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News Project Updates

Nithraid 2021

Wow… can you believe it’s been two weeks since Nithraid 2021?!

It was a spirit-filled, action-packed day, with lots to do and enjoy despite the wet weather!

We’re so pleased that everyone who took part in the river race was able to do so safely, braving the elements to give us a race to remember.

We also had some great activities taking place at Mill Green, with help from Dumfries Fountain Project, Creative Spaces, TS Beall, Heather Molloy of PAMIS and Simon Lidwell of Wordsmithcrafts.

It was brilliant to see some old friends and new faces taking part in the river race and visiting Mill Green, which really put into perspective how fortunate we were to finally be able to facilitate the race after a long, two-year wait. 

“Nithraid this year was a triumph in the face of the double adversities of Covid and the weather, we had a record turnout of boats and all the participants, as ever, were thrilled by the unique experience of journeying up our beautiful river on a big tide. The current context meant that we reached out wider than ever before through digital platforms meaning that people who cannot normally attend the event were brought into the heart of things – we also catered for people with multiple additional support needs and the D/deaf community with activities on site…”

Heather Molloy (PAMIS) as The Spirit of the Nith
Simon Lidwell (Wordsmithcrafts) as The River Rambler

“…Nithraid is about bringing people together to celebrate the role of our River Nith in the town and region The Stove continues to find new ways to fulfil this mission and open up the fun to everyone in our community, demonstrating that community spirit for our visitors.” – Matt Baker, Orchestrator

We’d like to say a huge, special thanks to the following individuals and groups who helped us to bring together Nithraid 2021:

All our partners and funders, as always, for their support: Historic Environment Scotland, Creative Scotland and Dumfries and Galloway Council

Mark Zygadlo, as always, for ongoing support with organising and facilitating Nithraid

Hamish Denerley for lead commentary during our livestream
Winston Denerley for BSL interpretation and livestream commentary

BattleStations for their technological support and facilitating our livestream

Heather Molloy from PAMIS Scotland and Simon Lidwell of Wordsmith Crafts for their immersive and tactile storytelling and performance of Source to Sea

Dumfries Fountain Project for their creative workshops

TS Beall, in collaboration with the Scottish Showpeople, for the informative and insightful signposting around the history of the suspension bridge

PAMIS for the supply of the ‘Changing Places’ toilet, helping us to provide accessible facilities at Mill Green

Only Foods and Sauces for providing on-site refreshments at Mill Green

Our volunteers for providing help on the day – you’re stars!

Barbour Hall at Glencaple for giving us a dry, warm place to brief and prepare all those involved in the race

Annan Harbour Action Group and their safety boats for ensuring the safety of those involved in the race

Andy Jardine for the beautiful on-site photography at Glencaple and Mill Green

…and last, but definitely not least, a HUGE thank you to all that made the race possible by taking part and those who joined us at Mill Green or tuned in to our livestream. 

It’s safe to say Nithraid’s return this year was a success, and we’re so excited for what’s to come in Nithraid’s future.

From all at The Stove Network, thank you, stay safe and have fun out there!

Until next time.

#Nithraid2021

Categories
Musings News Project Updates

Creative Spaces: ‘So You Wanna Go to Art School?’

By Jodie Barnacle-Best

With the creative industries growing at four times the rate of the UK average1, it is perhaps a surprise that the age-old tropes of art school haven’t yet disappeared. For many students, the decision of whether or not to go to art school is a nuanced debate – one which undoubtedly isn’t given enough airtime at schools or colleges across the country.

The concept of ‘art school’ and what actually goes on there is still seen as pretty mysterious and aloof (all art students will know the struggle of trying to explain how your degree requires significant work, time and skill just like any other degree). And as the stereotypes build and build it is easy to forget how reliant we all are on the arts and what your individual future in the arts could look like… like can you make money or are we all doomed to the ‘struggling artist’ trope forever?

But even once we are over the hurdles debating the mere importance of the arts industries and the potential for growth within an arts related job, there is still a question as to whether art school is the way to go about achieving these ambitions. Do you a need a fashion degree to be a designer? Or a degree in painting to be a painter? And what does a degree in fine art actually mean? 

The impact of the arts is constantly minimised (anyone still remember Fatima the ballerina ‘whO’s NExT JOb cOulD BE iN CyBer’?)2. What is often overlooked is the transferable skills which you accumulate as you hone your craft within your degree.

Hopefully, you will get to become a magnificent painter following a degree in painting and printmaking. But also, you’ll learn creative problem solving, verbal and visual communication methods, responding to briefs and deadlines, emotional resilience, collaborative working… the list is endless!

With art school in particular, it is arguably not the end result of the degree which makes the choice ‘worth it’ – but the art school method of thinking it can instil in you, the acquiring of potential contacts, the widening network of opportunities and access to facilities that is developed during an art student’s academic career.

