Author: Susan Davis

Annie Lord’s Ecology Centre Residency

My mini artist’s residency, supported by Fife Contemporary, has sadly come to an end. Over spring and summer, I had the opportunity to spend time onsite – at first getting to know the people who work or volunteer here, or in some cases both! Latterly I returned to run printmaking and drawing workshops. I was so inspired by the beautiful artwork that was produced that I decided to turn them into something celebratory – to honour the vibrant community of the Ecology Centre.

So, I had the artwork made into a textile (at the Centre for Advanced Textiles, Glasgow), and spent the next few days sewing together metres and metres of flag bunting. Each individual piece was made by someone who attended a workshop or one of the volunteer groups at the Ecology Centre. They depict the animals and plants of the local landscape – tadpoles, frogs, coots, elder leaves, the rings of a tree and the earth itself.

On a Saturday at the end of July, the bunting had its first outing at the Ecology Centre’s Beach Day on Kinghorn beach. The bunting flapped in the sea breeze as people gathered to go rock-pooling, made monoprints and created sand sculptures. I hope that for years to come, this bunting will be hung out at celebrations and community events. Some of the fabric was also used to create a set of weighted beanbags – perfect for playing games with and another way to celebrate the brilliant patterns and textures created on the workshops.

The landscape of the Ecology Centre provided a rich source of inspiration, with so much to see and draw! From now on, visitors to the Ecology Centre can borrow an activity kit which will provide the tools you need to creatively explore the site. Each kit contains a handmade notebook, a viewfinder, a ‘Discovery Drawing’ guide and art materials. All of this is packaged up in a beautiful tote bag printed by one of the volunteers at the Ecology Centre. It’s the perfect way for children to spend some time engaging with nature and playing with new techniques. Kits can be borrowed from reception. We can’t wait to see what you create – please share any photos with the Ecology Centre and Fife Contemporary (Facebook/Instagram @fifecontemp @theecologycentre, and Twitter @fifecontemp @theecology_1 with #kinghornloch).

It has been such a pleasure to get to spend time at the Ecology Centre and I am looking forward to returning as a visitor to sit and sketch in the grounds and enjoy this wonderful place. A big thank you to everyone who came along to a workshop, and in particular to the volunteers who helped put together the kits.

In conversation with Cerys Williams

Cerys Williams is a young jeweller, based in Methil, Fife. She was awarded a Creative Scotland Youth Arts Fund Bursary with Fife Contemporary earlier this year. Programme Manager, Susan Davis, caught up with her recently to find out how she was getting on.

SD         Why did you apply for a Youth Arts Fund Bursary?

CW        My teacher at school told me about the Youth Arts Bursary. I left Levenmouth Academy in 2020 and during lockdown was making jewellery from my home. I did a lot of copper wire jewellery, giving it to friends and family. I wanted to give it a go and see and if I could find a way to make an income from my jewellery-making.

SD         Have you always enjoyed doing art and craft activities?

CW        Yes, I’ve always enjoyed doing that kind of thing, for as long as I can remember.  I was one of these kids that drew on the walls! I also like drawing but couldn’t see myself doing it as a job, but would like to keep drawing more as a hobby. Jewellery-making was what I was particularly attracted to.

SD         What are you looking forward to doing as part of the Bursary?

CW        I’ve already done a short course with Alana Peden (East Nook Studio), making 3 rings and a pendant in silver, which was great. We were in a small group of 4. As part of the Bursary, I’ve also just received lot of new equipment, suggested to me by Alana, and also Stefanie Cheong (Fife Contemporary’s Artist Development Officer who is also a jeweller). I’ve now got things like a small blow-torch, hammers, a saw, heat blocks, so I can do cutting and soldering.  I’m very excited to try it all out! Looking forward to experimenting with the new equipment and skills – I will be doing further courses as part of the Bursary, and will then have a better idea of what other things I want to learn.

SD         What would you like to be doing in a years’ time (so after the Bursary ends)?

CW        I enjoy learning new skills and would hope to have a small online shop ultimately where I can sell my jewellery from and have a source of income from it. It’s nice to have total freedom for a bit to see what I want to do.

