Creative Futures Lincluden and Lochside have started to produce their own regular Creative Times newsletter, to share all the different projects and events going on in North West Dumfries.
Pick up your free copy from the Lincluden Community Centre, or The Stove in the town centre, or you can download a copy following the link here: Creative Times Issue 2
This edition includes LIFT’s Tea in the Glentrool Park, details about the new Art + Action group led by Kirsty Turpie, the NW Photography Competition won by Cally Uygun, new funding for the area through the new Grub Club scheme. Plus lots of free events and activities to get involved with!
The next edition will be the hotly anticipated Summer Programme, appearing in June, so keep your eyes peeled..!
Following our recent call out for artists to work on two new commissions as part of the Lochside Public Art Project, we are delighted to introduce the artists that were selected! The application process was highly competitive, with a variety of brilliantly different artists applying from across Scotland to work on the project.
The Lochside Public Art Project consists of four separate projects, two currently ongoing, and these two new projects that are just starting, all four will be completed by the end of the year. The project has been created by The Stove Network in partnership with DGHP, (Dumfries and Gallloway Housing Partnership) to create new permanent artworks as part of their new housing development, The Meadows, in Lochside, North West Dumfries.
Our call out was for two separate commissions:
Corners and Offcuts
A commission to look at ‘left-over’ and ‘in-between’ spaces around the new housing development, that can create interesting places for residents to pause, and can utilise some of the underused parts of the site. For this project we have commissioned Susheila Jamieson and James Gordon, artists and stone carvers based in the Borders, and have previously worked on Summerhill’s Land Art project. More about their previous works available online here
‘Jamieson and Gordon are a design company specialising in creating public and socially engaged art installations in the UK and abroad. Susheila Jamieson is a professional sculptor and arts educator, and James Gordon, a landscape designer, also sculpts. We produce commissioned artworks in consultation with local communities. Cultural heritage and other aspects of place are often a starting point for developing ideas. Much of our work is abstract and is often inspired by the wider landscape and aspects of nature. Past commissions include work for Woodland Trust Scotland, Newcastle City, East Lothian, South and North Lanarkshire, Clackmannanshire and Dumfries and Galloway councils, Sustrans and various housing associations.We use materials that enhance or reflect the environment including Corten steel, green oak, stone, galvanised steel, ceramic, bronze and glass. Our work is unique, robust and intended for outdoors.
Developing designs for artwork is often undertaken in conjunction with community/stake holder groups, and we enjoy working with and running workshops for varied groups including schools and adults.
We are delighted to have been selected to create new work for Lochside. We have worked in Dumfries before and know that different areas of the town have different identities. We are keen to create work that reflects and celebrates the unique character of DG2. The artworks will be “carved in stone” and we are looking forward to working with the local communities of Lochside and Lincluden to develop ideas and designs. “Taster workshops” are being planned where local residents can come and try stone carving and tell us what they would like to see incorporated into the artwork – these will be advertised on the Creative Futures facebook page, and in the North West Dumfries area.’
Susheila Jamieson and James Rachan – new artists for the Corners and Offcuts commission!
Signs and Symbols Our second commission, Signs and Symbols looks to create a new visual presence across the Meadows site, taking inspiration from the wildlife and environment of the surrounding areas, the new housing styles, and ideas from local residents. For this project we have commissioned Glasgow based Design by Zag, graphic design company ran by Kat Loudon and Kirsty Geddes. More about their previous work available online here
‘Design by Zag, run by Kat and Kirsty, is a design company based in SWG3, Glasgow. As trained graphic designers, we have a strong focus on research which we use to formulate ideas, drive concepts and create relevant and meaningful projects.
We are delighted to be have been selected by the Stove Network and DGHP to work on the Signs and Symbols commission. We look forward to meeting the people of Lochside to create this piece of work for the local area.’
Kat and Kirsty of Design by Zag: new artists for the Signs and Symbols commission!
