Access Information: Level Access in rear of building through adjacent close to left-hand side of the Cafe (facing the front of the building). To ensure your experience with us is as best as it can be, please do let us know if you have any specific access requirements and we’d be happy to help. Please email Sal on: [email protected] or phone 01387 252435 and speak with one of our team. We are able to provide walk-throughs of the building before attending our events as well as assign seating before your arrival.
We asked our Creative Spaces 23/24 Alumni to reflect on their experience completing the programme. Lastly we have Sahar El-Hady, read about her experiences as a spacer below.
Sahar speaking at the 2024 Creative Spaces Showcase
Having made my home in Dumfries in 2021, just as in-person events were beginning to bounce back after the pandemic, I was very quickly introduced to The Stove Network by my new friends and became a keen supporter of their activities. It was a pleasant surprise to find young people and vibrant community events in such a rurally dispersed region, and the connections I made through this engagement made me feel immediately at home in what was then a very new environment for me. I began to see a future for myself here and am lucky enough to have found the means and networks to be able to stay.
Sahar at Creative Spaces Event – Draw Me Like One of your Dumfries Girls
After attending last year’s Creative Spaces Showcase, a friend encouraged me to apply for the Associates programme. I was inspired by Jodie Barnacle-Best’s talk about her “wiggly life path” and saw in it similarities to my own trajectory, having graduated with a master’s in Science to then start work in the creative industries. I thought, why not do this for 10 months while I’m working part-time, put these questions about my career direction to rest once and for all, and then get a proper full-time job which uses my degree after it’s done?
Looking back now, I can only laugh at the thought of me being happy in a 9-5, five day week job without creativity or change for the rest of my life. In fact, I now relish the openness of my freelance days more than I could have imagined when I started Creative Spaces. Not only has repeated exposure to a large number of full-time artists across the region dispelled the stigma around “unreliable income” and the myth of “the struggling artist”, I’ve also made leaps and bounds in accepting my own creative ambitions and surrounding myself with the people and support who will help me to pursue my dreams – who I’ll surely need to lean on all the more now that I’ve hit the ground running.
As well as providing a great group of new friends, and multiple paid opportunities to use your creativity, the structure and support of Creative Spaces was just what I needed at this point in my life. Monthly mentoring meetings with the experienced and kind-hearted DJ McDowell, absorption into the non-hierarchical and multi-talented Stove Team, and dedicating two days a week to freelance creative projects until it becomes habit, all have nurtured my creative practice from a tiny seedling hiding under a rock to a sunflower in bloom.
I’ve always been someone who doesn’t know what they want but has a growing list of things they don’t want to be or do. Now, thanks to Creative Spaces, I am (at the advanced age of 26) firmly on the path towards what I want to do, due to the simple yet priceless resource of being given the time and encouragement to think about it. For this, I will always have the amazing Stove Team to thank, so huge love and gratitude to each and every one of you – I promise you’ll not be getting rid of me or my Pam au Latte café order anytime soon!
Written by Sahar El-Hady
Situated in the heart of Dumfries, Creative Spaces collaborates with young creatives from across the region, providing young people with opportunities to engage in the arts. Whether it’s through events, workshops, mentorships, or our annual Associates Programme, we aim to enhance Dumfries and Galloway’s creative scene by offering free access to opportunities and paid commissions.
Korey Patterson, presenting at the Creative Spaces Showcase
We asked our Creative Spaces 23/24 Alumni to reflect on their experience completing the programme. Next up is Korey Patterson, read about his experiences as a spacer below.
Creative Spaces Showcase 2024 – Image by Owen Davies
The Creative Spaces Programme is responsible for igniting my Illustration career. I wouldn’t have otherwise had the time, resources or support network to initiate the beginning steps of becoming a professional freelance Illustrator. It wasn’t my original plan for the outcome of the programme, but it became a necessity for me after realising that illustration was something I could develop into a feasible career path.
My time at The Stove filled me with confidence in my unique abilities and prepared me for working in the Creative freelance world as well as the general business world. I’ve gained necessary experience in fields I didn’t consider relevant before, and I’m very grateful for those opportunities.
Korey drawing a goose for Laurieknowe Primary Pupils
Having the time and funding specifically was one of the most useful elements of the Programme as I am much more considerate to the dedication of personal development and training/practice in Illustration. I have also been given lucrative opportunities for me to utilise my illustration during (and now after Creative Spaces) which has been a direct consequence of being an associate. Without this opportunity, I would have never deemed my skills worthy enough to start a career in Illustration, but now I have solid confidence that I am deserving of a chance to prove I’m the best person for the job.
