The Big Room 13 Blog
Welcome the Big Room 13 Blog featuring the latest news and events, from our studios around the world. Look out for new studios, inspirational images and ideas drawn from from our digital scrapbook, informative articles and much, much more.
Smartphone Screenprint
‘——– came up with an idea to produce an image of a tablet with a blank screen that could be drawn into. After talking to me about it we thought it could be an interesting product that we could sell at one of the making days. ——– took care to draw in the keys in the right order before I suggested that the keys could spell out an instruction like ‘draw your own image in the screen’. She didn’t like the idea but decided she would poll everyone else in the room as to whether they preferred hers or mine. She ended up deciding that mine was a good idea and that she would go with that. She also produced several quick, gestural line drawings in a range of media (all black, eg charcoal, pastel, paint) of smartphones and tablets. She worked hard to cut these out to produce an image easily translatable to screenprinting.’
Extract from Studio Logbook, Room 13 Caol, Feb 2017
AiR Richard Bracken
Adventures of Curiosity and Wonder
Room 13 Hareclive has been awarded a Bristol 2015 European Green Capital commission (Neighbourhood Arts Project).
Inspired by Bristol artist of walking and place Richard Long, and building on previous socially engaged arts practice in the community, Room 13 Hareclive will deliver a collaborative exploration and re-imagining of Dundry Slopes, where the interests, questions, wonder, curiosity, imagination and pioneering spirit of local children will lead the way.
Room 13 Hareclive presents… Adventures of Curiosity and Wonder: the Dundry Slopes
Through dialogue with local people and organisations that know and use the Slopes, and through discovering nature and our own physical and visual responses to the area, Room 13 Hareclive will produce 3 functional yet poetic discovery maps that we will print as one beautiful fold-out map. They will also choose one of the maps to reproduce as a bronze plaque to go on the Slopes themselves. The work will be exhibited and publicised locally and in Bristol via several key exhibitions. Together, the maps and work will open up new ways of seeing and interacting with the Slopes for all ages.
**Room 13 Hareclive will once again be participating in Spike Island Open Studios event from Friday 1st May to Monday 4th May.
Room 13 artists will be opening their studio on site, as well as running pop up sessions for the public on Saturday 2nd and Sunday 3rd May, 11am – 2pm.**
Donations for Nepal
Nepal is a country very close to our hearts. Room 13 HCMC in Kathmandu was the first Room 13 studio to be set up overseas, marking the beginnings of Room 13 International Studio Network.
Several youth expedition teams from the community of Caol have visited the country over the years to support and develop the Room 13 studios in Nepal.
As a result we have many friends and colleagues in Nepal, and close links with charitable organisations and communities who have worked to establish Room 13 projects and bring arts and creativity to the youth of Nepal. In the aftermath of these recent devastating earthquakes, Room 13 International will be collecting donations on behalf of these locally based organisations, which we will send directly to help their efforts to recover and rebuild their communities.
Donations and contributions can be made via Paypal using the link below:
Cheques or money orders can be sent to:
Room 13 International, Unit 1, Glenloy Street, Caol, Fort William, Scotland, PH33 7DR.
Please make cheques payable to Room 13 International, and mark ‘Nepal Fund’ on the back.
Thank you for supporting our global community.
Creative Place Awards Nominee 2015
Room 13 International is delighted to announce that we are leading the team which has seen Fort William shortlisted for the Creative Place Awards 2015, funded by Creative Scotland.
Since their launch in 2012, the Creative Place Awards have been awarded to smaller communities across Scotland, outside of the main cities, to enable them to enhance and promote the creative activities and programmes in their area. The awards recognise the communities’ ambitions in using the arts for the benefit of both local residents and visitors to their area.
‘Being nominated for the Creative Places award offers a wonderful opportunity for communities in Fort William and the surrounding area to celebrate our environment, mountain culture and native woodland through the planting of trees and the installation of innovative sculptures.’
Richard Bracken, Artist in Residence, Room 13 Caol
Working with the Fort William community, we plan to use the Creative Places award to create a series of interwoven art and arboreal projects, at the heart of which is The Liberty Grove / Doire na Saorsa, planting 1,000 native trees throughout the region. Working with different art forms, from sculpture and poetry to film, we will improve the environment for the entire community, and celebrate the world-renowned landscape of Lochaber in new and innovative ways.
As the lead organisation Room 13 International will co-ordinate a substantial programme of community-led activities, fostering an awareness of biodiversity and appreciation of wilderness, working with local and international artists, poets and storytellers.
Thanks to its inspiring surroundings, and initiatives such as the Fort William Mountain Festival, the town has an iconic status for visitors; now we will enhance and transform its identity, through innovative ecologically-sensitive cultural projects. Working amongst a community consisting of a remarkably strong network of local organisations, including woodland, geology and environmental specialists along with creative and cultural organisations, we will create a grove in which they can share their expertise in outdoor education, ecology and heritage. The Liberty Grove / Doire na Saorsa will prove that the region, and the Highlands as a whole, is supportive of visionary cultural projects integrated within wilderness landscapes.
