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Author: Kirsty Geddes

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Musings News Project Updates

Creative Placemaking

The Stove Network launch kNOw One Place, Creative Placemaking Forum – an ambitious, future-thinking discussion on creative placemaking.  The Forum will take place from 22-23 September 2022 at Loreburn Hall in Dumfries and will draw over 100 people from public, private, independent and charitable sectors across the two days.  Through a mixture of open space discussion and expert reflection, exhibition and original artworks, the forum is set to be a participatory space to think about and develop grass-roots and community-led approaches to placemaking for the future – both nationally and internationally.

We define Creative Placemaking as: a community led approach that uses creative activity to support collective decision-making and positive change for people and the places they live

More about Creative Placemaking

The idea for the forum stems from the work that The Stove Network has led on over the past 10 years.  The Stove Network has been working with a Creative Placemaking approach at its core since its inception to stimulate conversations, change, art, and renewed ownership across communities in Dumfries.  This was then formalised, scaled and piloted as a network approach to working from within communities in the recent project, What We Do Now. What We Do Now helped inform and was part of Scotland’s Culture Collective Programme, a major Scottish initiative for culture and creativity to play a role in the nation’s recovery from the pandemic.

We have also published our approach to Creative Placemaking in our most recent publication, Embers. Now it’s time to dig into the core principles of this work with others, to contribute to our evolving understanding of this way of working in Scotland.

Hear from Katharine Wheeler, Partnerships and Project Development at The Stove Network, as she talks about Creative Placemaking and ‘What We Do Now’:

Join the conversation

Throughout the month of September and in the lead-up to the kNOw One Place forum, The Stove Network will host a series of online activities and events that will take a closer look at creative placemaking. 

These events will bring together the public, private, independent, and charitable sectors through open space discussion, expert reflection, an exhibition, and original artworks.

Across two weeks five digital events will explore the key creative placemaking themes of:

All events take place online from 6pm- 7pm and are open to anyone interested in disusing, contributing to or finding out more about the concept of Creative Placemaking.

What We Do Now (WWDN) is a pilot for a Creative Placemaking Network for Dumfries and Galloway which sees The Stove Network support a community anchor group (place hub) in each of five towns in Dumfries & Galloway to host creative practitioners for an extended period to work with sections of the community in that place to co-create new future visions and practical projects.

WWDN supports artists to explore bold new ideas with communities to give voices to those under-represented in local decision making.

For more information on The Stove Networks approach to creative placemaking and to find out more about the pilot project visit: whatwedonow.scot

Categories
News Opportunities Project Updates

OPEN HOOSE – Call out

Ours is an open hoose, 

The Stove is delighted to launch the Open Hoose once again.

After a successful pilot between January to March 2022, where we worked with our community to realise 10 new projects and events ran with, for, by and about Doonhamers.

Open Hoose is a project at the very heart of the Stove’s community venue work. Working with us, new (and established) community-led, grassroots projects are given the space, support, resource, and training to take even the most radical of ideas to the next level. From bread-making groups, to LGBTQIA spaces, Climate activism and creative writing, Open Hoose is a supported project, tailored exactly to fit the individual (or group’s) aims. 

Working with the Stove’s creative, production, café and technical teams, new initiatives are trialled and developed through our community venue programme. We have been able to provide free meals and drinks service, technical support, creative development and partnerships to help give ambitious ideas the space, time, support and encouragement they need to develop. 

It’s pretty vital to what we do. We believe wholeheartedly that our culture is nourished from the grassroots, not from the top down. That’s why our motto ‘Grow your own culture’ is intrinsic to just about everything we do here, and Open Hoose is at the core of this. 

A few examples of what we’ve been able to support 

FAQs

Can anyone apply to the Open Hoose?

Absolutely! We want to hear from as many people as possible. So whether you’ve never been to a Stove event or consider yourself a true Stovie, it doesn’t matter. We’re interested in you, your idea and why this opportunity is right for you. 