I heard about the role through word of mouth and I was encouraged to apply from friends and family, the job sounded class and I would have been dispirited if I didn’t get it. But I got selected for an interview which was a fun and great experience. If I was nervous for anything, it was how I was going to get along with my potential colleagues. But that was quickly dispelled during my interview and within the first few weeks working with Sahar, Mia and Martha. It might sound cliche but I genuinely feel like I have made friends out of my colleagues within the Creative Spaces team. From being anxious to know if we’d all click, to having dinner at each others houses, was a natural development that I’m really glad happened but not entirely unexpected giving just how well we worked as a team and the warm and pleasant nature of each of them.
The role is a lot of fun, because of the people you work with but also the type of jobs you’re responsible for whilst working as an associate. Programming events is an electric atmosphere as it starts with just throwing fun and interesting ideas around and trying to not get too excited and ahead of yourself over. Then when you have more serious responsibilities, you have a plethora of people there to guide you through what is expected of you. I felt like, the Creative Spaces team were so keen to all be on the same page all of the time, there were no moments when I felt behind on any projects or that I wasn’t up to speed on anything Mia, Martha and Sahar knew.
Korey sketching Devine Tension for Creative Spaces event – Draw Me Like One of our Dumfries Girls
Surplus to the fixed duties of the Creative Spaces programme, I was frequently giving side tasks and projects to help with from other members of the Stove team. For me, this was a form of encouragement and chance to hone my creative practice within a professional environment. This I feel was a direct response to identifying my personal ambition of developing my Illustration – which was a consequence of being in the Creative Spaces programme and Stove environment. There was a period where I was struggling to overcome the feeling of imposter syndrome which seems natural whilst being amongst so many artists and creatives. However, my mentoring sessions with DJ McDowall gave me the confidence in my abilities and reminded me that my practice is unique to other illustrators. The mentoring sessions are such a valuable asset to the programme and we all benefited from them immensely whilst working at the Stove.
Korey’s Personal Project
My goal before applying was to become a competent freelancer by the end of the programme. Since the position has ended I’ve been commissioned to do live illustration for multiple organisations around the local area. This is something I would have never had the confidence to do before applying to Creative Spaces. I will state that the programme is responsible for these work opportunities which all count toward building Korey Patterson Freelance Illustrator.
Written by Korey Patterson
Situated in the heart of Dumfries, Creative Spacescollaborates with young creatives from across the region, providing young people with opportunities to engage in the arts. Whether it’s through events, workshops, mentorships, or our annual Associates Programme, we aim to enhance Dumfries and Galloway’s creative scene by offering free access to opportunities and paid commissions.
We asked our Creative Spaces 23/24 Alumni to reflect on their experience completing the programme. First up is Martha Ferguson, read about her experiences as a spacer below.
Creative Spaces Showcase 2024 – Image by Owen Davies
Last May, I joined the Creative Spaces programme with Sahar, Korey and Mia; excited yet nervous to throw myself into something completely new. Having appreciated the work of The Stove from afar, I wasn’t sure if I had anything meaningful to offer as someone without a creative practice and with very little knowledge about community arts.
However, during the recruitment process and our induction week, I was reassured that I wasn’t expected in my role to spend 14 hours a week coming up with groundbreaking ideas through blue sky thinking. To my pleasant surprise, I learned that the reality of creative work is that a significant proportion of it is logistics – something that was much more my comfort zone as an ex-paralegal.
What came as the biggest surprise to me, and perhaps the greatest gift I have taken away from my 10 months, is how much I actually enjoyed the parts of the role that initially terrified me. It is precious proof that I can actually be a creator myself and be part of a community that I have deeply admired as a bystander my whole life.
At such an early stage of my creative career in set design, I know how difficult it is to explore your interests and create a practice on your own. On this point, I feel extremely lucky to have been given the opportunity to experiment with and learn from other creatives within the safe realm of community arts. Getting the chance to engage with different parts of the community and through a variety of mediums opened my eyes to types of creative work that I didn’t realise existed and helped me understand what I am passionate about.
I’m glad that we decided from the outset to develop our programme based upon our areas of passion – a decision which felt like a bit of a risk in terms of being as inclusive as possible and catering to the wide range of interests of our target audience. However, it was a risk that ultimately paid off because who wants to attend an event that feels detached from the team that produced it and inauthentic? This lifted what felt like a huge responsibility to engage with and change the lives of every single young person in D&G. I learned after ten months that simply providing a space and time for like-minded people to meet and talk reaped huge benefits in and of itself.
