Gallery News

Mon 26th October 2009

Community Craft Initiative Scoops Major Lottery Award

The Directors of West Kilbride Community Initiative Limited WKCIL were absolutely delighted this week when the Big Lottery announced their decision to award £870,560 from the Growing Community Assets programme towards the  development of the former Barony Church into a cutting edge Craft Centre.  After over a year of planning and meticulous preparation by the Barony Project Team, the Lottery Committee recognised the quality of the scheme and the inspiration it would be both locally and nationally by approving one of the largest grants made in Scotland.  This award provides significant recognition for the outstanding application, the imaginative development of the building and the enormous community benefit which the planned  activities will be able to provide.

The application was prepared by Craft Development Manager, Maggie Broadley, who was praised for her dogged determination to succeed in achieving a grant from the Big Lottery. Known for her commitment to West Kilbride, Maggie’s professional background in craft work gave insight, breadth and depth to the application but the perseverance and foresight  of local people were the inspiration behind the vision. Dedicated to making West Kilbride a better place to live work and visit, this initiative has been led by local residents, people with a passionate belief in the regeneration of  their  small rural town.

Maggie said of her five years working alongside the WKCIL. "No one could help but be inspired by the spirit of everyone involved, these people are true heroes who aren’t just content to sit back and watch the community die.  The support given since I came here in 2004 has been tremendous"

The actual design of the building was influenced by local resident and nationally renowned architect Angus Kerr and the completed building will provide a magnet of interest across Scotland.  The elevated studio pods will stand proudly above a spacious exhibition area and the completed piece will be a fitting next step in the journey of this much loved building.  There is no doubt that the community owned building has been saved by this initiative.

Developments are already underway and will be established when the building is completed.  Steps are being taken to engage many groups in the planning of activities and in managing the Centre.  The purpose built facilities will take Craft Town Scotland to a new level and will involve highly renowned crafters exhibiting their work, and leading workshops with the very youngest to the very oldest members of our communities.  It is intended to attract visitors from many areas and local transport is readily available both by bus and train.  Plans are also being discussed for further parking for cars and coaches.

Eddie Wood, Chairperson of WKCIL said “There is still work to be done to secure the match funding but the Directors believe the development of this Centre will play a significant part in securing the long term future of the village. I would like to thank everyone who has supported us, with special mention to our local fundraisers.”

The Barony Centre will provide a national and local focus and will increase interest in the town for the already established craft studios and local traders.  No one is being complacent about the challenges ahead but as local groups network together, and complement each others activities, the future is definitely growing and glowing.

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Thu 24th September 2009

craftscotland Launches 'C' Word Campaign

Today saw the launch of the 'C' Word campaign, a highly ambitious marketing campaign conceived by Emma Walker, Chief Executive of craftscotland, which aims to raise the profiles of makers and their craft, and to encourage potential craft buyers to become craft supporters. A diverse range of makers from around Scotland are participating in the campaign, with many featured in a high profile cinema advert.

craftscotland was set up in 2003 as a Scottish Arts Council project to support the designers, makers and craftspeople of Scotland.

In September 2008 it became an independent organisation and received Scottish charitable status. It has a growing team of permanent staff based in the heart of Edinburgh city centre, and a board of craft and business experts.

As an audience development agency it has two primary functions.

1. To support and work with craft-related businesses from across all areas of Scotland. 

2. To engage with new audiences and to ensure that every person, no matter what their background, status or disposable income, can engage with Scottish contemporary craft.

Emma Walker, Cheif Executive, joined craftscotland in October 2008 from Arts About Manchester, where she focused on audience  development for the North West of England as well as supporting arts organisations in future business planning and creative thinking.

She has worked on a range of diverse projects including In Touch (a project focused on improving access to cultural organisations for Deaf and Disabled people), Revealing Histories:  Remembering Slavery (the Greater Manchester response to the Bicentenary of the Abolition of the British Slave Trade Act) and Open City (a project working with groups of people who do not currently attend cultural events).

