Fife Contemporary Art & Craft PROGRAMME
ARTISTS’ SPACE
Annual Report 2014-15
TREAT STORE
Exhibitions & Projects FCA&C organised 7 exhibitions which were visited by 27,713 people Toby Paterson, GENERATION Opened in Kirkcaldy Galleries and was toured to 3 partner venues in Inverness, Peebles & Dumfries. The exhibition was seen by a total of 17,172. Artist Kyle Noble was appointed as an SCVO Creative Intern to work with Fife College ‘Young Curators’ on interpretation for the exhibition. Craft Generation Opened at St Andrews Museum and toured to Paisley Museum from late March 2014. It is still currently on tour and by the end of March had been seen by 2,602.
3 exhibitions took place in St Andrews Town Hall - Anton Beaver, Going the Distance,
Kirsty Lorenz, Flowering on the Edge of the World, and treat Store display. They were viewed by 2,100 visitors. Portraits + Was shown in Kirkcaldy Galleries and was seen by 4,687 visitors. >erasure, Kevin Reid Was organised in St Andrews Town Hall for StAnza Poetry Festival 2015 and was visited by 1,152 people.
“Really great exhibition – thanks for organising – please organise more.” Toby Paterson GENERATION at Kirkcaldy Galleries
treat & Craft Development FCA&C had a busy & exciting year working with contemporary craft artists: treat Store online opened its virtual doors, Autumn 2014 A carefully curated group of objects by 10 Scottish makers were featured in FCA&C’s first treat Store selection. Other treat events 2 special events were held after the website launch, attended by 220, and including a pre-Christmas Craft with Coffee Crawl! Culture Label The Scottish Collection continued to flourish on Culture Label’s website with the work of 5 Fife-based makers being featured (Gavin Burnett, Jane Keith, Kirsty Stewart, Syrah Jay, Claire Corstorphine). Craft Pod Tour 2014-15 The Craft Pods toured to 4 Fife libraries with a display of bespoke shoes by London shoemakers, carréducker, and was seen by 24,588 visitors. Meet Your Maker 2 MYM events were organised in partnership with Craft Scotland and featured 4 artists who were participating in the Craft Generation exhibition (Dawn Youll, Archie McCall, Andrew Lamb, Dorothy Hogg). They were attended by 51 visitors.
“Good to see something a bit different in the library.” Craft Pods Tour 2014-15 at Rosyth Library
Support to artists Supporting artists in Fife and beyond continued to be a key aspect of FCA&C’s work in 2014-15. CPD events for artists 5 events were organised - annual Artists’ Forum, Mentoring Training Day, Cultural Enterprise Cascade Workshop, Craft Generation Symposium, and Meet the Artist Kevin Reid during StAnza 2015. These were attended by 98. Newsflashes 54 newsflashes were sent out to a mailing list which grew to 602 by the end of March 2015. A new format for these was designed to start going out at the same time as the new website was launched. Artists’ Grants A total of 22 artists’ grants were made, plus 2 First Steps and 1 Next Steps’ awards. These are co-funded by Creative Scotland, Fife Council & Fife Cultural Trust, and administered by FCA&C with Fife Cultural Trust. General advice FCA&C was contacted by 62 artists from Fife and beyond for advice on a wide variety of artistic matters.
“Well done to everyone involved - thanks for another great forum. Very inspiring as always! .” Artist from Lochgelly on 2014 Artist Forum, Rothes Halls, Glenrothes
Participatory & educational events FCA&C organised people
370
21 participatory and educational events, attended by
Toby Paterson GENERATION events 17 events took place throughout the Kirkcaldy showing and subsequent tour, attended by 311 visitors. These included 11 workshops to students from Beath High School (Fife) and 5 Borders’ High Schools, Fife College, Borders College and Inverness College attended by 182; and 6 public workshops and talks attended by 129. A Head Start Summer School The successful summer school was held for the third (and last) time at Balmungo near St Andrews. 11 senior pupils from 9 Fife high schools attended with 3 artists leading the event. Weather Project ‘An Audience with Graham Smith’, the weather forecast-collecting inspiration behind Thomson & Craighead’s commissioned work ‘Six Years of Mondays’, was the final event of this project. Held at Lochgelly Centre, it was attended by 18. Craft Generation In addition to the 2 Meet Your Maker events, a jewellery workshop was led by Scarlett Erskine in St Andrews Museum, attended by 11. Forgan Arts Centre The Director gave a talk to members of Forgan Arts Centre, Newport on Tay, attended by 16.
Information Services & Digital The major digital development of 2014-15 was the launch in October of a new website, including the online treat Store. Website In the 6 months since its launch, website traffic has doubled to 16,833 visits which surpassed the original target of 14,400. Unlike the old site, this one has been designed to be fully compatible with mobile devices Email Marketing In addition to the existing artists’ newsflashes, regular Programme and treat news bulletins, linked to website content, have been started, so far gaining an extra 117 signups. Social Media Social media followers and actions have also seen an increase since the new website’s launch - Facebook 1,132 followers (approx total annual reach is 36,648, of which approx 25,560 relates to the 6 months following the launch of the new website) and Twitter 984. Instagram was also started. St Andrews Town Hall arts board When the space is not being used for a project outcome, the art board is regularly changed with local and national information.
“I really enjoy Newsflash, an amazing range of opportunities, must take quite a bit of work to pull it together. ” Newsflash recipient
FCA&C Staff Team Diana Sykes (Director) Devises programme, fundraising, liaision with outside organisations Susan Davis (Programme Manager) Administers programme, artists’newsflashes / mailing list, website, design, press/social media Arlene Keddie (Administrator) Finance, general mailing lists, office management Jane Gowans (treat Project Officer) Develops & manages all treat events including the online shop On maternity leave until Nov 2015; replaced by Beth Lamont Find us at FCA&C Town Hall, Queen’s Gardens St Andrews, KY16 9TA T 01334 474610 /F 01334 749880 E mail@fcac.co.uk / www.fcac.co.uk Usual office hours: Mon-Frid 9.30am-5pm Photos courtesy the artists, FCA&C staff, Jane Barlow, Julian Davis, Chris Park, Erika Stevenson, What Kristen Saw
Looking forward In October 2014, FCA&C was delighted to receive regular funding from Creative Scotland to run until 31 March 2018. This crucial support allows FCA&C to continue delivering an exciting range of high quality craft and visual art activities with partners across Fife, creating stability for FCA&C to plan for the future, and develop even more ambitious exhibitions, artist residencies and the ‘treat’ branded craft retail outlet. Creative engagement activities with schools and many community groups across Fife are specifically designed to broaden access to, and develop audiences for, high quality contemporary art & craft in the region. FCA&C has also developed support for the artists who are at the heart of its work - the unique artists’ network will keep building much appreciated professional development opportunities through advice, information and networking events.
Coming Up....
- A2B Robert Callender: collaborative exhibition at the Scottish Fisheries Museum of work by the late Kinghorn-based artist - Methilhill Community Garden Residency: artist Claire Briegel appointed to work with staff & children at Methilhill; in partnership with MCCI & Common Good Food - Heat Exchange 2: international enamel exhibition at St Andrews Museum, in partnership with Craft in the Bay, Cardiff