Can a group that’s already established apply?

Yes. It doesn’t have to be a new idea. Established groups that are already working are encouraged to apply. So whether you’d like to have your activity in the town centre or could do with some support to try out something new, we’re all ears. 

How many projects will be taken forward?

We want to be as flexible as possible with the type of support we might be able to offer. With our current cohort, we have identified spaces within our monthly programme for new Open Hoose projects to be considered, but we’re also open to hearing ideas that may not require the space, from podcasts to street art. 

How do you consider proposals?

We take a broad and open view of the type of project we’re able to support. Though some key considerations are worth bearing in mind before submitting:

How does the project seek to engage with the community?

Is there a cause or activist drive behind the idea?

How realistically to support something given our current capacity and resources. 

Get applying! 

CLICK HERE TO APPLY
Categories
News Opportunities Project Updates

Nithraid River Race 2022

Nithraid River Race is back for another year!

On Saturday 13th August 2022, teams of intrepid sailors and coastal rowers are invited to take to the Nith in their vessels to race from Glencaple to Dumfries and back, battling it out for the best time.

Where did it all begin?

Our River Nith connects us all in Nithsdale. Nithraid Festival celebrates and explores our town’s long relationship with the river and its importance to the people and communities it connects – be that the past, present or communities of the future.

Nithraid 2018

The Nith is a tidal river that runs through the historic market town of Dumfries, connecting the town to the sea. In the 18th century, the town and its neighbouring villages of Glencaple and Kingholm Quay became Scotland’s largest and busiest trading ports.

To celebrate this rich history, we hold an annual River Race, which sees teams of coastal rowers, sailing boats and various person-powered vessels race the river, battling for the best time as they make their way to the finish line.

Nithraid 2021

Why take part?

Nithraid is a fun-filled and action-packed event with great memories to be made for those who take part as well as those who watch the race unfold. After all, the race itself isn’t always straight forward! 

Sal Cuddihy, Head of Production for The Stove Network explains what makes Nithraid special:

“It’s great to see the diverse range of boats involved in the race… we’ve got four different categories of race entry, from sailboats, coastal rowing skiffs, rowing skulls and miscellaneous vessels too. Because of the mix of all the different types of boats, they all come in at different times which is so exciting to watch as they battle against each other to move up the river on the tide…

Nithraid 2015

…it’s especially fun to watch them move with the tidal bore as it adds that extra element of challenge. Sometimes, if they don’t get up the river quick enough, it gets harder for them to move with the water as the tide moves back up towards the sea. All these components make the river race a really fun and engaging spectacle – and there’s always an unexpected event, which usually provides some great entertainment!”

Nithraid 2015

If you like a challenge, fancy a day of fun on the Nith and want to get involved, enter the race!

“The River Nith is a defining natural dynamic of our area, and Nithraid is a wonderful celebration of it. The race, over the navigable length of the tidal reach from Glencaple to Dumfries, is open to any non-motorised craft and makes a great spectacle especially from the bridges, and is excellent fun for participants.”
 – River Race Producer, Mark Zygadlo

Nithraid 2016

Applications to enter this year’s Nithraid River Race are now open. Whether you’re a team of coastal rowers, a sailing crew or a single skiff, this is your opportunity to join the Nithraid community and take part in Nithraid 2022!

FOR ENTRY FORMS, CLICK HERE

Categories
Musings News

Progressive Seagull Alliance

An open letter from the Progressive Seagull Alliance

Gulls, vagabonds vindicators, lend me yer chips ears!

The Gull. To a Doonhamer, the seagull or ‘largus paininthearsus’ (in Latin) is as welcome as a fart in a phone box. Their reputation precedes them. And rightly so. Who hasn’t been tormented by the kamikaze swoop of a mother gull protecting its hard-won nest? Or been unwittingly stalked pons’t the purchase of a steak bake? These psychopaths of the sky are to Dumfries as Shania Twain is to a Slipknot concert, incompatible, and not all that welcome. Like Jackson Pollock at a warehouse rave, their excrement paints the town in an abstract canvas of anarchy, leaving a trail of empty Greggs bags and traumatised playgrounds in their wake.