The chance to be immersed with like-minded people and having the time and space to fully concentrate on learning your craft (or even finding your craft) is one of the many great allures of art school. The permission to experiment, and the safety to fail, while working on projects for the sake of projects (and, for the most part, not commission or money) is an opportunity that’s not frequently available outside of an art school setting. But that doesn’t mean it’s the only way to go!

One of the many beauties of the arts is that there’s not one path for everyone. We all find ourselves clambering around, finding our way, losing our way, or deciding to set up camp halfway down the path for a while because we just like the view.

Ultimately… to art school or not to art school? You decide. But hearing about other people’s creative pathways and understanding the paths available will always be a good starting point. 

Join in and continue this discussion at our first event of the ‘So You Wanna Go to Art School?’ programme! Book a place at our panel discussion happening on Thursday 2nd September 7-9pm at The Stove, Dumfries or tune into the livestream via our YouTube channel:

Sign up – https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/so-you-wanna-go-to-art-school-panel-discussion-tickets-165255719305 

Livestream on YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJbT8JrUhg0pf3UaH0N4sFg

1 Creative Industries Federation, 2019 report ‘Public Investment, Public Gain: How public investment in the arts generates economic value across the creative industries and beyond’, https://www.creativeindustriesfederation.com/publications/public-investment-public-gain, via Culture Counts Scotland

2 Brit Dawson, ‘A brief explainer of the government’s dystopian Fatima cyber ad’, https://www.dazeddigital.com/politics/article/50747/1/a-brief-explainer-on-the-government-dystopian-fatima-cyber-ad

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News Opportunities

Work With Us

We’re recruiting for a NEW Finance & Operations Manager

Realise your potential

The Stove Network is an innovative social enterprise in the centre of Dumfries, and we are looking for someone to join our talented team that is working at the heart of our community. We operate a hub for the region’s creative sector, offering training and opportunities to the local community as well as developing projects in partnership with groups and agencies that help people make changes in the places where they live.

Through success our turnover and organisation have grown quickly, and we now have an opening for the right person to be the next piece in The Stove jigsaw. We are recruiting a Finance and Operations Manager and are looking for someone who can develop with us and provide sound support through financial and organisational systems.

Do you have excellent organisational and financial skills? Do you like being the one with all the information at your fingertips and knowing where to look for the answers? Are you adaptable and do you want to be part of a dynamic and committed team that is genuinely making a difference for our local community? If so, then we’d love to meet you. Please check out the application pack and get in touch for an initial chat or to send us an application….

Deadline for applications: midnight Sunday 19th Sept 2021

Interviews will be held on Tuesday 28st September. We would like to make sure that our recruitment process is as open as possible, so if you’d like to discuss any accessibility requirements, please get in touch via [email protected] or phone us on 01387 252435 (weekdays 10-4pm).

For more information and details on how to apply, download the full application pack below.

Download the application pack
clear text version
equality monitoring form
Categories
News

WWDN Update

Meet the Artists

‘What We Do Now’ (WWDN), is a pioneering, experimental project working with creative freelancers, places, and communities across the Southwest of Scotland, through ten substantial commission opportunities for freelance creatives and artists to work locally on creative projects that directly benefit five towns in Dumfries & Galloway.

Forming part of the national programme, ‘Culture Collective”, What We Do Now focuses on culture and creativity and how these play a role in the nation’s long-term recovery from the pandemic.

The project provides creative practitioners the opportunity to work with community-led organisations throughout the region from over the course of one year, first launched in summer 2021.

A detailed recruitment process was undertaken to ensure each of the five place hubs were partnered with the right artist(s) to collaborate with and develop each brief, identifying and addressing the needs of the communities they represent.

Now in the next phase of the project, What We Do Now is ready to introduce the commissioned artists who will work with community groups to ignite and inspire new imaginative possibilities for the five towns across Dumfries and Galloway for the coming year!

This team, of experienced and emerging artists, will work together with communities exploring bold new ideas to celebrate the voices often unheard in our region. Over the course of the next year, What We Do Now will weave together and showcase a united, creative vision of our region. One that is built and inspired by the communities we all belong to and serve.

Supporting our artists on their journey and recording their progress will be documentary duo, Patrick Rooney of Dear Friend Films and photo-journalist Kirstin McEwan. Their work will illustrate the varied creative approaches each artist will undertake as well as follow the development of each brief, documenting the unique stories of each place, the communities therein and the vision each will evolve.

To find out more about out the artists, and community organisations they’ll be collaborating with click here.

Categories
News Opportunities

Creative Writing Opportunities

High Street Multiverse:

Six Opportunities for Emerging Writers Based in Dumfries & Galloway

Welcome to Dumfries High Street.

In this place, whole worlds of stories and sorrows, memories and hopes as vivid and colourful as your own, exist within each passer-by.

A multiverse, an ever-growing web of realities sprawl and spin from the smallest encounter. New futures are written and re-written all at once, each stemming from the consequences of actions so subtle, they are barely felt. But the ripple of each of our choices resonates beyond now… and alters the realities we all share.