Emma describes the motivation behind the 'C' Word launch.

"When I arrived at craftscotland, almost a year ago to the day, I realised very quickly that the contemporary craft sector in Scotland wanted to get involved with new and innovative projects, but a lack of another C word, namely confidence, was standing in the way.

Within the first few weeks I had spoken to over a hundred makers who were brilliantly talented, highly creative and ambitious for their futures. However, every conversation I had with them was about the long-debated question “What is Craft?” – a question asked time and time again in industry research. I had been in the sector three weeks and I was already frustrated and bored of the debate.

The final straw was when I read the transcripts from a recent consultation group where makers talked of, and I quote, ‘turning their back on The C Word’. Call me naïve, but I couldn't believe what I was reading. There I was, sitting in my office in Edinburgh worrying about my Grandma who had recently been diagnosed with cancer, the most vicious of C words. The world was hurtling towards a recession and the newspapers were full of two c words, credit and crunch. The only C Word that made me feel invigorated and energised was craft, and here were makers – crafters – talking of removing themselves from the connotations of it.

And that's when The C Word was born. Craft, contrary to popular belief or the tired and lacklustre marketing campaigns that so often surround it, is one of the most urgent of art forms. It demands attention - and from now on it's going to get it. We want to inject confidence into the sector, raise the profile of makers and their craft, and encourage the potential buyers to become craft supporters.

The contemporary craft sector has many faces – affordable and aspirational, functional and curatorial, a weekend shopping spree or an investment piece. However one thing remains the same – The C Word is most definitely craft.”

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Sat 29th August 2009

Ministerial Visit Supports Local Developments (i)

West Kilbride Initiative Board gained welcome interest and support from Scottish Government Minister Michael Russell  when he paid a visit to the Village Gallery, Craft Studios and Barony on Saturday morning.  Mr Russell is responsible for Culture, External Affairs and the Constitution.  He has a particular interest in the arts and was yet again impressed by the quality of the new craft exhibition and the work of resident crafters.

 

The visit comes at a significantly important time.  All local residents and traders are being leafleted to ask for regular donations to support the village regeneration which has resulted from the many and varied Initiative projects.  Without this financial support from the community then developments will suffer and the progress gained so far would be significantly reduced.

 

Accompanied by local MSP Kenneth Gibson, Minister for Culture Michael Russell complimented the Initiative Board on their enterprising outlook and the standards they had achieved.

 

Maggie Broadley, Craft Town Manager, was pleased to inform the Minister that North Ayrshire Council had granted planning permission for the daring refurbishment of the  Barony into a cutting edge craft exhibition space with education workshop areas. After submitting a detailed application to the Big Lottery in May, an assessment visit took place in July. The bid will now go forward to the Lottery Committee at the end of October and it is hoped that success will be found here also.

Image by Stuart Nimmo, Professional Photographer

Left to right: Elenora Prentice (Gallery Volunteer), Kay Hall (Chair Environment al Group/ Craft Town Committee), Jean Kerr (Gallery Volunteer/ Craft Town Committee), Kenneth Gibson MSP, Michael Russell MSP (Minister for Culture, External Affairs and the Constitution), Maggie Broadley (Craft Development Manager ) Ronnie Bell (WKCIL Treasurer)

Sat 29th August 2009

Minister Visit Supports Local Developments (ii)

During his visit to West Kilbride Scottish Government Minister Michael Russell was particularly keen to meet some of the local people who have benefited from living and working in West Kilbride. 

Lorna Reid, “Chookiebirdie”, opened her Studio and Gallery in the Main Street of West Kilbride in late 2007.  Lorna designs and hand produces her collection of contemporary home accessories and gifts.

“I have been a self employed textile designer since I graduated from the Scottish College of Textiles in Galashiels with a degree in Printed Textile Design in 1992. For 15 years I worked in printed surface design - and had a successful career specialising in swimwear and childrenswear. My bold Hawaiian style floral prints were especially popular in USA and Japan and I sold to a range of clients including Pringle - Scotland, Jones - New York and Louis Vuitton – Paris.”

