The Stove Network
What’s in store at The Stove this year? With building works continuing downstairs in The Stove this month ahead of our regular opening times from next month, the Stove’s operations and curatorial teams are busy preparing and planning for a bumper 2016 year. Select each image below for more details.
You are invited to share your ideas and contribute to our Cultural Wayfinding event, taking place from 5th to 7th November with Lateral North and The Stove Network.
Town centres are a hot topic throughout Scotland at the moment, with a focus on how they might once again become vibrant and populated spaces. Initiatives have been established by the Scottish government and partner organisations such as Scotland Can Do Towns and the Scottish Towns Partnership, who are leading the way by working with communities across the country. Discussions, conferences, innovative ideas, and project proposals are increasing as we strive to reconnect communities with their local shops and town centres.
Dumfries is one such place taking an exceptionally innovative approach, where art and design take centre stage to provide creative solutions for the town centre. The arts resource, The Stove Network, has been leading various projects aimed at regenerating the town centre. They have transformed a building previously out of use into a hub of creative thinking and forward-thinking design.
The Stove Network has teamed up with Lateral North, an architecture, research, and design collective based in Glasgow with strong ties to Dumfries, to collaborate on an exciting and dynamic project. This initiative reflects on the culture, heritage, and built environment of Dumfries town centre, focusing on elements that have been overlooked or not adequately highlighted.
Their Cultural Wayfinding project aims to create a range of opportunities that will not only boost tourism but also serve as an economic catalyst for new jobs and initiatives for local people. These efforts are centred around art and design, demonstrating how they can illuminate the rich culture of this historic town.
The first of these initiatives focuses on Dumfries’ connection with Norway, particularly the buildings hidden within the town centre that once hosted the Norwegian army in exile during World War II. These buildings provided the army with spaces for meetings and accommodation throughout the war.
Lateral North and The Stove Network will host a three-day workshop from 5th to 7th November, inviting the public to contribute ideas for a public art installation. This project will highlight Norway House at 8 Church Street, the building used as Headquarters and Cultural Centre by Norwegians in exile during 1940. Currently empty, the building remains unused due to extortionate retail rates, which are likely to persist for the foreseeable future. However, this initiative aims to emphasise the creative possibilities for such spaces, encouraging communities to attract tourists, revitalise town centres, and generate economic activity through existing built environments.
Graham Hogg of Lateral North, who grew up in Dumfries, said: “I’ve watched Dumfries town centre slowly lose more and more of its local shops, with vacant shops becoming increasingly common. This has had a detrimental effect on the town as a whole, and I believe it is fantastic that The Stove is leading this exciting project. To be part of it is a real honour, and hopefully, through the Norway House project, we can create an exciting and innovative model that can be applied to Dumfries town centre in the future and adopted throughout the rest of Scotland.”
NB: There are paid opportunities for Stove Network members to assist with the project on 5th, 6th, and 7th November.
Open House sees The Stove Network populating The Stove at 100 High Street for the first time since building works began last year. It welcomes the town and the wider network to stop by, get involved, and experience some of what we hope to bring to Dumfries’ town centre. Open House is a series of varied events designed to showcase both The Stove’s versatility as a physical space and the ambition of the project for the town centre.
We begin with the third annual Dumfries Music Conference (DMC) on 24th and 25th April. As in previous years, DMC 2015 will feature workshops, talks, film, live music, expert opinion, and creative collaboration. Through a collection of brilliant partners and guests, we hope to educate, inspire, and entertain. DMC 2015 will mark the official opening of The Stove Building at 100 High Street. In celebration of this, we are going to fill the entire building with colour, music, and people.
On 28th April, The Stove hosts Open Mouth—a day of spoken word, performance, and cooking. During the day, The Stove building will hold workshops for school students, followed by a performance workshop at 5pm. A public performance begins at 7pm, featuring Moffat-based Sarah Indigo alongside other performers from the Scottish spoken word scene, as well as young people who have attended the daytime workshops.
Open Mouth has been specially created and delivered for The Stove Network by Sarah Indigo, Eryl Shields, and Open Jar Collective.
Produced in collaboration with Wigtown Festival Company.
On 29th April, House Warming invites everyone to drop by (12:30pm–4:30pm) to explore The Stove building, have a chat, and make a T-shirt.
From 6pm, there will be a Stove Members Gathering, featuring a public bonfire and Bannock-making in the town square with Open Jar from 7:30pm.
At 7pm on Saturday, 2nd May, join us at The Stove for the public launch of HAME, an impressionistic journey through Dumfries & Galloway, voiced by those who call it home. Film, voice, field recordings, and subtle music will intermingle and connect across two floors and extend into Dumfries High Street.
HAME is a film and sound installation by artists Mark Lyken and Emma Dove, specially commissioned for the opening of The Stove at 100 High Street, Dumfries.
Every Tuesday, starting 19th May and running until mid-June, you are invited to Drop-In @ The Stove—pop in for a brew and a blether about The Stove and the town.
What would you like to see The Stove doing? What are your ideas for the town centre? What would you like to do at The Stove? We’ll be open, and we’d love to hear your ideas! Drop-In will run from 12 noon to 6pm every Tuesday, so just drop in as you pass by.