Cerys will be working on this project till early 2023 and we look forward to catching up with her again in a few months’ time to see how she’s progressing!

Annie Lord – Ecology Centre Mini Residency, 2022

In the early days of spring, I begin work on my mini-residency for the Ecology Centre in Kinghorn. This role is supported by Fife Contemporary and will result in the creation of a new artwork for the centre. As an artist, my work focuses on the relationships between people, place and nature and so this is a wonderful chance to work somewhere which embodies those principles. I won’t be working on this commission alone; the many people who work, visit and volunteer at the Ecology Centre will be involved every step of the way. It is a creative activity which involves many hands, minds and viewpoints. My role is to weave these threads together to capture some of the spirit and purpose of the Ecology Centre.

The first phase of my residency is spending time getting to know the site, and the people within it. Each time I return there is something new to be seen, spurred on by the arrival of spring. One day a clutch of goslings come skittering across the loch, flanked by honking parents. The leaves of the sycamores rapidly unfurl into soft handkerchiefs, creating a canopy of green in the wooded areas. The daffodils die back and are replaced by bluebells. And in amongst it all, the staff and volunteers of the Ecology Centre are busy, busy, busy. In the tool shed, shears are brought back to shining sharpness, in the kitchen, caramel is bubbling, and scones are being prepared for the weekend. Groups of children arrive for Easter camps, and I join them round the bonfire for a marshmallow.

A few weeks later I begin running workshops. I work with two of the existing assisted volunteer groups, leading printmaking sessions where we produce beautiful prints of the animals and plants around the centre. Over the course of an hour or so, inky swans, coots, tadpoles and frogs start to appear on the page, the fingerprints of the individual makers leaving delicate traces on the paper.

Later I run a workshop which is open to the public. We spend the morning making mini notebooks and then sketching outdoors. We are lucky enough to have a clear, warm day. In retrospect we could have spent longer exploring all the beautiful spots around the site, but I, ever in waiting for rain, have prepared a whole host of activities to carry on with indoors! The group work with monoprinting, stencils and carbon paper to build up a richly textured set of images. The whole time we are working my mind is whirring with possibilities for these artworks. We talk about printing onto fabric, of making banners and screens that you can weave in and out of. It’s a brilliant day, attended by a wonderfully open and engaged group of families, teenagers and adults who are just getting back into creative work.

And now I am sitting, surrounded by all the incredible work made by volunteers and workshop attendees, pondering my next steps.

Time to Reflect, Diana Sykes

After 34 years working for the Crawford Arts Centre/ Fife Contemporary, it’s time to look back and look forward. Staying with one organisation for most of one’s career is very unusual within the arts but the experience has been one of fairly constant evolution and change rather than stasis.  Less unusually, life and work have been intertwined.

Starting and Sustaining

My undergraduate research led to my role as the guinea pig student curator at the recently created university art centre in St Andrews which I subsequently returned to as Director. The centre had then just become independent of the university which equated in many respects with being poorer and more insecure. As it had emerged out of a battle over the value and place of culture however, the team started with a fierce determination to maintain and develop the quality programming. A certain stubbornness and conviction have then supported the organisation through further challenges. Although vulnerable through its small scale, the accompanying flexibility and nimbleness allowed it to survive beyond expectation. Continual hard work and an ability to change have secured essential public funding – most significantly when the Scottish Arts Council and Fife Council yet again showed confidence in major organisational change to pioneer delivering a programme free of a venue. Developing direct and special relationships with artists across Fife as well as the public has been a welcome result.

Artists and makers

While my historically-based art and museum training focused on objects, my career has been more about working with the artists and makers who have created the exhibits. An altogether more complex, sometimes demanding but enriching experience. I’ve always been conscious that my work exists because of the artist’s – it’s their reputation and ideas being exposed. Balancing the artist’s ambition to present their work in the best possible way, with the limitations of our and our partners’ resources, can create tensions. I apologise to artists for any tetchiness they experienced … Balancing the occasional stress, my career highlights have come from experiencing the work and insights of exceptional artists and makers from the local to the international.  