All shortlisted Creative Place applicants have been asked to submit a second stage application, detailing more information about their project. We will find out if the bid from Fort William has been successful when the award winners are announced at a ceremony on 10 June 2015.
Fort William – Creative Place Awards Nominee 2015
Arts & Business Scotland award
We are delighted to announce that we have been successful in attracting funding from Arts & Business Scotland to support our business development over the coming year.
The money received through the New Arts Sponsorship scheme administered by Arts& Business Scotland will match-fund the sponsorship already pledged from Corpach Boatbuilding Company in Fort William.
Donald Hind, Managing Director of the business said “Corpach Boatbuilding Company are pleased to be able to continue with our support for Room 13. We are confident that our collaboration with Arts & Business Scotland will help to sustain and secure the long term aims of this dynamic, creative and exciting community organisation.”
Claire Gibb, Chief Executive of Room 13 International says, “We are thrilled to have received backing from Corpach Boatbuilding Company and Arts & Business Scotland. The support of both organisations is critical to us at this stage of our development and we look forward to working more closely with Corpach Boatbuilding Company over the coming year.”
This good news follows our recent move to establish a new office and gallery/workshop space in Caol, Fort William. It is hoped that gallery will host a series of workshops and events throughout the coming years, starting with a celebratory event on 30 April 2015.
Chief Executive of Arts & Business Scotland, David Watt added: “Room 13 International is a fantastic initiative and certainly ticks all the boxes in meeting the criteria of projects supported through the New Arts Sponsorship grant scheme. This is an exciting time for them as they celebrate their 21st birthday and the opening of a new workshop in Fort William which will no doubt prove to be a wonderful creative and cultural hub for the community. We wish Room 13 every success with the new venture.”
The event, marking the 21st birthday Room 13, will celebrate the achievements of the organisation to date and will also look forward to the next 21 years. Claire Gibb added, “We are delighted to have a new independent base for Room 13 in Caol, close to the school and community studios. This place is recognised worldwide as home of Room 13, and this new space offers huge potential to develop a vibrant creative hub that brings art, artists and the greater Room 13 International community back to the heart of Caol”.
Room 13 International is keen to develop links with other local businesses and encourage those who interested to get in touch!
Lochaber Young Artist of the Year Award 2015
Room 13 International
, with the Rotary Club of Lochaber, is pleased to announce the launch of the second Lochaber Young Artist of the Year Award.
With the Young Artist of the Year Award the Rotary Club of Lochaber are carrying on their tradition of encouraging young people to develop their talents; Room 13 International are again supporting the Rotary in inviting Lochaber’s young artists to make work and take part – one overall winner will receive £100 artist materials voucher, two runners-up will each receive £50 artist materials vouchers and up to four Highly Commended entrants will receive a prize and a certificate. There will also be an opportunity to exhibit and each entrant will receive feedback from the judges on their artwork.
Information, details and entry forms (deadline extended to Friday 17th April) downloadable here:
http://room13international.org/get-involved/award/
…and these are the key bits of information:
The award is open to young artists living in Lochaber (Highland, Scotland) aged 7 – 17. There are no separate age categories. Extended Entry Form deadline: Friday 17 April 2015
Young Artists are asked to make up a portfolio of work – a portfolio will ideally contain at least 4 pieces of your own original artwork up to a maximum of 8 pieces.
Portfolio Hand-in Times & Locations (changed to give flexibility):
Wednesday 22 April: From 2pm – 6pm at the Open Studio, Caol Youth Centre
Monday 27 April: From 11am – 3pm at Room 13’s office, Glenloy Street, Caol
Tuesday 28 April: From 11am – 3pm at Room 13’s office, Glenloy Street, Caol
Wednesday 29 April: From 2pm – 6pm at the Open Studio, Caol Youth Centre
Locations:
Open Studio, Caol Youth Centre, Glenkingie Street, Caol PH33 7DP
Room 13 International, Unit 1, Glenloy Street, Caol PH33 7DR – please use buzzer round the corner on Patience Way (the office is upstairs).
If none of the above times are convenient please email me at info@room13international.org, or send a private message via Facebook (facebook.com/Room13CommunityStudio) to arrange an alternative.
Awards will be made on the basis of overall achievement. The judges are looking for evidence of a commitment to making artwork and to see your development as an artist in the work you make. Portfolios submitted will be judged on:
Originality – confident expression of the artist’s own unique way of looking, thinking and handling materials
Development – exploring ideas and trying out different techniques
Enthusiasm – an overall sense of purpose and interest in making artwork
Need more information? Contact Fiona at Room 13 International: info@room13international.org