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The Stove’s Herald!

A while back we put out an opportunity for something called a ‘Public Communicator and Herald’ – We had a strong sense of the spirit of the role, but found it very hard to describe exactly so the selection process was a very 2-way process. After much conversation and inspiration from all involved in the process, Ladies and Gentlemen we are very proud to announce that our Herald is Moxie DePaulitte!

Hello there, I’m Moxie and I’m delighted to be able to introduce myself as The Stove’s newly appointed Public Communicator and Herald which, at the risk of sounding like a Valley Girl, is just like, totally, you know, the coolest job title ev-ah.

I’ve been asked to write a short post introducing myself but, although I’m really good at talking about other things, I’m really don’t excel at saying things about myself so I enlisted the help of my four year old. This is what she said:

“She is nice and cuddly and warm. And she has a really nice job. She do some importment stuff and she always loves me and she always does nice stuff for us. And she uses all her money up for food for us. Her name is Moxie she does some pretty good stuff. Can I go back in the paddling pool now, please?”

So there you have it; a definitive guide to me, my work and my new role.

I think she’s pretty much covered everything but, just in case any of you aren’t fluent in Preschooleeze, I’ll translate…I’ve been involved in the arts for as long as I can remember and love the passion, power and opportunities the creative process stirs up. Sadly, however, art works are frequently just presented to us and the glory and excitement of this process is missed because we don’t know the why, the what, and the wow.
A lot goes on behind the scenes and, when a group is so absorbed in a project, it’s easy to forget that not everyone knows the back story; the reasons and the nuances behind a piece. It’s not transparent. So, this is where I come in: Part of my role is to help more people become aware of and involved in that very process; to make sure everyone understands what’s going on and that the cogs are visible as they’re turning.
The lovely people at The Stove know it can often feel like events go on around us and happen to us rather than with us and for us and they would very much like that to change.

On funding bids they probably call it ‘Building Stronger Community Relationships’ but, luckily for me, that translates as ‘meeting up with people for a cup of tea, chin wag and a biscuit’, so get in touch! Share with me your ideas and questions; I’ll be delighted to talk them through with you. Let’s see how we can get you involved.

email me [email protected] and I’ll get back to you.

Be part of something brilliant. You really can help shape Dumfries into the town you know it can be.

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The Stove Network Project Manager

You know how names for things at The Stove can be a real challenge (err opportunity?) ….never more so in the case of our new Project Manager! The job title went through unimaginable twists and turns (you might remember it was advertised as ‘Organisational Manager/Projects Coordinator’). Anyways we are delighted to announce that Stove member Ailsa Watson was offered and accepted the role –the first task Ailsa tackled was the job title – ‘Project Manager’ it is!!
Those paying attention will remember that Ailsa joined us in April initially as our Finance Administrator.

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A rare photo of Ailsa

Ailsa says she is ‘not really be from anywhere’ – she was born in Paisley and grew up on the West Coast before a globetrotting existence led her back to Glasgow where she met and married a dashing Doonhamer. She is an Art Graduate who has followed an amazingly impressive career path through a mixture of high profile arts jobs and working within the commercial digital sector. Naturally one of the most impressive things on Ailsa’s CV is her role as a producer on The Stove’s ‘First Foot’ project in Jan 2012 – she has been a member since the get go.

Ailsa and her husband have been living between Glasgow and Dumfries for some time whilst looking for the right opportunity to move to the South West full-time. The next bit of good news is that the couple have found a place on the outskirts of Dumfropolis and will be flitting Glasgow in August.

Ailsa is looking forward to seeing more of her D+G pals, making new acquaintances and working with the wider community

This feels like a really significant move for The Stove Network to be now working with genuine administrative and managerial capacity. It has been a long time coming, but that is part of the essence of working collectively – things do take time – but when they do happen we know that we have all travelled together to reach this place.
We had an amazing response to our call for people to take on this role – including others form our incredibly talented membership – it was a tough, tough task making this decision and we’d like to thank everyone that applied…there were many other people that we are sure we will be working with in the future.

Do pop in and introduce yourselves to Ailsa!

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The Stove Board – Away Day

One of our standard ways of describing The Stove Network is that:

‘The Curatorial Team decide and deliver the artistic vision for The Stove Network – in this they are supported by a Board, who are responsible for governance and The Stove Network has a general membership of 110 people, ranging from contemporary artists to café-owners, to video artists and DJs.’