Martha’s Personal Project
Completing a personal project was the part of the Creative Spaces programme that terrified me the most. I remember early last year discussing with my parents the conclusions I had drawn from obsessive online research on the best way to get into art departments within film and TV if you have no production experience – to produce a self-led fictional design project. It acts as a well-rounded portfolio piece that showcases various skills attractive to hiring managers, and skills I unfortunately did not have. I remember how defeated I felt after that conversation knowing that completing a project like that felt so out of reach.
The fact that one year later I can proudly say my personal project achieved this goal of mine is testament to how much my confidence in my own capabilities has grown with the support of Creative Spaces. But also the importance of organisations like The Stove who lend the necessary expertise, funding, time and space to create – a privilege that most aspiring creatives do not have. I often wonder what stage I would be at now if I hadn’t collected these valuable experiences through Creative Spaces or, even scarier, if I would have given up on my dream completely. If I had the power, I would make Creative Spaces a compulsory rite of passage for every young person in D&G as it gives you the freedom to explore different ideas with the necessary support and a level of independence needed to survive in the scary world of work.
Written by Martha Ferguson
Situated in the heart of Dumfries, Creative Spaces collaborates with young creatives from across the region, providing young people with opportunities to engage in the arts. Whether it’s through events, workshops, mentorships, or our annual Associates Programme, we aim to enhance Dumfries and Galloway’s creative scene by offering free access to opportunities and paid commissions.
We chatted to our Creative Spaces Producer Mia ahead of the 23/24 Showcase taking place on the 28th of March. Hear more about the programme, her highlights of what this year’s associates got up to and what you can expect at the showcase!
Q. 1 – Can you give us a very quick summary of what Creative Spaces is?
“Creative Spaces is a collective of young creatives aged sixteen to thirty who work with and advocate for the region’s young artists. We run a development programme every ten months where we hire in three emerging artists that work closely within the project and within the wider Stove.“
Q. 2 – Can you tell us a bit about your role as Creative Spaces Producer?
“So my role basically means that I support the associates throughout the ten months. So, I work with them closely, looking at their goals and their aims and what they want to get out of the programme and then help them develop the programme around that. I’m also there as the link between them as individuals and freelancers, and the Stove as an organisation. I work with them to develop different training and different opportunities that would be good for them as individuals, taking into account their creative practice and what they are like as creative freelancers. But, aside from that, I also work on the development of the programme in general and the engagement between Creative Spaces and lots of different organisations and partners.“
Q. 3 – Who were the CS Associates this year?
“So the 23/24 group of Creative Spaces are: Martha Ferguson, who is a set designer, who works within production design. Sahar El-Hady, who is a theatre-maker and an actor. And, Korey Patterson who is an illustrator and musician.”
Martha FergusonKorey PattersonSahar El-Hady
Q. 4 – What has been your favourite project that CS team have worked on this year?
“So, I think I’ve got two favourites from the year – although it’s really hard to pick because all of the projects have been amazing. One of them was the Muckle Mixer which was a freshers mixer that we did at the Dougie Arms. It was a really really good laugh and it got really really good engagement, and was an overall nice night. Quite different to that, was when we worked with Laurieknowe Primary over four days to delivery a series of small workshops with the primary school pupils around Wild Goose Festival. It was so lovely to work with primary school kids and watch how excited they got about geese!”
Q. 5 – Each of the associates is working on their own personal project that will be presented at the showcase. Can you give us a sneak peek of what they are working on?
“So I kinda want to leave a little bit of mystery, because they’ll be presenting fully what they have been up to at the showcase. But, what I’ll do is give you a couple of words, that I would say, describes what they are doing. So – Sahar: Discourse on immigration. Martha: Dystopian. And Korey: Robert the Bruce.”
Q. 6 – The CS team have been on quite a few adventures this year – where has been your favourite place that you visited?
“So it definitely has to be Bristol! We have been to a lot of really really cool places and seen a lot of amazing organisations, but, Bristol just completely topped it off. We had such a good time! We were so inspired and we left Bristol feeling like there was this new energy and I think it was a real turning point in everyone’s heads about not only what the team could do as individuals, but what Creative Spaces could do as an organisation in Dumfries. So, Bristol! One hundred percent.”