From Dr Gerard Lee McKeever I was delighted to have the opportunity to run an event at The Stove in Dumfries in February. They are a really exciting arts network who have been a driving force in revitalising Dumfries town centre in recent years, part of a much broader flowering of cultural activity in the region.
Gerry McKeever introducing ‘Beyond Burns’ at The Stove
Beyond Burns was an evening of poetry and talks about literary Dumfriesshire & Galloway, past and present – the first event funded by my British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship. It was an opportunity to engage with the local public, aiming to inspire thinking about other literature connected to the region around the time of Robert Burns, as well as more contemporary writing.
After an opening talk in which I surveyed some of the early fruits of my research, I was delighted to give the stage over to three local poets: Hugh McMillan, author of many books and pamphlets including Not Actually Being in Dumfries (2015) and McMillan’s Galloway (2016); Liz Niven, widely published in Scots and English and recently the editor of I’m Coming With You (2017); and Stuart A. Paterson, the latest BBC Scotland Poet in Residence, who has a new collection titled Looking South (2017). All three poets gave performances featuring a mix of their own work, other local poetry and reflections on the literary history of the region, with particular stress on issues including place, gender and language.
‘Knowledge Exchange’ and ‘Impact’ in academia have acquired the off-putting quality of all buzzwords. But literary scholars are among those best placed to engage with wider audiences. I’ve been really heartened at the response my project has had from the local community over the past six months. It’s clear that there is a significant wellspring of local knowledge and enthusiasm for eighteenth and nineteenth-century subjects. Through my involvement with the Oxford University Press edition of Burns at Glasgow, I was introduced to some creative ways of tapping into the massive public interest in Burns. Certainly no other D&G writer has his profile, but there is a real appetite for the wider literary-historical landscape here.
Stuart A Paterson
Liz Niven
Hugh McMillan
Engaging with three contemporary writers has also been a refreshing way of developing my thinking. Liz, Stuart and Hugh are all poets with a keen interest in the historical, geographical and political issues around living and working in this part of Scotland, with its unique perspective on local, national and global contexts. Further collaborations have already been mentioned – it’s great to reach beyond the traditional confines of scholarly research and participate in what is an optimistic moment in the region’s arts scene.
Beyond Burns was well-attended and closed with a Q&A session, before an after-hours writing workshop for keen attendees. The response to the event has been brilliant – I hope that it has helped to stimulate some new conversations about this rich literary history – including but also beyond the legacy of Burns.
Credit to Galina Walls for the photos from the evening.
‘Open creative space is vital when it comes to fostering and nurturing creative thought and practice but it comes at a premium both in terms of cost and available footage. Studio space for young people can seem a daunting and unobtainable prospect and can be an almost immovable barrier when starting out.
Having a safe and inspirational environment in which young people can freely express themselves without fear of ridicule can be the catalyst that takes an “Artist”, whatever their chosen field, visual, word, music and beyond, from a being a timid foreshadowing of their full potential, to a confident and self-empowered young Artist (this time minus the air quotes).
Throughout my time at Blueprint, I’ve watched as waves of young people reap the benefits of being allowed to take up space, sometimes for the first time in their lives. It makes me incredibly proud to be part of such a project, a project that has helped some young people, uncertain of their paths in life, and more worryingly uncertain of their ability and worth to both pursue careers in the arts independently and also get accepted into prestigious Art Schools.
Artists, by nature, often suffer from crippling crises of confidence. A ready made cure for this can be collaboration, at least in idea and discussion, if not in practice. Meeting with peers and engaging in debate, whether harmonious or discordant, can go on to create sparks which ignite some of the most vibrant and innovative artistic endeavours.
With all these things in mind, following a successful pilot, Blueprint are launching a block of four Melting Pot sessions. Melting Pot is an open studio drop-in running on every Tuesday of March from 5:30pm- 7:30pm. Young people are invited to come and hang out in The Stove Cafe, to work on their own projects and feed off the creative atmosphere.