Whilst strictly accurate this does not even scratch the surface of how crucial the Board really are….they really are the ‘wise heads on young shoulders’ of The Stove midfield.

Everyone has been looking at ways to continue the momentum of collaborative working in the Board and between the Board and the Curatorial team. Some bright spark suggested an Away Day – where Board and CT could spend some quality time, find out what made each other tick and do some big thinking about The Stove Network…..this is what happened next:

We started by each talking about an object that inspires us or says something about who we are.


Stove away day and pizza-7
Things got even more arduous with a walk along the shore


Stove away day and pizza-8
Board and CT in ‘deep thought mode’


Stove away day and pizza-9
Board members admitted some disappointment when the menus turned out to be People’s Charters for Dumfries


Stove away day and pizza-10
Linda was uncharacteristically sceptical on the merits of Lada Four-Wheel Drive

The day was perfectly timed to help the final push before submission of our application for ‘Regular Funding’ ….loads of good ideas and shared vision for The Stove Network….that was described as more of movement than a business by one Board Member….bring it on!

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News Project Updates

Dumfries Is What We All Make Together – Charter 14 Unveiled

If you’ve never been to Guid Nychburris before, it’s too late – you’ll have to wait until next year. The annual event, which celebrates the 1395 Royal Charter for the Burgh of Dumfries, has become a regular in The Stove calendar (previous exploits here and here).

Drawing inspiration from the ‘original’ Charter (an update from the earlier 1186 Charter), which is read out on Guid Nychburris Day, The Stove embarked on the ambitious task of writing a new ‘People’s Charter’ for the town, inviting input and inclusions from community groups, organisations and individuals living, working and inhabiting Dumfries. Where the original Charter granted land and fishing rights, Charter14 set out a declaration, of values for the future prosperity of Dumfries. “Dumfries is what we all make together.”

We were overwhelmed by the response to the idea with contributions coming in from all walks of life – all underlining the depth of felling that people have about Dumfries. The first draft of Charter14 was compiled with the help of local writer and lecturer Dave Borthwick from the contributions of the public and was unveiled in grand fashion, with the Dumfries Fountain as the centrepiece on Saturday with lots of help and the handy adage ‘Just Add Water’….

Thanks to Mike for all his work on the Fountain’s new structure!

The text on the banners around the fountain changed colour when they became wet….buckets were filled from the fountain and people were invited to hurl wet sponges at the banners to reveal their message.

Charter14 is not intended as a finished document. Like the original, revisited and amended – The Stove invited Doonhamers from across the town to add their mark; editing, adding and signing over 150 variations of the new charter over the course of the afternoon.

The 1395 Charter was venerable sealed with the town seal, also celebrated in the Guid Nychburris festivities, and Charter14 was no different, with it’s very own seal created by artist David Ralston.

The project prompted discourse late into the evening, around notions of authentication and validity, as each charter was signed by a unique signatory, ranging in age from 5 to 85, including everyone from local politicians, to the Queen (of the South)’s attendants, and passers by.

The Stove has been absolutely overwhelmed with the amazing response to #MakingDumfries and the Charter14, and would like to sincerely thank everyone who has contributed to the Charter, joined in on Saturday, helped facilitate the day and worked from our studio-in-exile in the run up to the event.

Dumfries is what we all Make Together.

Brave Enough to Take Risks and Surprise People.

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Musings News Project Updates

‘Making Dumfries’ – a new Charter

Members of The Stove Network are gearing up for Guid Nychburris again. We have been involved in the festivities for the last 2 years and are finding it a brilliant opportunity to work with and talk to people in Dumfries about the future of the town.

Recently we have been inspired by some of our researches into local movements of people working together to make the places that they live in better by thinking creatively and taking practical measures like pooling skills.

Guid Nychburris celebrates the granting of a Royal Charter to the Burgh of Dumfries in 1395. We thought it would be interesting to speculate about the sort of Charter the people of Dumfries might grant themselves for the future prosperity of the town.

For absolute clarity…this idea of a popular Charter is NO way ‘official’ – it will have no formal status at all…it has not been ‘commissioned’ in any way. A group of local artists just thought this could be an interesting contribution to the conversation about the future of the town.