So in light of all that, you might be wondering to yourself why exactly the Stove decided to dawn masks, costumes, banners and flags in celebration of these aerial dementors at this year’s Guid Nychburris. I know because I saw you, yes you, looking more than a little confused, in-between the saltire flag and Currie’s lorry, beside the swaying fella with the lime green afro wig and the trumpet. (Side note: imagine having to explain Guid Nychburris to an alien).

Meet the Progressive Seagull Alliance, a vigilante group dedicated to progressive and positive change for the town.

Yes, like Batman (yes I did just compere this to the Dark Knight himself), the Progressive Seagull Alliance (PSA) are here to tackle the negative perceptions of a town on the cusp of something quite extraordinary. Using the winged fiends as an archetype for the town, the PSA are here to challenge negativity, platform the amazing work that’s happening throughout our town and get active!

Riding on the mighty success of their winning entry to the Guid Nychburris Parade (get in!), the Progressive Seagull Alliance are now recruiting for members!

Think of it like Anonymous, only without the scary ‘V’ masks, encyclopaedic knowledge of cryptocurrency, global financial markets and hacking, the Progressive Seagull Alliance are a new wave of positivity swooping into the town.

So how do you get involved?

Stay on the lookout for the Progressive Seagull Alliance pop-ups happening through August and September! Sign up, contribute to our manifesto and get making!


Categories
Musings News

Skye Loneragan’s Though This Be Madness

As Skye Loneragan makes her return to The Stove on Saturday 25th June 2022 with her solo performance, Though This Be Madness, Skye tells us all about the play and how it came to fruition, following her own journey in new parenthood alongside the challenges of coping with mental illness within her family.

“I am looking forward to returning to Dumfries & Galloway this week. I remember performing Though This Be Madness in its early days, before it was Covid-cancelled, at The Stove. An audience member emailed me in the days after the show, about L.O.I.P (Loved Ones In Pain) which I talk about in the show, words I cherish as they remind me why we have a response sanctuary at the end of the show, and put soft toys on the seats:

“There were so many points of traction and heart-opening in your performance, more than I can sum up here… So much discourse focuses on the person experiencing the crisis, and of course they should be at the centre, but for those of us holding and caring and witnessing and having our hearts just about ripped out of us in the process, it doesn’t often feel like there’s space for that… My heart was moved tonight in a way I didn’t quite expect… Thank you for making this kind of pain and process visible, I really appreciate it, and want you to know how important this work is.”

Someone else shared with me their own resonances after the performance, and helped me find my where I’d parked the hire car. They allowed me to record their spoken word:

“Basically it was about my life… the insight in that show was amazing… for somebody who has seen both sides, as a worker and as a patient, I think that was the most honest, actually complimentary almost, portrayal of mental health I’ve ever seen. I don’t know Skye’s background, I don’t know if she has actually been locked up with her rights removed, but if she hasn’t, respect to her because I don’t know anybody who could write something like that who hasn’t actually seen it from the inside.“

I share these words with you (with permission) because so many people are juggling so much. Staying afloat, letting alone seeing a theatre show, can be a huge task which can take a lot of energy, never mind the energy it takes to look after yourself and allow your own creative quest to take flight. 

I know this but would still love to see you in my ‘lounge room’, (the play is set in the Land of Lounge Room), at Heart of Hawick or The Catstrand, New Galloway or The Stove, Dumfries.

What can you expect from Though This Be Madness? 

I had started writing Though This Be Madness before I had a baby, initially toying with ‘diagnosing’ Shakespeare’s female leads. Once I had my sought-after wee one, I had to try and write it in snatches of baby sleep and found I literally could not… finish a sentence.

The show begins with, “she’s down, but she doesn’t sleep lying down, so we may not have long”. A new mature-age mum, I spent hours trying to get my baby to snooze by walking her in the harness or bouncing her on the Pilates ball… I was so on the ball.