Curation

Curation is a term which has grown in meaning and stature within (and beyond) cultural fields. When I started out, it was restricted to describing the care of museum objects; but it then superseded ‘research and selection’ to encompass the tasks involved in exhibition-making, and it now feels like it extends that definition in more subtle, indefinable ways. I’m wary of the curator vying with the artist for acclaim, but a fan of guest curators (especially artist curators) bringing fresh ways of experiencing work and associated ideas. Inviting collaborators to bring their expertise and viewpoints has been essential to broadening and keeping the programme relevant.

Partnerships

Partnership with other organisations has also added value. Establishing STEC (Scottish Touring Exhibition Consortium) with colleagues in public galleries outwith the Central Belt resulted in a wide range of exhibitions and a nationwide network of friendships. Further networks and partnerships were fostered by the privilege of taking part in curatorial trips organised by the Scottish Arts Council / Creative Scotland. I’ve also particularly enjoyed creating projects with colleagues in Welsh organisations.

Dialogue between craft and visual art

From its university inception the organisation has promoted craft as well as visual art.  The questioning of hierarchy and exploration of the dialogue between media has been core to the programme. My affinity to craft probably goes back to my grandmother’s pride at coming from the Aubusson area with its tapestry heritage as well as the colourful Breton pottery we used in her home. This instinctive pleasure has been reinforced by meeting makers and learning about process and concepts.

The value of encouraging an interest in art and craft

Building on the kind of support I benefitted from, we’ve tried to encourage others to explore and gain experience, through school pupil placements and a Summer School, to student and early career paid internships. A curatorial traineeship focused on cultural diversity complemented the regular guest curator opportunities. Giving artists tangible support to freely develop their creative practice through the grants, bursaries and mentorships of the national VACMA (Visual Art and Craft Maker Awards) scheme has been a struggle but one I doggedly tried to maintain.

Exhibitions have been at the core of the public programme and its recognition, but providing opportunities to meet artists and explore everyone’s creativity through residencies and engagement activities have been as important. After roaming with (and not altogether successfully driving) a mobile gallery around Scotland, I was convinced that providing access to the broadest possible public should be a basic aim, while recognising that connecting them with the many benefits of art required a range of strategies. Meeting groups of people through targeted projects has enlarged my knowledge and understanding of the barriers they face in life as much as it has hopefully provided them with a positive creative experience.

Arts organisations often have a fragile existence. Episodes of major adversity have tested us but memories of survival highlight the positive. A threatened removal of public funding led to a support campaign (I still have the t-shirt although it sadly no longer fits…) including a Barbie doll window display. When a homophobic group tried to close down a student production in the studio theatre, firm resistance and support again came from the organisation’s voluntary board members and a diligent police inspector who provided the expertise and staff to keep the show open.

In reflecting on my work experience I have resisted an initial impulse to list favourite exhibitions or artists met. There are too many and I have appreciated the variety of insight, wonder and challenge they have provided as well as personal generosity and kindness. Similarly, I have avoided naming specific partners and board members in case I leave someone out (and my memory for names is sadly increasingly fallible…). I would however like to record my gratitude for the crucial support provided by Chairs of the board at key points over the years and my fond admiration for an elderly cleaner who contributed a cheering combination of humour and broadmindedness.

The only people I must name are my former colleagues Susan, Arlene and Stefanie. If this blog equates the organisation with me, it is not because I have been essential to it but because my work has always been bound with, and made possible by, a close long-standing team. They will help Kate as she familiarises herself with the organisation and I am confident that it will thrive and develop under her stewardship. I look forward to experiencing the future programme and pledge to support but not interfere!

Once I realise that I am not on some strange holiday, I plan to remain part of, and contribute to, the visual art and craft community. My board membership of a couple of artist-run Fife art organisations and an archive to sort will provide useful starting points.