The Minister and his wife were very interested to hear how Lorna and her husband had come to live in West Kilbride, attracted by the vibrant and positive community spirit in the village.

“My husband and I moved to West Kilbride in the summer of 2003. We were attracted by the vibrant and positive community spirit in the village as an ideal place to bring up our young family and particularly given  my career the focus on craft and design.

The Craft Town Initiative has since given me the opportunity to develop my career providing me with the space, support and resources to establish myself as a designer/maker – which was a long held career ambition.

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Sat 15th August 2009

Graduate Focus at The Gallery

Our latest exhibition at the gallery opens on Saturday 22nd of August and features the work of three of this summer's graduates from Scotland's Art Schools.

Elaine Scobie

Jewellery

Elaine graduated from the Glasgow School of Art with a BA honours in silversmithing and jewellery.

"My initial idea for the work was carried on from two pieces that I had included in an exhibition that we had at the art school in third year. All the jewellery in this exhibition was designed to relate to the heading Glimpses. The inspiration for these was taken from photograph off-cut strips that I discovered one day whilst developing pictures. I was amazed at the volume of colour ,detail and texture that I found in each strip. Also each strip was personal to the individual whose pictures they came from. This provided an insight into the lives of these people and I thought it seemed appropriate to use this as an idea for the Glimpses project."

Gill Ross

Illustration & Jewellery

Gill graduated from the Jewellery and Metal Design Department of Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design, Dundee.

"A passion for drawing has given my work a strong illustrative quality. Often I am struck by traditional architecture and how its quirky characteristics vary from place to place. Using photography, drawing and painting, I aim to capture the characteristics of these kooky buildings such as the subtle markings on weathered stones.

Translating these drawings and paintings into jewellery, etching allows for me to draw directly onto the metal and use of enamel gives my work hints of colour, relating these pieces back to my paintings."

Juliet Buchanan-Jardine

Printed Textiles

Juliet graduated from Edinburgh College of Art in 2009

"After working at Chelsea Harbour Design Centre in London last summer, I have been inspired by all the high-end companies such as Romo, Cole and Son and Zoffany, by the style and elegance of their prints.

My degree collection is a variety of wallpapers and fabrics aimed at the high end of the interior furnishing market for both city and country homes."

Gillian Rae

Ceramics

Gillian graduated from the Ceramics Department of the Glasgow School of Art.  Sadly this departmet is being closed by GSA Manangement, which will leave Scotland without a dedicated Ceramics degree course.

Her work focuses on multiples using a combination of ceramic techniques.

The show also features work from established makers Helaina Sharpley and Ruth E Jones.

Helaina Sharpley

Wirework

Helaina Sharpley is a designer-maker producing elegant 2D and 3D wire sculptures/illustrations. After graduating from Herefordshire College of Art and Design, with a BA (honours) degree in Design Crafts, in 2006, Helaina returned home and now works from her studio in Wakefield, West Yorkshire.

"I have always liked a nice cup of tea! However, it wasn't until I started my degree course, that I realised I had such a passion verging on obsession, for everything tea related. I believe tea is a drink for every occasion, from a homely, comforting cuppa, to a proper English afternoon tea. Therefore every tea set every mug or cup and saucer can tell a different tale. I began looking into the Victorian and Edwardian eras, when tea drinking was a refined and elegant occasion."

Ruth Jones

Ceramics

"I live and work in Dumfries & Galloway, South West Scotland where I produce sculptural and hand-thrown ceramics. I am also a lecturer and community artist.

Hand-thrown Range I also produce and range of historically inspired thrown forms. Hand-thrown on a traditional kick wheel this range reflects my interest in historical ceramics. Decorated with specially prepared brightly coloured earthenware glazes"

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Sat 18th July 2009

Festival Exhibition Opening

    We are delighted to feature the work of one of Scotland's respected artists, Sandy Murphy

“From his home and studio in West Kilbride Sandy pursues an intensely single-minded passion for paint and its involvement in his visual response to his native Ayrshire landscape. A pupil of Robertson, Shanks and Rae at Glasgow, Sandy’s richly textured oils have clear antecedents in Ghillies and Eardley. His intimate, carefully considered works stand comparison with the best works of both these masters of Scottish painting.”