We plan to launch the Charter on Guid Nychburris Day (21st June) – getting people to help us ‘unveil’ it in a typically Stoveish manner and offering people special memorial copies that they can also add to and edit as they choose.

We are getting in touch now to invite you to contribute to the new Charter – our idea is that the Charter should focus on people and what is important to quality of life… to paraphrase the US constitution ‘ Each Citizen covenants with the whole people and the whole people covenants with each Citizen that all shall respect certain principles for the common good.’

The Stove already has long standing partnerships with groups and individuals working in these areas – over the next couple of weeks we will be asking people to help us come up with a phrase (20 words max) for their particular area of interest that we can add to the new Charter.

We propose that the Charter begins with the statement that:

We promise each other that our making together will be shaped by these values, for the common good

  • Our idea is that this opening is followed by a series of statements about how the town regards the following:
    • Young People
    • Diversity
    • People with disabilities
    • Enterprise and opportunity
    • Culture and creativity
    • Heritage
    • Environment
    • Belief
    • Civic society and local democracy

This is also a completely open invitation to anyone with an interest in this project to take part….please either leave a comment at the bottom of this post, drop us an email at [email protected] or contact us through Facebook or Twitter.

Also let us know if you are interested to be involved in being part of the project team to bring all this to fruition for Guid Nuychburris Day and beyond

We are not intending crediting individual contributions on the Charter itself – but we would hope to list everyone involved as part of the project documentation. Please include with your contribution the way you would like to be credited or a confirmation that your contribution should be anonymous

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Musings News

Bordeaux and Public Space

The Stove have been coined ‘cultural ambassadors for Dumfries’ as last week we packed our trunks and headed off for Bordeaux.

Why Bordeaux you might have asked?
To which we may have replied, 

‘Although it is undoubtedly bigger, better and sunnier, Bordeaux has several interesting parallels with Dumfries: it was a one-time great trading port on a river; its historic buildings and waterfront had suffered from misuse and neglect. The difference comes in how it has succeeded in regenerating itself in the last decade or so, with a strong focus on culture and environment.’ Indeed.

Bordeaux’s vast infrastructure and city centre regeneration over the past 15 years has focused largely on the riverside, and the design and creation of people friendly places over vehicle orientated ones.

Time and again we gravitated towards the area, for meetings, coffee, discussions and – possibly our most favourite public space, the fountain –also known as the Mirror.

The Mirror, which alternates between a shallow pool and ephemeral fog, forms part of the promenade extending along the river – filled with people on all manner and number of (human powered) wheels. Glasgow based artist Jacqueline Donnachie’s Slow Down project has been tested in a few towns and cities, most recently in Glasgow in the run up to the Commonwealth which sees bikes fitted with chalks that mark the routes taken by cyclists in the city to encourage cycling use… Cycling Dumfries looks to improve cycling closer to home – how could we think about our transport differently?

The city centre’s new look and feel, as well as Bordeaux’s Unesco Heritage status, has had input too on a cultural front with the AGORA (Architecture, Urban Planning and Design) biennale which has grown out of the regeneration works in the town into a fully fledged national event of it’s own standing. This year AGORA coincides with the Nithraid – taking place from 11th – 14th September.. but more on this later!

Of course, as much as the city centre is all absorbing and beautiful, the Stovies got an itch to explore a little more into the periphery spaces of Bordeaux – so we took (the very sleek) tram up to the Bacalan area – which is pretty serious about it’s regeneration on all fronts, as new builds and cranes jostled for space amongst established arts and social enterprise organisations.

Le garage moderne – a social enterprise with groups across France, teaches practical mechanics whilst also doubling up as exhibition space, and artists studios and office spaces – it caught the Stove’s wildest imagination – we’re quickly realising that we could outgrow 100 High Street…

And finally for this week – we’ve become a bit obsessed with the space out the back of the Stove, as we explore the mechanism for creating a new rear entrance for 100 High Street, discussions have been ongoing as to how to alter the sense and atmosphere of a place, especially one with shared use and ownership. Grand plans are being finalised as the impact of 100 High Street and it’s relationship to it’s surroundings grows and changes from the forgotten Happitt store into the Stove proper… as ever, we’ll keep you posted.

Les Vivres de l’Art – one of the wildest creative spaces we came across in Bordeaux.

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