Tag: Public Art
Categories
The Nithraid
Celebrate the Nithraid: Dumfries’ Annual River Race and Festival
From now till September, The Stove will be inviting people to contribute to an event that celebrates the River Nith’s importance – both historically and today. From its role as a trade route delivering economic lifeblood to Dumfries, to its significance as a conservation area, and to individuals and groups who find peace, tranquillity, and joy from its banks and passing moments.
Forming part of the Environmental Arts Festival Scotland, The Nithraid will culminate in a daring dinghy race from Carsethorn to the very centre of Dumfries on Saturday, 21st September. As the equinox pushes the tide to its annual peak, intrepid sailors will tackle the river head-on, surfing (maybe literally) the incoming tide to reach the finishing line at the Caul in Dumfries, where the salt water and fresh water meet.
When the boats arrive in the town, they will be greeted by a sculptured cow cast in salt and The Stove’s huge fabric banners floating downstream from the Old Bridge, welcoming them to Dumfries with messages from the townspeople. We would like your help writing those messages.
We’ll be decorating banners at community events in August and September and will turn to our social media channels for inspiration too. As we gather words and phrases, we’ll start to build a wall of words. Then our bicycle-powered poetry machine will mix them up and stick them together to form messages for our banners.
The Stove’s community fun day takes place in Lochside on Sunday, 18th August, and we hope to do a similar event in Dumfries town centre on Tuesday, 10th September. The social media initiative will kick off in August. Keep your eyes peeled for #NithRaid on Twitter and Facebook.
Our River Nith; the passenger, the deliverer, and the exporter. With untold tales from its length and breadth, and its historical depths. From its rise in the East Ayrshire hills to Ards Point, 15 miles south of Dumfries, where it meets the Solway Firth and greets the wider world – connecting the town locally, nationally, and globally.
Categories
Back 2 Back Dumfries
Join Us for Back 2 Back Dumfries: A Day of Street Art and Community Celebration!
The Stove Network is taking to the streets for Guid Nychburris Day – Saturday, 15th June – with a DIY street art event on Dumfries High Street.
The large-scale pavement drawing will map out a contemporary identity for the town, with imagery and stencil designs being developed in partnership with the local youth group YES (the Youth Enquiry Service), which is celebrating its 20th year.
The work is temporary and will be made on-site, building up over the course of the day. With stencils and spray chalk on hand, The Stove invites aspiring artists of all ages to participate and contribute by making their mark on our map.
Back 2 Back Dumfries will take place between 12pm and 4pm on Saturday, 15th June, alongside the rest of the annual festivities taking place this year.
Categories
Ring Out, Wild Bells
Creetown Plays with Fire
Exciting things are happening in Creetown…
We have teamed up with Roddie Mathieson, who runs The Mobile Foundry, to create a bronze bell, which will form the centrepiece of the new sculpture. This is taking place next Saturday and will be open for everyone to come and witness.
‘This is an opportunity to see the casting process in action,’ says Roddie. ‘We will make moulds of the bell and clapper and pour them as part of a public demonstration. It is quite a spectacle and really exciting to watch.’
We will also be holding an all-day casting session at Creetown Primary School for pupils to get a chance to try their hand at the casting process. They will use moulds to make sculptures and will then use a charcoal furnace with bellows to cast them.
Exciting events are unfolding next week; we look forward to seeing everyone there!
A school girl has become Britain’s youngest town crier – at the tender age of eight.
Evie Cloy found herself with an opportunity when she turned up to a contest to find the next ‘bellman’ for the seaside town of Creetown in Dumfries. The town has been without a crier since 1962, when WW1 veteran James Blake died at the age of 74 after 33 years of service.
But not a single adult participated in the competition to find a successor, so Evie stepped up – with a very direct bid for the job. Looking the judges straight in the eye, she took a breath and yelled, “My name is Evie Cloy and I want to be the next town crier of Creetown.”
One of the panel, Allan Lowden, the town crier from nearby Gatehouse, said, “Evie might have been the smallest contestant but she definitely had the biggest voice.” The youngster, who has been given a handmade ceremonial jacket and will be appearing in the town over the next few months, said, “I’m really pleased. There hasn’t been a town crier in Creetown for 51 years, so I love my new job. I was a bit nervous but once I started shouting, I felt better. I’m quite glad no adults wanted the job.”
Her proud father David, 45, said, “She’ll be making announcements at local events and fetes.”
“There were two categories in the competition, over-16s and under-16s, but nobody over 16 turned up. It seems like the younger participants were more interested. Evie’s very pleased. Her younger sister Katie, who’s five, was excited about the competition but too shy to participate.”
Organiser Will Levi Marshall said, “It’s great that Creetown finally has a town crier again after all these years, and we’re delighted that Evie will be doing the honours. Recently, we’ve been exploring different methods of communication throughout Creetown’s history, including flags, the ancient ferry route to Wigtown, flares, bell casting and, of course, reviving the tradition of the Town Crier.”
James Blake, Creetown’s last town crier, was something of a local legend. After his death in 1962, his obituary recorded that “as a bellman, he had few equals, his fine resonant voice often being heard a mile away, and visitors to Creetown often stared in amazement when they met him on his rounds.