 

Sandy Murphy is a contemporary Scottish artist and was born in Ayrshire, Scotland in 1956. He studied at Glasgow School of Art from 1976 until 1980, when he graduated with an honours degree. He completed a teacher training course and taught in Ayrshire schools until 1985. At this point he took the decision to paint professionally, full time.

 

Since turning his back on teaching, he has had numerous solo exhibitions in galleries across Scotland and England. These include Roger Billcliffe Fine Art Gallery, Glasgow, Panter and Hall, London, Waterford Gallery, Hale, Gatehouse Gallery, Glasgow, Open Eye Gallery, Edinburgh, Thompsons Gallery, London, John Davies Fine Art, Stow-on-the-Wold. Other galleries in which he has exhibited include Flying Colours, London, Frames Gallery, Perth, Lemon Tree Gallery, Cornwall and Walker Gallery, Harrogate.

 

He was elected to the Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolours (RSW) in 1996 and the Royal Glasgow Institue of the Fine Arts (RGI) in 2000.

 

Ceramics is represented by Julia Smith and Cambellfirth, with jewellery by Anne de Ville

 

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Mon 1st June 2009

Craft Curators Networking Visit to Cove Park

Maggie Broadley, CTS Craft Development Manager, visited Cove Park as part of the Scottish Arts Council’s  Craft Curators Network.  The network offers opportunities for professionals in the visual and applied arts, working in curatorial, education and developmental roles, to extend their professional practice and exchange ideas.

Maggie was pleased to catch up with two fellow graduates from the Ceramics Department at the Glasgow School of Art, Dawn Yuille who is one of the Cove Park artists in residence  and Katy West who will take over as Craft Officer at the Scottish Arts Council whilst Claire Hanna is on leave. 

Dawn graduated in 1999 and worked in the film and television industry before returning to complete an MA in Ceramics at the International Ceramics Centre at Cardiff School of Art and Design in 2007-8..  Katy also graduated in 1999 and went on to further study in 2005, completing the Masters of Art course at the Royal College of Art from 2007

Cove Park is situated on a 50-acre site overlooking Loch Long on the Rosneath peninsula. Located on the fringes of the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park, the peninsula is an area of outstanding natural beauty.

The site itself has a varied history. Initially farm land, it was used during the Second World War to store ammunition. Subsequently it became a conservation park, dedicated to the preservation of indigenous plants, flowers and wildlife. Cove Park maintains these environmental concerns: the site is home to highland for wild orchids and other native plants.

Cove Park's 2009 programme begins in May and continues until November. The  programme is particularly wide-ranging, including innovative work across all visual, performing and literary forms. Cove Park offer up to ten residencies at any one time and these residencies may last from one week to three months.

Invited artists are given the time, space and freedom to concentrate on the development of their work. Cove Park provides a supportive context in which artists can devise new projects, experiment and engage with artists working in different fields or with different approaches to their practice.

 

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Fri 29th May 2009

Naeve Brannan - Determined to Succeed

Maggie Broadley, Craft Development Manager, is delighted to offer a week long Gallery Assistant placement to local  pupil Naeve Brannan. 

Craft Town Scotland is working alongside the Ayrshire Chamber of Business and Commerce, who have been organising placements for local secondary school pupils in businesses throughout Ayrshire as part of the Determined to Succeed campaign.

The campaign aims to help inspire future generations of employees, employers, business leaders and entrepreneurs by instilling an enterprising attitude in today's young people. Through Determined to Succeed, the Scottish Government's strategy for developing enterprise in education and More Choices, More Chances, the strategy to reduce the number of young people not in education, employment or training, organisations can get involved with young people, giving them the skills and drive to create a smarter, wealthier and fairer Scotland. 