Q. 7 – What has been your highlight with the current round of associates?
“So my highlight has got to be working with such an amazing group of people. And, I mean, I say the same every year but, the team dynamic is always what makes you so energised. Every single person is so different but what they bring to the team is just so harmonious. Working closely with the Creative Spacers over the last ten months has been my highlight. It’s not been one singular instance, it’s been the whole thing!“
Q. 8 – The 23/24 Showcase is on the 28th of March – what can people expect from it?
“So I know the term ‘good vibes’ is usually quite cringe, but, I actually think that the showcase is such good energy. It’s hard to explain – I mean obviously there is the literal explanation which is you are going to see people presenting what they do and what they are about, and it’s a culmination and celebration of young creatives. But, the energy in the room is just always almost meditative. You leave and everyone just feels so good! It’s so empowering, but it’s fun and it’s silly, but also quite laid back. It’s just really quite inspiring. I think everybody leaves with a sense of how we have a really cool thing happening here and let’s just shout about it!”
Q. 9 – And finally – CS will be recruiting the next round of associates later this year – what do you say to someone who is considering applying?
“The first thing I would say is definitely come to the showcase! We don’t put on the showcase specifically for recruitment, it’s not part of the application pack. But, I would say that you can definitely notice people who have come to the showcase in comparison to people that haven’t. They have way more context when it comes to the programme. I think it sets them up in good stead because they can really see what the showcase and Creative Spaces is all about. I think it makes people feel a lot more confident if they are starting the role when they have seen what the last year’s group have done. It also gives the opportunity to ask questions in real life.
That brings me on to the second thing which would be – don’t be afraid to reach out! We’re a really nice group people and we love hearing about people who want to apply and having a chat with folk that have any sort of questions about the application process or about the programme in general.
The third thing would be don’t read the application pack and think ‘oh my goodness, maybe this doesn’t fit with me’. The Creative Spaces programme is so special because it really fits around the individual. The special thing about the past few years is every year has been different and everybody’s individual experiences has been different. Because, we work so closely with the individual through mentoring and through one-to-ones, that we can really adapt what the programme does for you based on your personal needs and goals.”
The Creative Spaces Showcase is taking place from 7:00pm – 10:00pm on Thursday the 28th of March. Hear from guest speakers from Dumfries & Galloway who work in the creative sector, learn more about the Creative Spaces programme and how to get involved and enjoy live performances!
During January, the Creative Spaces team took a trip to Bristol on their final ‘go-see’ trip of the year. The purpose of this trip was to meet with representatives from a variety of creative and cultural organisations in Bristol, particularly those that work with young and emerging creatives. The following article is a round up of their time in Bristol and reflections from the trip.
Korey
Meeting with Rising in Bristol – Watershed Venue
Rising is a Community Interest company and non-profit creative agency. They strive to cater/influence/support young creatives and artists under 30 within the city. With a fundamental goal to make creative facilities more accessible and lucrative for artists, Rising shares a lot of similarities with the Stove Network. The Creative Spaces team had a fun, light hearted conversation with members from the Rising team – Jess, Syd and Euella in their part time workspace – Watershed. We found ourselves relating to each being in a company whose focus is to bring young people in the community to a creative space to socialise, learn and interact.
Being from a smaller town I naturally assumed that Rising had a bigger issue on their hands since their operation was based in the big city. But their obstacles were more or less the same, especially concerning outreach and engagement. It was comforting to know that a city wide organisation doesn’t automatically guarantee anything in terms of the engagement numbers or the progress of development in the relative local creative sector. One thing we bonded on was the phenomena known to Rising as “The Returners”- young creatives who leave for university with the intention of staying away to then return with the desire to change or make a difference in their hometown. The Rising team we met were impressed and inquisitive about the Stove Network and Dumfries and Galloway’s creative output and compared their format with the Stove’s. Rising has what they like to call “Pollinators”, who are creative mentors/tutor/instructors who pollinate the city . The details of the Creative Spaces programme definitely left an impression on them as they were actively taking notes. To go to a meeting such as this was an eyeopener because I almost thought of us (being representatives for The Stove Network) were going to be asking all the questions and looking to them for advice but, instead it was a completely mutual experience where each team got an equal share of useful information and a compulsion to work together at some point.
One aspect of Risings’ format that sparked our interest was their membership system that recruits once a year. We took personal interest in their approach to engaging with their members – having one-to-one mentorship meetings with a member of the Rising staff, invites to exclusive events, and access to Risings own and partnered paid opportunities, most of which would be detailed in their weekly newsletter for members.
Then we wandered over to the Aardman studio building where Martha was scheduled to meet Peter Lord. The rest of us sat blissfully in the lobby where there was so much to look at and admire, such as a genuine Oscar award for Wallace and Gromit: Curse of the Were Rabbit, along with Baftas, Models and figures from Aardman films, and books filled with sketches and rough drafts of storyboards and character designs. The building was very inviting inside and looked like a brilliant place to punch in and out of each day. It was inspiring to think that real people were involved in these very real jobs inside this building and that it’s not in some distant Hollyweird land that appears to be a closed club.