My own sleep never made it past a two-hour stretch, for years. I don’t know how people do it, stay functional despite sleep-deprivation. I managed to script tiny segments: ‘Grasp’, “fish-hook’, ‘Ophelia’, ‘The Bits You Don’t Get Back’, ‘Activated Macadamias’….and each of these has a little nut of truth in it and a curly question about how we nurture our collective sanity.

Post-natal, I was also trying to make sense of the debilitating mental health crises of close family members and those I love dearly. So, the play became a fractured fiction and an honest attempt to reach you with a tale that isn’t about parenting at all, but is scuppered by that very context:

“Once upon a Time…  I Don’t Have Time…”

I also remember feeling terrified of leaving the house in case she’d cry. Would we make it? So I knew I wanted to make an adult show for parents or carers with babes-in-arms. The story will follow the same route but if your baby cries that’s ok, if you need to come or go, feed them – that’s fine too. I will take a pause if that’s what is needed, and one audience member told me this was needed:  

“I really appreciated having something cultural to go to…aimed at us parents but accommodating our babies….it’s depressingly rare”

The show has dug itself deeper for me during the pandemic, through the cancellations, the home-not-schooling, the caring for loved ones  – it became a digital version, Though This Be (online) Madness!.

Though This Be Madness is a 72-min piece without an interval. At the end we host a 15-min ‘post-show sanctuary’… a space to allow your response to the show to surface… and find some form of expression before heading home.

Not all stories wrap themselves around a beginning, a middle and an end. New motherhood doesn’t afford the time for that kind of structure. Though This Be Madness is an inventive and darkly humorous story of many sisters that delves into the combined challenges of new parenting alongside loved ones struggling with psychosis and depression.

In this fractured fiction told through poetry and performance, with a musical score co-created by Mairi Campbell, we meet a recovering mum bouncing on a Pilates ball in The Land of the Lounge Room. Determined to soothe her baby and ‘stay on the ball’, she tries finish her sentence and tell us how she is unable to reach her sister Ophelia, who wrestles with a cataract on what Shakespeare calls the ‘mind’s eye’.”

www.skyeloneragan.co.uk
https://vimeo.com/skyeloneragan

Though This Be Madness takes place at The Stove on Saturday 25th June at 7.30pm. Tickets are £5 and can be booked by clicking here.

Categories
News Project Updates

Meet the Creative Spaces Team

Creative Spaces is an exciting collaborative project at The Stove which offers both paid and voluntary opportunities for the under 30s in Dumfries & Galloway.

The project brings together young creatives, from different disciplines, to facilitate an annual programme of events, activities and workshops, all designed to explore and develop artistic responses to cultural issues that impact young people in Dumfries & Galloway.

In May 2022 we were joined by 4 new members to The Stove team:

Mia Osborne as our Emerging Producer, Emma Forsyth, Morgan Love and Alice Griffin as our three Associate Artists for this year’s Creative Spaces programme. You can find out a bit more about each of our new teammates here.

We asked them a few questions so you could get to know them! Here’s what they had to say…

Q) What is your practice?

Mia – “I wouldn’t say I have one singular defined practice however, my skills lie in the production and facilitation of events and community engagement work. I hope to communicate these throughout the year as CS producer in order to aid the associates with the programming and delivery of meaningful community events.”

Alice – “I studied illustration at ECA and during my final year I started screen-printing, which I totally fell in love with. I like to make prints from found objects or textures which I combine with hand drawn and photographed elements, either digitally or by hand. I like to experiment with different printmaking techniques and my work is mostly a tool for me to explore social issues and connect with others.”

Emma – “My studies and knowledge are in theatre, and I feel I am still working out my practice! I love documentary drama and finding new fun ways to engage people in their own talented community.”