"The Scottish Chamber of Commerce are delighted to be working with Determined to Succeed to help develop the skills of our young people. I hope that schools and businesses utilise every possible opportunity to introduce new ways of engaging, making it exciting and worthwhile to all. Through partnership working with employers our young people and educational staff will become more aware and informed of the job opportunities and skill requirements needed to succeed”

Liz Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Chamber of Commerce.

Naeve will spend time in the gallery and craft studios and will be coming along with Maggie on some inspirational ‘craft’ visits.  We’ll let you know how she gets on at the end of next week!

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Fri 8th May 2009

Barony Centre Development Update

The Barony Project Team has been working extremely hard over the last six months and, as a result,the plans to develop the Barony Centre have moved on considerably.

• Working closely with CEiS  consultants, a full business plan has been completed. This followed WKCIL's successful application to "Aspire to Enterprise",  a new Scottish Executive programme providing a range of Business Support Services to ambitious, developing social enterprises in Lowland Scotland. The programme offers access to development support to organisations with the drive and potential to increase their trading and become more sustainable social enterprises. 
• Assist Architects was commissioned to work with the Barony Project Team on the development of a full Stage D Design Proposal, a prerequisite of major capital applications to BIG Lottery Growing Community Assets. ASSIST Architects Ltd is a co-operatively run Architectural Practice with over 30 years experience in Sustainable Design, Social Housing and Community Regeneration. The report was completed at the beginning of April and contained full Architectural Design (including Drawings and Plans), M & E Engineering Report, C & S Engineering Report, Cost Report and Project Programme.
• A significant amount of time was spent by the Craft Development Manager on working up the full written application to BIG Lottery, with information from the original Barony Centre Feasibility Study, the Community Consultation and Business Plan feeding in to the final draft.  WKCIL received guidance  throughout this process by our Lottery Application Support Officer.  The application and all supporting documents were submitted on the 5th May.  The next stage in the process is an assessment visit, after which time the decision will be made as to whether the Barony Centre application will be recommended for consideration by BIG Lottery Committee.

WKCIL is committed to developing the Barony Centre as a flagship project which will benefit our community and the wider North Ayrshire community - exciting times!

Sat 7th March 2009

Spring Exhibition Opens

  

Craft Town Scotland celebrated the start of this year’s gallery exhibition programme with a range of distinctive work from three ‘new to the gallery’ makers and regular exhibitors

Sheila Barr

Kiln Formed Glass

Sheila Barr was born in Glasgow and studied Architectural Glass at Edinburgh College of Art.

Since graduating in 2006, Sheila designs and makes contemporary , kiln formed pieces from her workshop on the Isle of Arran. Working with handblown English Antique Glass, Sheila uses the range of vibrant colours to convey the varying light and colour seen in the surrounding landscape throughout the year, and works to express the mood and atmosphere of the island.

Emma Boxall-Gray

Jewellery

Enthused by my portfolio I am inspired by the free flowing energy my drawings contain. I am fascinated by the ongoing construction work of surrounding building sites and how they encapsulate an industrial quality. Experimenting with mono-printing, collaging and spray painting has allowed me to capture their qualities and translate their lines into my own work.

Caroline Nash

Ceramics

Caroline Nash is a contemporary crafts person who works in a variety of different materials. Caroline is inspired by her childhood. Spending a lot of time in and out of the garden with her mother, learning to sew with her grandmother, elements of every day life are her inspiration.

Fiona McIntosh

Graphics/ Drawing & Painting

Fiona Macintosh is a local artist and art therapist.

Her work tells of her relation to the surrounding land, sea and skies. She paints with almost unseeing spontaneity, to provide a depth of layers that over time gradually evolve until reaching a point of resolution.

Other work on show includes ceramics, glass platters, jewellery, leather bags & purses, textiles and wirework.

Gallery opening hours: Tuesday to Saturday 10am till 4 pm