Martha
Aardman Studios Tour
On our first morning, Mia gave me the very exciting news that Peter Lord of Aardman Studios may potentially be able to speak to me as I have an interest in working in Film & TV. I tried not to get my hopes up as he has an incredibly busy schedule… but after staring at my phone all day, I received a call!
We checked out nearby Spike Island as we patiently waited for 4pm to stroll over to Aardman Studio. The lobby was like a mini exhibition in and of itself, with a giant Shaun the Sheep model, a cabinet displaying an Oscar and Bafta trophies, and cartoon office props at the reception desk.
Having a personal tour of the game design office, the various animation studios and even some hot sets by Peter Lord himself was surreal. I was shocked to learn that animators are essentially actors who carefully manipulate the limbs of clay models in response to recordings by the voice actors. I was also shocked to see how many cameras are on set – something that is required to ensure each frame is shot from two positions for 3D productions.
Each location was bursting with memorabilia and original props from sets I grew up watching and confirmed how much I wanted to be part of this world. I had the chance to pick the brains of veteran animators and modellers and discuss everything from their typical day, to the way work processes were being affected by new technologies and AI.
It was particularly refreshing to see how hands on the work is at the studio despite how large scale the productions are. Learning that the analogue methods of stop-motion animation could not be replicated by CG work made me optimistic that the hands-on creative process that drew me to the industry will hopefully be protected.
Sahar
Arnolfini Arts Centre
On the Friday, we went to check out Arnolfini, an international centre of contemporary arts located on the picturesque harbourside. We started off by looking around the exhibition they had on, ‘Eregata’ by Ethiopian artist Elias Sime. There was a vast installation of ceramics and a lot of his art incorporated found objects, electrical parts and discarded wires woven into large tapestries and 3D sculptures.
Martha and I then joined in with a weekly Women’s Craft Club held at Arnolfini in partnership with Bristol Refugee Festival. We enjoyed a chilled out time making jewellery with women from lots of different backgrounds, each absorbed in their own craft project.
The team then met with Keiko Higashi, Head of Engagement, in the cafe at Arnolfini and talked about what we get up to at The Stove. It was great to see the strengths of the Creative Spaces program through her eyes and be able to discuss different strategies on a level pegging with someone who had so much professional experience.
She shared a bit with us about what she does in her role and the history of the building. She talked about the challenge she is currently working on – diversifying their exhibitions. They have a huge amount of foot traffic in the building but their actual engagement is much less when you discount people coming in to use the cafe/toilets as not everyone is there to interact with the exhibition. It was really interesting to hear about challenges from her perspective of having a huge building in the middle of the hustle and bustle of a city centre, and it made me reflect on the similarities and differences with our reality at home.
After our morning at the art centre, we went to the nearby Bristol Old Vic, which is the English speaking world’s oldest continuously working theatre. They had an fun interactive exhibition on sound design for theatre, Foley art, and the use of analog tools in theatre to create gunshots and other sound effects. I liked the way they designed the exhibition, with interactive displays, buttons on the wall you could press to hear audio recordings of actors doing vocal warm ups, and machines you could use to make rain and thunder sounds. It made it feel like we were backstage designing the sound effects for a show!
In our free time we walked around St Nicholas market, saw a bit of street art, and walked to Millennium Square for a Wallace & Gromit themed escape room, ‘The Great Escape’. We also got to visit a cool area of Bristol called Stokes Croft and sat in The Canteen, a venue that has free live music and locally sourced vegan food.
Last Day
We did a heritage walk around the streets of Bristol city centre, viewing some of the iconic street art, graffiti and murals, and stopping in to see the cathedral and the historic Bristol Central Library. We visited a board game cafe on the Christmas Steps for some inspiration for the Vennel, and finished off our trip by touring some charity shops and the Bristol Museum.
On reflection, visiting Bristol was inspiring and motivating as we were each left with a positive sense of envy. To bring what a place like Bristol has to Dumfries feels achievable. It was great to see positive spaces being held for young creatives to connect with each other. With a renewed motivation from our trip, we feel we can bring more vibrancy and youth-led creativity to our town.
By our 23/24 Creative Spaces Team Korey, Martha & Sahar.
The 2024 Creative Spaces Showcase is taking place on the 28th of March! Keep an eye on the CS socials for updates.
