Dunfermline Learning Campus
Fife Contemporary have been collaborating with Fife Council, Fife College and both Woodmill School and St Columba’s RC High School to develop and design a new public art work for the new Dunfermline Learning Campus.
We first visited the Campus to design the project in 2024 just as it was being completed. The Dunfermline Learning Campus, or DLC, brings together Fife College and two high schools together onto one campus site which is also designed to be available for community use and access.
The building which houses the two schools is the largest Passivhaus education building in the world.
Starting the project
A panel representing all the collaborating organisations selected Fife-based sculptor Marion Smith RSA to be the lead artist for the project.
Marion has significant experience in producing sculpture in public spaces, including creating The Plough and the Reaper for the waterfront at Anstruther in 2009.
Marion was also selected because she was keen to develop workshop and collaborative activity with other artists and the campus learning community to develop the new artwork for the DLC.
The Plough and the Reaper, Marion Smith, 2009
Working with Campus Learners
A one day design charette, which consisted of revolving series of 1 hour workshops, took place at the newly completed Woodmill School hub workspace. Pupils from both schools and Fife College students participated. One workshop was led by Marion Smith to support model making and design, whilst guests Fergus Purdie, Katie Fowlie, and Hannah Brackston each run a workshop as participants moved between the activites. They covered creative map making, seed bomb making and sustainability, making an active manifesto for the concept as well as post cards written to the participants for the future.
After the charette day, a natural dyes and sustainability workshop took place with Fife College design students, this supported learning and understanding of sustainable design decisions and material practices.
Working with the Community
Our touring Craft Pods from 2025 to 2026 toured Fife venues, starting at the learning campus. They featured explanations of Marion Smith’s design processes and some maquettes from her past projects, as well as inviting further interactions and feedback from the public into the design process.
When the Craft Pods took up residency at Dulloch Library marion designed a workshop with the local community to develop their own work in 3D by pressing found objects into clay. The workshop provoked discussion, ideas and conversation with the local community about the final proposal for the sculpture design.
Starting the Design
Alongside consultations with the community, Marion Smith engaged in her own independent research. Firstly visiting the collections of Fife Cultural Trust enabled her to see their collections of Damask linen that had been woven in Fife. She also looked for inspiration from the Dunfermline connection to Robert the Bruce. She made more maquettes to play with designs and finally she visited local quarries to find stones to select the size and shape that could fit the final design.
The final design in being refined and the project remains in progress during 2026 as the completed work is made and placed on campus. We’ll update this page with more soon!
Related Pages
Marion Smith
Fife-based sculptor Marion Smith focuses on making site-specific commissions that embody a considered understanding of their context.