So step inside… what story will you find?

High Street Multiverse is a digital, public art project supported by Dumfries & Galloway Unlimited. Working with 6 emerging writers from the region, this unique initiative will support writers to craft six individual audio stories to be placed within the town centre of Dumfries, through a specially designed series of QR light sculptures, the artworks will immerse listeners into new imaginative worlds, traversing time and space.

Writers will work together with the support of the Stove’s creative team through a regular series of workshops led by professional writers alongside a handful of creative sessions to shape each individual story. Emerging writers will receive one to one creative and professional guidance with a small team of professionals in the field, gaining tailored support and advice to take your writing to the next level.

Writers will receive a fee of £200 for their contribution to the project alongside professional support and guidance along with the opportunity to collaborate with others and be part of an exciting multi-arts project in the heart of Dumfries.

You don’t have to have been published and you can be of any age and experience-level to apply. We’re looking for writers who are excited to be part of this collaborative project and are willing to help create a new experience for Dumfries town centre.

Want to take your story to the street?

Who can apply?
You don’t need to have been published, you could even just be dabbling. You might be a fantasy writer, novelist, poet, or all the above. We’re looking for potential. We’re looking for writers who are excited by the prospect of working collaboratively and are willing to be part of a journey in finding their voice through the support and mentorship of the Stove and our team of professional writers.

The only thing we ask is that you are living in or can demonstrate a significant connection to Dumfries & Galloway. No upper age limit.

How to Apply
To apply please send a cover letter and supporting material to [email protected] answering:

What excites you about the project?

How would you describe yourself as a writer?

How could this project support your development?

Alongside up to three writing examples, exceeding no more than three pages per example.

Submissions closing date is the 30th of August.

Creative sessions and workshops will take place throughout September and October with works being recorded in November and December. Installation and public unveiling will be in January 2022.

Time commitment:
Coordination of workshops and creative sessions will be arranged in consultation with the successful writers. We expect writers to attend roughly 5 workshops/creative sessions, as well as one-to-one sessions with the professional writers’ team.
All applicants will be contacted with regards to the outcome within the week of the of the 6th of September.

For more information about the project please email [email protected].

Categories
Musings

Door Handles of Change

By Sam Gonçalves, Digital Producer for Soap Box

Sam Gonçalves

Back in March I started a short term freelance contract with The Stove Network to help them set up Soap Box: a series of events, panels and workshops. The programme, alongside a whole host of extra resources, has now been brought together in an easy-to-use toolkit. 

The team asked me to write about my experience, but I have to admit the last few months have felt very different to the professional experiences I’m used to having. To give you some context, I have never met any of The Stove’s team in person! This whole journey I’ve just been working with disembodied heads on varying zoom calls. It wouldn’t take too much evidence to convince me none of them are actually real.

That was the biggest hurdle, in my opinion, to the development of Soap Box. An excellent programme focusing on the development of digital skills, ran entirely online and designed by a remote team. Suddenly all the strategies you learned to galvanise a team, work with people, create bonds and make together are not quite as applicable to an entirely digital world. 

I arrived at The Stove aware of the ‘newness’ of this challenge and interested on how it would be faced. As time went by, it was a pleasure to see how the team did it: with open minds and a keen sense of curiosity.

The remote nature of the programme was seen as an opportunity rather than a barrier. I don’t think a single one of our weekly meetings went by without a member of the team asking, “Who can we bring in?” about any given part of the project. Collaboration was an essential building block and it involved people in all sorts of career stages, of different ages, backgrounds and perspectives. 

When faced with the fresh challenges arising out of lockdown, I saw The Stove team open up to other experiences and expertise. They sought answers, as oppose to assuming they already had them. As a result, the programme hosted an incredible variety of people – from facilitators to attendees – who brought in knowledge that would not have been there if these events had been run in a business-as-usual way.

Here’s a humiliating metaphor I can use to explain this – Portuguese is my first language and when I moved to Scotland from Brazil at the age of 17, I discovered a cruel linguistic twist. The word ‘pull’ translates to ‘puxe’ in Portuguese, which sounds exactly like the word ‘push’. For years I’d read the work ‘push’ on a shop door and my brain would short-circuit and make me pull it. I’ve walked into my fair share of doors. 

I tarnish my otherwise flawless reputation to say – sometimes the main barrier is being unable accept a piece of knowledge is no longer relevant. What I really take away from the handful of months working with and observing The Stove is their unrelenting drive to learn more, bringing people in who will show them a new perspective and respecting what they have to say – whether they may be the head of an organisation or a young freelancer. 

I long to see the skill of un-learning being used in the creative and cultural sector more often, it would open many doors…

Sam Gonçalves // @SidlingBears

Want to learn more about Soap Box and check out the digital resource toolkit? Visit our webpage:
https://thestove.org/soap-box/