Top image: opening of Diana’s JD Fergusson exhibition at the Crawford Arts Centre, St Andrews, 1982. L to R: unknown person, Robin Spencer (Art History), Louise Annand (Chair, JD Fergusson Foundation), Diana Sykes, Prof Martin Kemp (Art History)

We are hiring!

Looking for a new challenge? Fancy joining our staff team?

Susan Davis, Fife Contemporary’s Programme Manager, is retiring from the post later this year after more than 35 years! Starting as a part-time Touring Exhibitions’ Officer in 1987, the role has changed and developed over the decades into a key part of Fife Contemporary’s staff team. To replace her post and expand on what she has achieved, we are looking for 2 people: a full-time Programme Manager, and a part-time Digital Design & Marketing Officer.

Programme Manager post

You will deliver our unique programme of exhibitions, artist residencies, off-site projects and touring ‘Craft Pods’, as well as education and outreach opportunities with new audiences.

With a passion for visual art and craft you will have experience of creative productive working relationships with artists, curators, community organisations and partner venues. Working closely with the Director, you will have the practical aptitude, planning and organisational ability, and positive attitude to be a linchpin for the organisation. You will be able to embody and embed our core values, promoting environmental responsibility and respect for equality, diversity and inclusion in everything that you do.

With the ability to communicate to a range of audiences, you will be working with venues across Fife and beyond, and be a key member of a close-knit and dedicated team at a small arts organisation which continues to punch above its weight.

Deadline for applications is Monday 6 June 2022 at 10am
Online interviews will take place on Thursday 16 June 2022

Digital Design & Marketing Officer

To succeed in this wide-ranging role, you will be a natural communicator with proven design skills and an interest, experience and knowledge of website development. You will have demonstrable social media skills and marketing experience and be able to successfully connect our programme to new digital audiences. You will be keen to lead on the delivery of a new and updated website and be able to produce exhibition print, marketing and graphic design and visual communications.

You will also have a passion for our mission to promote and produce the best art and craft exhibitions and experiences, and be able to embody and embed our core values, promoting environmental responsibility and respect for equality, diversity and inclusion in everything that you do.

Deadline for applications is Tuesday 14 June 2022 at 10am
Online interviews will be held on Wednesday 29 June 2022

If you have any questions regarding this role in advance of submitting an application, please contact susan.davis@fcac.co.uk.

‘REsolve’ exhibition & the Circular Economy

So much going on in the world seems very negative, including UN scientists saying it’s ‘now or never’ to limit global warming. Things can feel pretty bleak. It surely must help to find something, even small, you can do to make a change for good.

The ‘REsolve’ exhibition at Kirkcaldy Galleries uses examples of creative work to illustrate the 4 main themes of the Circular Economy. These argue that it would massively improve the environment if we moved away from the current ‘Linear Economy’ – take-make-dispose – to a circular one. In this, waste and pollution are designed out, materials are kept in use for as long as possible, and the natural environment is regenerated, rather than depleted.

The exhibition has been running now 6 weeks and we’ve asked visitors if after viewing it, they feel there are any changes along the lines of a Circular Economy that they could make in their lives. We’ve had some great answers:

• Share tools with family members so don’t need to buy more than one
• Think before buying anything, making sure that I really need it, and if I do, I will buy secondhand first, and if not possible, eco-friendly/circular
• Donated an unwanted guitar to the OnFife music library
• The next garden tool we need to buy, we will hire instead

Here are some of the thought-provoking artworks on view:

Shown are Stefanie Cheong’s Zero Waste jewellery; the underside of one of Sara Howard’s ‘Circular Ceramics’, made from industrial waste; Janet Hughes of Balgarvie Weaving’s beautiful woven cloth from ‘Brockie’ wool, dyed with homegrown madder (photo Studio RoRo); Carol Sinclair’s ‘Tipping Point’ mobile made from recycled plastics & a new material that combines powdered studio waste and Polylactic Acid (photo Neil Hanna); Deirdre Nelson’s upcycled, secondhand t-shirt, embroidered with Platform21’s Repair Manifesto (photo Studio RoRo).

The Repair Manifesto is a list of what you can do to keep things going by repairing them in different ways, rather than throwing them out and buying new.