Maureen Farrell's letter in the Standard earlier this month
Maureen Farrell’s letter in the Standard earlier this month
We were inspired recently by a letter in the local Standard newspaper from Maureen Farrell, looking at some of the locally-led community projects and initiatives kicking off in Dumfries and calling for a push from agencies and larger organisations in the region to join a new movement of locally inspired positive change for Dumfries.
For those who missed it in the paper on 6 February, we’ve decided to reproduce it here.
Thank you, Maureen!
Having just enjoyed the delights that the Big Burns Supper brings to my hometown of Dumfries, I have realised that here is a home-grown success story, conceived by a local person, Graham Main, and brought to life by hundreds of volunteers.
It brings the town to life in the dead of winter, but as well as entertaining us, it most importantly brings money and people into our region.
Kirstin McClure Rowe and Leah Halliday are working on a project to bring artists, makers, and producers of crafts to the High Street to assist them in marketing their produce, but especially to revive the High Street. By having a variety of talented people show their wares, they hope to offer a range of unique products and help to market Dumfries as a town that people will want to visit.
At the moment, Save Rosefield Mills is holding community consultation meetings to explore how we might rescue the beautiful mill in Troqueer that overlooks the River Nith. Luke Moloney, Mark Zygadlo, and Sheila Cameron are leading the battle. It would be such a failure if we let our heritage rot away. Again, it is a local initiative led by local people.
The Stove is facilitating an attempt to bring housing and other services back to the Midsteeple Quarter. Matt Baker and fellow activists are leading this community-led initiative, which would help in repopulating our wonderful Georgian High Street architecture.
Belle Doyle is leading an attempt to improve the rail connections between Dumfries and the Central Belt with the Dumfries Railway Action Group. This would not only improve our access to Glasgow and Edinburgh, but it would also bring people flooding into this area.
These are all examples of local people doing it for themselves. These initiatives have sprung up now because people are tired of seeing the town of Dumfries fade away. We deserve something better.
There has been a lot of criticism of Dumfries and Galloway Council for not doing more, but we have to remember that local government is being hammered by austerity and is struggling to fulfil its legal duties in the fields of education, social work, litter collection, planning, etc.
Today I read an article by Aditya Chakrabortty about the regeneration of Preston, a town in Lancashire which had problems similar to our own. Preston turned its fortunes around by spending locally. They call it ‘guerrilla localism’. [You can read the article in full here.]
The local council, National Health Service (NHS), and other big-spending organisations were persuaded to spend whatever monies they received from government in their local area, keeping the money circulating there and bringing more employment to the town and its surrounding area.
They did this by breaking down contracts that had to be tendered into amounts that local firms could provide. This increased the number of local people who were in employment; they, in turn, spent their money locally, and the town and surrounding area prospered. By having the courage to take the initiative, local councillors in Preston rescued their town from fading away into obscurity. Why not Dumfries and Galloway, I thought.
I believe the examples I have outlined show that we have the people locally who are prepared to work energetically to make things happen. Now we need the local council, NHS, and other agencies that are centrally funded to examine what they do with the considerable amount of money they do receive and make it work for Dumfries and Galloway.
‘Guerrilla localism’ could turn around the fortunes of Dumfries and Galloway.
An evening of short artist films, screened outdoors in our backdoor Greenspace, accompanied by freshly baked pizzas created by Shed Therapy’s Gavin Philips with support from some of our foodie Stovies!
Our Greenspace project is an ongoing project within the Stove that looks to transform the backdoor area of the Stove creating a warm and welcoming level access to the building, as well as providing bike parking, and options to populate and take over an otherwise disused and neglected space within the town centre.
As part of our first outdoor Reel to Real, we screened a selection of films by local filmmakers, focusing on artists based across Scotland, including:
Thank you to everyone who helped out, and the filmmakers for kind permissions to screen their films. We hope to do more events in our Greenspace later in the year! This event was part of our Rabbie Burns Time – a week of events and activities celebrating the Bard and the Big Burns Supper in Dumfries. Photography credit: Kirstin McEwan
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