either.”
Cock got to know him as a “very warm person” during that period. “He was able to listen very well, was a welcome guest and has actually become a well -known Assenaar. Everyone is going to miss him very much.”
In addition to his work in the cultural sector, Schuur was, among others, Rector at the St. Maartenscollege in Haren and he was also an important pivot in the establishment of workplaces in the Netherlands, bodies that support job seekers in finding work.
Schuur also kept a sporting lifestyle, in which he was particularly in the rowing boat. “I had never really asked him how old he is. I thought he was a fit 70-plus. When I heard yesterday he became 82 surprised me.”