To find out more about all the artists in the exhibition, visit its webpage.

If you’d like to research ways of making your lifestyle more sustainable, we have a webpage of REsources you can check out, including Zero Waste Scotland and Greener Kirkcaldy. Let us know if you’re aware of others we’ve not included!

Also, if you’re an artist trying to make your practice more sustainable, take a look at our Artists’ Environmental Resource. We’re happy to share information about what you do to be more environmentally aware via the Sharespace – just get in touch.

Another excellent comment, made by an exhibition visitor, was that Marmite was already recycling brewery waste to make its product in 1902. So there’s nothing new about being circular in life or work. But time is really running out now, and even small changes help.

New Director for Fife Contemporary

The Board and staff team of Fife Contemporary are delighted to announce the appointment of Kate Grenyer as Director.

Currently Exhibitions Curator at Dovecot Studios in Edinburgh, Kate brings a wealth of experience in working with visual art and craft within arts and heritage organisations across the UK as well as freelance projects. An MFA in Contemporary Art Theory completed in 2012 at Edinburgh College of Art further strengthened her approach to research and curation. In 2021 she curated the highly successful exhibition Archie Brennan: Tapestry Goes Pop! at Dovecot in partnership with National Museums Scotland. Her broad range of skills also encompass the practical, such as conservation and installation, as well as devising and delivering educational and engagement activities. This will ideally equip her to lead a small team delivering a varied contemporary visual art and craft programme for the public and support for artists across Fife.

Responding to her appointment Kate said:

 “Fife Contemporary is an organisation with a fantastic reputation for producing interesting and innovative exhibitions, and creating opportunities for artists and the public across Fife and beyond. I am delighted to be taking the helm, and look forward to leading the team into the next phase of the organisations development. I can’t wait to get started!”

Diana Sykes, retiring after many years at the helm, said
“It is both reassuring and exciting to welcome Kate as my successor. She will bring energy and fresh ideas to develop the organisation’s vision and deliver the highest quality programmes to the people of Fife and beyond.”

Kate will take up her new post on 5 April 2022.

Festive Closure Details 2021

Fife Contemporary’s virtual office closes at 5pm on Tue 21 December 2021, and reopens on Wed 5 Jan 2022. Staff will only be checking email intermittently.

It doesn’t seem 12 months since I last posted details of our festive closure dates – but it is! And it’s been another strange/’one-off’ year.

Like many organisations, while we are now quite used to Zoom or Team calls instead of face-to-face discussions and meetings, we do miss really ‘seeing’ people. With the Omicron variant now spreading rapidly, who knows exactly how 2022 will work out? However, looking back at 2021, here are some of our highlights.

Our first major project of the year was Resolve to Make it New for StAnza Poetry Festival. This was the first year, pretty much since the festival began in St Andrews decades ago, that we weren’t able to contribute a physical exhibition. Instead, we hosted an online exhibition about ‘repair’ – either in the form of actual remade items (images of!), or short poems. We had an amazing response from the public with contributions coming from as far away as the south of England to all over Scotland.

Shortly after, we launched our Artists’ Environmental Resource & Sharespace to support artists trying to make their practices more sustainable. This will be updated regularly and we hope to share further examples of good practice in 2022.

The summer was busy as we launched a digital version of our Summer School for senior Fife school pupils. A hundred packs were sent out to 12 schools for distribution. Artists taking part were Ade Adesina and Stefanie Cheong and we’re most grateful to them, and also recent graduate Michelle Currie, for creating short films to accompany the packs.

The summer also saw the realisation of an outdoor project, Trail of Thought at Falkland Estate. Featuring playful words carved on windfallen timber, around the upper reaches of the estate, the Trail encouraged mindfulness and the enjoyment of the landscape below the Lomond Hills. Sebastian Chaloner and Lesley Acheson created the Trail for us, and also put together the short film below. The artworks will remain in the landscape until they fall apart naturally.