Keep up with the latest updates on Open House via our social media on Facebook and Twitter, using #OpenHouse.
It’s always good to start off the week with some good news, and as many of you may have heard across social media or the news over the weekend, The Stove has joined 118 other organisations in Creative Scotland’s National Portfolio for 2015-18.
Read our press release in full:
Dumfries’ The Stove Network has joined a prestigious list of just 119 arts organisations across the whole country who have been awarded National Portfolio status and a three-year funding package.
The decision follows an open application process which saw 264 organisations apply to the national arts body, Creative Scotland, and now puts The Stove Network in such prestigious company as Tramway in Glasgow and the Edinburgh International Festival.
Since the demise of DG Arts in 2011, Dumfries and Galloway has had no nationally funded arts organisations. Wigtown Book Festival was also successful in their application for funding from 2015-18 alongside The Stove Network.
Janet Archer, Chief Executive Officer of Creative Scotland, said: “I am delighted to announce such a creatively rich and diverse portfolio of regularly funded organisations across Dumfries & Galloway. It represents some of Scotland’s most important, innovative, and exciting cultural organisations, producing and presenting great work across literature and visual art.
“Importantly, these organisations will also provide significant support for individual artists and the broader workforce across the area’s creative sector.
“Following a clear and robust decision-making process, I’m delighted that two organisations in Dumfries & Galloway are joining the portfolio of three-year regularly funded organisations.”
Linda Mallett, member of The Stove Network curatorial team, said: “This is a massive affirmation of our work from our national arts body. The Stove Network believes in partnership working, and we hope that this award will go towards our programme of developing projects with the brilliant artists and groups locally, nationally, and internationally.
“We have always taken a stance that we should be a means of drawing new resources into the region rather than placing another burden on precious local funding. This award is all new outside money that we will be able to use for the benefit of the citizens of Dumfries.”
“This funding will allow us to carefully plan out a sustainable future for The Stove Network when the building works are complete at 100 High Street and bring something entirely new and exciting for the town centre and local people… The future is bright!”
It’s an exciting day down at the Stove, and as if the build up to tonight’s big gig as part of DMC wasn’t enough, we are pleased to welcome in the morning with the following press release. Go team Dumfries!
Several organisations were jumping for joy at the news in Dumfries today – that the town has been shortlisted for the coveted Creative Place Award for 2014.
A joint bid was led by Big Burns Supper, The Stove and Electric Theatre Workshop to attract investment of £150,000 to the town to support the development of a Creative Place through a year-long celebration of Creativity to help support Dumfries town centre.
Uniquely – the bid has been developed by the arts organisations independently, which mirrors the trend that has been happening in Dumfries over the last three years. Artists and their Organisations are leading the way in the regeneration of place, community and identity.
Graham Main, Artistic Director of Electric Theatre Workshop & Big Burns Supper said, “We are thrilled with the news of the shortlist – which celebrates the ground breaking transformation, and creative leadership model in our community. Organisation’s like Big Burns Supper, The Stove and Electric Theatre Workshop – and our many associate organisations like Theatre Royal, Peter Pan Moatbrae, Greyfriars Concerts, DG Arts Festival and The Crichton Campus are leading on a fresh approach to arts delivery, and redefining the rules to creative participation through a new confidence that is spreading throughout our region.”
Matt Baker, Stove Network artists collective founder member said: “Culture and Heritage have been identified by many as the key to revitalising Dumfries – a future built on assets like the river, the history and the creative talents of our citizens. Much work has been done already by groups like Stove, Big Burns Supper and Electric Theatre Workshop – we have all focussed on making opportunities for other local folk to get involved and through this building a network of amazing people with a ‘can do’ attitude.
Being shortlisted for this award is amazing national recognition of both the work done to date and potential for the future. Dumfries is ready to claim itself Queen of the South again for the new century – we look forward to working with everyone to make that happen.”
It comes on the same day that Big Burns Supper announced plans for their Homecoming Carnival, which will set the town alight on the 25th January 2014, which will see over 2000 people taking part in the organisations largest ever Participation project to date.
A massive community celebration which help pay tribute to the centenary of World War One, with second year students from several high schools helping to design and create the first ever Burns Night Carnival in the town’s history.
As the news came in, Final preparations were being made to the Dumfries Music Conference weekend which is taking place at The Stove in the centre of Dumfries. The second Dumfries Music Conference (#DMC2013) will pick up where Greg Wilson signed off last year, with a programme centred on sharing knowledge, ideas and thoughts about music.
Their aim is to be progressive, which is why this year’s sessions have a different complexion than last year’s. Where 2012’s focus was electronic music and technology, 2013 is about shining a light on the music industry’s storytellers.
As part of their continued development, Electric Theatre Workshop have announced continued expansion into communities throughout Dumfries, supporting communities and schools to get access to creativity.
The Community Interest Company based in the centre of Dumfries has opened Youth Theatre projects at Lochside Primary, Lincluden Primary, St Teresa’s Primary and St Ninian’s Primary Schools throughout the next year. It comes as part of the organisations pledge to lift barriers to creativity in Dumfries thanks to support from the Holywood Trust.
Dumfries will find out at an Awards Ceremony in January 2014 whether or town the town will lift the prize.
