The CAN Van: Fife Artists Materials Exchange

Fife Contemporary partnered with Circular Arts Network and studio spaces across Fife to deliver the first CAN Van in the area, a swap shop on wheels! Artists and makers were invited to exchange unwanted art materials and tools with fellow artists in the Fife area. Full and ready for its first tour of Fife, the CAN Van visited Forgan Arts Centre, Off the Rails Arthouse, Artspace 48 and Fire Station Creative. 

“What an absolute pleasure! Nice to chat with fellow artists whilst getting some really random stuff that I actually really needed such as guitar paint, leather offcuts and tassels.” 

This pilot scheme allowed us to connect artists and spaces across Fife to pool resources. With over 20 participants, and one wee dog, everything from furniture and packing material, to old display props and plinths or specialist arts equipment and materials were available – for free!

“It’d be great if this could happen every 6 months or so, we’d get to know when to raid our studios.” 

We’d love to do this again and are inviting you to share your thoughts and ideas about the project, and how we might improve and enable more artists to share their resources with each other. If you would like your studio or arts venue to be a pickup location on a future visit of the CAN Van, let us know – you can send us your feedback to help us plan future routes! 

Please get in touch with us via mail@fcac.co.uk

Remember, in case you missed the day but still have useful materials to donate, you can bring items to any of the CAN Depots any time they are open, or create a listing on CAN’s website. You can join the CAN network anytime to list resources you no longer have a use for. 

Visit the Circular Arts Network