By this time, we were also able to send out the Craft Pods which had had to sit unused during 2020. We are delighted to have work by ceramic artist and sustainability researcher Sara Howard on display. So far the tour has visited the Ecology Centre at Kinghorn, several Fife secondary schools and libraries, and St Andrews University main library. Currently they’re at Kirkcaldy Library until mid-January.

In October we marked #BlackHistoryMonth with an online talk by Fife-based artist and tattoo-ist Abz Mills. She shared a fascinating and very honest account of what she does and how she got there, including her large-scale works for last year’s #BlackLivesMatter mural trail. You can listen to her conversation with Diana Sykes here.

Our Materialise programme for new craft & design graduates or makers continues to grow, with the addition of Zoom meet-ups for participating artists. This year 7 of the artists also were featured in the Materialise 4 online exhibition.

We also expanded the CARE range of products, made artists in partnership with carers in Fife. This project, supported by The Robertson Trust, should’ve been completed in 2021 – but with Covid making planning and delivery anything but straightforward, things are a little behind. The new jewellery range was designed by adult carers in Fife with Stefanie Cheong, and is available online (as are the remaining earlier products).

As 2021 nears its end, we look forward to a long-awaited exhibition about the Circular Economy – REsolve: a Creative Approach to the Circular Economy. For this show, we are also creating a series of INSIGHTS – mostly short conversations between curator Mella Shaw and some of the artists. It is due to open in Kirkcaldy Galleries later in February (Covid-willing!). Mella, and artists Sara Howard and Carol Sinclair, also took part in a COP26 online event with Glasgow University’s College of Arts. You can still watch the film here.

Thank you to the artists and organisations we’ve worked with this part year, and to the lovely people who have engaged with what we do, in person and online. We look forward to ‘seeing’ you again in 2022 and wish you a safe and happy festive season!

Meandering on the Trail of Thought

We chose a very warm afternoon to tackle the Trail of Thought at Falkland Estate. And probably made harder work of it than was necessary! As someone connected with the project, I knew exactly what the 6 artworks looked like. I also knew how the map was laid out. But what I’d failed to appreciate totally was that there’s a little bit of walking and climbing to do before you reach the Trail’s starting point.

I should’ve realised that this would be the case, as the Trail is located at points up and around the paths leading to the Temple of Decision and the Tyndall Bruce Monument. These are both vantage points from which to look across the lovely Fife countryside (so they’re high up of course!).

Anyway, I’ve taken a few photos of the QR-coded way-markers that help seekers feel confident they must be on the right track (as well as providing a link to the helpful website). Here’s some clues to help you find the artworks. It’s well worth persevering. In addition to getting good exercise in fresh air, the thoughtful words carved in carefully chosen typography, are good to ponder on.

This way-marker is near the top of the hill as you come out of the denser woodland from the Forest of Falkland Gateway Park – turn RIGHT!

At this way-marker, you could carry on up the hill (but there is more hilly walking beyond). Take the track to the RIGHT for a slightly flatter option (remember, there’s no one way to find the artworks!).

OR, depending on your route from the carpark, you may have come under (or up to) this iron bridge beside a way-marker. Up the hill to find *SPOILER ALERT* a couple of artworks!

Head RIGHT towards the Temple of Decision (unless you need a cup of tea at The Stables by now…but it’s a fair way to come back!). You should find *SPOILER ALERT* one of the artworks, before ending up….

…at this spot! Turning LEFT up this hill will ultimately *SPOILER ALERT* take you past an artwork, en route to the Temple. Carry on the same path, and you’ll find *SPOILER ALERT* the final two!
If you don’t turn left here, you’ll end up at the Tyndall Bruce Monument (you can see it from here in fact).

Here’s the view from the way-marker above, looking over the trees to the Tyndall Bruce Monument. You can pass it and come to the Temple from the other direction too. So many options!

The map will help you locate what I’ve described above. Furthermore, if you tap on the orange artwork icons, you should see another link which enables you to listen to Lesley Acheson’s audio guide about the individual artwork. These are all short and sweet and give excellent insights while you ponder and walk.