Morgan – “I don’t have a creative practice per se, my interest rather lies in the development of the local region and how the creative sector can contribute to it. I am also a Business student, specialising in Marketing, and I hope to utilise and develop the skills I am gaining in my degree and apply them to the Creative Spaces programme.”

Q) Where are you from? What draws you to D&G as a young creative?

Mia – “I grew up in rural D&G in a tiny wee village called Durisdeer. After leaving the area to go off to uni and circumstantially having to return, I was instantly drawn to a lot of the creative organisations in Dumfries because of the beneficial work they were doing for the community and it’s where I found I aligned best.”

Mia – “I grew up in rural D&G in a tiny wee village called Durisdeer. After leaving the area to go off to uni and circumstantially having to return, I was instantly drawn to a lot of the creative organisations in Dumfries because of the beneficial work they were doing for the community and it’s where I found I aligned best.”

Alice – “Originally I’m from Guildford, Surrey. I moved to Edinburgh in 2015, then to Dumfries in 2021. I moved down to Dumfries to join my partner. Aside from that I was looking forward to a slower pace of life and having more outside space. I had heard of The Stove before moving down but didn’t quite realise just how creative the region is.”

Emma – “I am originally from Dalbeattie, but moved up to Glasgow to study theatre. Even though I moved to the city to find opportunities in the arts, I resonate with all the work and projects down at home. The amount of good work getting created by talented people in D&G was what drew me back down.”

Morgan – “I am local to the area – I grew up in Lochside but have spent the last few years living close to the town centre. My main attraction to D&G stems from having a large root system in the local region, and I have a great passion surrounding the development of the town to become a place that is attractive and viable for young people. I believe that creativity in the region can act as a gateway to the retention of young people and hope that our cohort of Creative Spaces can begin to engage with young creative and build a lasting impact that entices young people.”

Q) What do you like to do outside of work?

Mia – “I love spending time with my family, partner & pals, specifically my wee niece. I get so much joy from exploring the countryside and swimming or paddle boarding when weather permits me to do so!”

Alice – “Most weekends I’ll be visiting friends or family, they are scattered up and down the UK so that takes some time. I’ve got two dogs, so I like to take them on walks and there are so many beautiful beaches nearby. I like gardening, we’re watching our first lot of potatoes and onions grow in our vegetable patch which is exciting. Lastly, I love food so I spend a lot of my time cooking and baking.”

Emma – “ love to cook when I have the chance! I also love to discover new craft beers, hit me up with recommendations.”

Morgan – “When I’m not working I like to work through my to-be-read/to-be-watched list, get out in the car and visit the Lake District or the Borders, spend time with my little sister, and combat burnout by taking ridiculously long naps!”

Q) What are you hoping to get out of Creative Spaces?

Mia – “I hope to make some great connections within the team & assist them through the CS programme. I can’t wait to showcase the work that we do to a wider audience across D&G in order to inspire young creatives across the region and promote D&G as a viable option for young creatives wanting to develop their practice.”

Alice – “I’m looking forward to planning and working on some exciting projects. I’m hoping to meet a network of other young creatives in the region. Also, I’d like to learn as much as I can about marketing and how to run a creative business.”

Emma – “I hope to help at least one young person to find a creative outlet in their hometown.”

Morgan – “Beyond hoping to develop the skills and interests I am coming into the programme with, as well as discovering some new ones, I have a keen interest in engaging with the wider region, hoping to incorporate the “G” in D&G as much as possible. I also hope to foster a link with the local schools to promote CS to local young people who are looking for a future in the creative sector.”

Q) And finally, what’s your Stove Cafe order?

Mia – “It’s definitely an extra crispy bacon sandwich on chia bread & a decaf tea with oat milk or a big glass of water (because hydration is key).”

Alice – “A flat white or an iced coffee depending on how I’m feeling. Food wise, either a bacon sandwich or some form of toastie.”

Emma – “Vegan toastie, side salad or salt and vinegar crisps and coconut latte.”

Morgan – “Recently, it’s been a bacon roll and a small caramel latte.”

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