Digital Summer School 2021

Fife Contemporary has run annual Summer Schools for senior Fife art & design pupils since 2012. Sadly we missed last year due to Covid-19 and were determined to offer something this year. Our solution, as with so many things at the moment, is to go digital.

This year’s Summer School, as in previous years, has been generously supported by the Wilhelmina Barns-Graham Trust.

We’re most grateful to them for this, and for maintaining the important link these Summer Schools have to one of Fife’s foremost artists.

With 3 artist-made films as a starting point, 12 Fife secondary schools are receiving boxes of materials with which to get creating.

Printmaker Ade Adesina, artist jeweller Stefanie Cheong, and GSA graduate from 2020, Michelle Currie, provide the inspiration.

Taking part this year are:

• Waid Academy, Anstruther
• Glenwood High School, Glenrothes
• Woodmill High School, Dunfermline
• Madras College, St Andrews
• Viewforth High School, Kirkcaldy
• Auchmuty High School, Glenrothes
• St Columba’s High School, Dunfermline
• Levenmouth Academy, Buckhaven
• Glenrothes High School
• Bell Baxter High School, Cupar
• Dunfermline High School
• Lochgelly High School

Teachers can decide whether to run the workshops within school, or give the packs to pupils for home use. As flexibility is key, we’re also running this until the end of September – quite a change from the 2 or 3 days in June of previous years!

For the first time, we plan to host an online exhibition of the work produced during this year’s Digital Summer School on our microsite. We look forward to sharing the wonderful things we know Fife’s young creative people can make this autumn.

But meanwhile, here’s a short ‘behind the scenes’ film of how 40 of the 100 boxes of materials were put together…!

Artists’ Environmental Resource Launched

We are delighted to announced the creation of an Artists’ Environmental Resource on our website.

A 26-page document has been put together after consultation with Creative Carbon Scotland, Applied Arts Scotland, and feedback from artists. Find suggestions and links within this that will (we hope!) help any artist who’s trying to make their creative practice more sustainable. This document will be updated annually, so please contact us with additions!

We’ve also launched the Artists’ Environmental Sharespace, and have opened it by featuring the environmentally engaged work of Stefanie Cheong and Hannah Imlach. We’d love to hear from anyone in the artists’ community with an environmental practice they’d like to share, plus any materials- or process-related hints and tips.

Finally, if you have an environmental query, get in touch via the Got a Question section and we’ll try to find you an answer – from ourselves or the wider artists’ community.

Fife Contemporary – Living with Covid

It’s now about a year since Covid-19 struck the world’s consciousness. In that time there has been much change, much sadness, and in the arts (as with most things), a sudden move from the physical to the virtual in terms of activity.

Like our fellow organisations, Fife Contemporary has had to ‘pivot’ in order to continue delivering our programme. Conversations, discussions and meetings all take place within the confines of a computer’s rectangle.

We were delighted that our exhibition Lines from Scotland was able to reopen at DCL&G last year, albeit months later than planned. Its closure spurred us on to create a series of INSIGHTS, with help from the exhibition’s curator and some of the participating artists, which gave personal views of some of the themes and artworks within the show. These remain as a tangible legacy. However, due to the ongoing pandemic, it’s clear that there will not be an immediate return to ‘normal’ in early 2021.

A taste of our online content so far

• Lines from Scotland Online – INSIGHTS 1-10.
• Care Making for Good – an online exhibition to celebrate the first Phase of our project with Fife carers.
• Fife Portraits for LGBT+ History Month 2019 – to mark Fife Pride 2020 which was to have taken place on 4 July, we published this online exhibition of photographic portraits made last year by 2 LGBT+ youth groups in Fife.
• 100 Buttercups Education Pack – inspired by Laurie Clark’s beautifully drawn flower portraits & featured as part of Engage’s Children’s Art Week 2020.
• Materialise 3 – an online exhibition of selected 2019 craft & design graduates & new makers.

Frances Priest Patterns of Flora, Raasay House: commission by ATLAS Arts – featured in ‘Lines from Scotland’
(Photography Ruth Clark)

Looking forwards

We are currently working on an exhibition which looks at the Circular Economy – REsolve: a Creative Approach to the Circular Economy. It was due to open at Kirkcaldy Galleries in mid-March 2021, but has had to be postponed until 2022. Meanwhile, in the current uncertain climate, we will be working on online material to accompany it.

Sarah Calmus, one of REsolve’s participating artists
(Photo Sandra Franco)

Our usual StAnza Poetry Festival collaboration will take place this year online, and with the climate emergency very much at the forefront, will be linked to the REsolve project (and titled Resolve to Make it New), looking at how the Covid crisis make many of us rethink our lives and try to ‘make do and mend’ – literally. There will be information available very soon about how you can take part in this project.

We continue to offer artist support including another fast-approaching VACMA deadline (2 Feb 2021, 5pm). This time we are pairing Fife with Perth & Kinross – and again with a virtual panel.  Artists from these 2 regions interested in applying for a VACMA bursary can find all the information and downloadable forms on our website.

With the new vaccines now being given, we are hopeful that another, more positive, change is on the horizon. We hope that this will enable more face to face arts activity, albeit with masks, in the not too distant future and look forward immensely to that time.

Our Virtual Venue website will continue to keep you up to date with what we’re doing!

Festive Greetings…& closure dates

It’s that time of year when organisations commonly post their festive good wishes and closure dates. I think it’s fair to say we’ll not being saying ‘haste ye back’ to 2020. What a year!

Fife Contemporary’s virtual office will be closed from Wed 23 Dec 2020 until Tue 5 Jan 2021 inclusive. Members of the team will occasionally monitor email before we all return to work on Wed 6 Jan.

We look forward to new exhibitions and projects in 2021 and hope very much to emerge properly from under the Covid cloud.

All best wishes for happy celebrations over the festive season, and a safe and healthy 2021!

Make Your Own Festive Cards & Decorations!

This year has been a strange one, and there are probably few people who would say their lives had not been changed in some way by the last few months. One thing that’s been notable is how we have tried to make the best with what we have – hands up who went baking mad this Spring?! Or tried mending clothes instead of throwing them out?

As Christmas approaches, here’s another thought – how about getting creative and making your own cards or decorations? We’ve put together simple ideas as drop-in activities for some our exhibitions in the past that were open close to Christmas. You can download the templates & instructions we used for free from our website – just go to the links on the right-hand sidebar. Or just click the links below:

• Pop up Christmas tree card
• Pop up Angel card
• Christmas bauble
• Christmas decorations

These are all just starting points to let your imagination (and whatever materials you have to hand) run free! The Xmas bauble, for example, can be made from scraps of wrapping paper.

If you enjoy the challenge of making pop up cards, look no further than Robert Sabuda’s website (to be found on the pop up card templates we used!). Happy cutting and sticking!

Some Good News about Our CARE Products

We launched our CARE products – items designed by adult and young carers in Fife while working with artists – in Dec 2019. This time last year (almost), we would have expected to have showcased them at several selling events by now. However, as we all know, Covid-19 struck with a vengeance in the early part of 2020.

As our staff have been working from home, it’s only now that we’ve got the online shop up and running more or less as before. To celebrate, we’ve created some special packs from a selection of the CARE products, and these come with a slightly discounted price!

• Pack 1 – one each of the 100% cotton tea towel, the A5 recycled sketchbook, & the A6 recycled sketchbook (price £16; should be £17.50)
• Pack 2 – one each of the A5 recycled sketchbook & the A6 recycled sketchbook (price £7; should be £7.50)
• Pack 3 – one of each of the 2 solid perfumes, Woodland Walk and Fire Dance (price £22; should be £24)

You can also purchase these items available singly! Plus, we are able to offer a small number of candles, scented with the Fire Dance and Woodland Walk perfumes (devised by the adult carer group in Kirkcaldy). Everything has been produced in small batches; so when they’re gone, they’re gone!

Find full details about all The Fife Carers’ Collection products on our website.

Read about the CARE Making for Good story through its online exhibition.

We are hugely grateful to The Robertson Trust who is supporting this project.