Tag Archives: scotland

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.

Creative Place Awards Nominee 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!

Postcards from Scotland

Schooling Scotland: Education, Equity & Community, by Daniel Murphy, book 7 in the ‘Postcards from Scotland’ series, will be launched this evening in Glasgow. The book features a chapter on Room 13!

‘Postcards from Scotland’ – a series of small books relevant to Scotland but also about the big issues of our time – is a collaboration between Centre for Confidence and Wellbeing and Argyll Publishing.

Postcards from Scotland aims to help develop new thinking in a readable and accessible format and publicise, to a much greater audience, some of the projects in Scotland which are already aiming to help bring about a new way of living.

Visit the Postcards from Scotland website for more information or to buy any of these fascinating and insightful books.

The webpage contains a link to Daniel Murphys’ Tour Journal in full, which includes a detailed description of his visit to Room 13 Caol. Jump to page 29 for Room 13, or browse the full document to find out about a range of other inspirational schools across Scotland.

Room 13 Open Studio – Wednesdays from 1st October

Room 13’s popular OPEN STUDIO (Community Studio, Caol Youth Centre) is open again – Wednesday 1 October, 2pm-6pm

The OPEN STUDIO is open to all ages, all levels of experience & it’s free!

We provide a relaxed studio environment for self-directed creative activity – come and use the materials and equipment, do your own thing, work on a shared project, or ask the lead-artist to show you how to make prints, work with clay, make papier mache, stretch a canvas…

Paper, paints, inks, pastels, oil bars, pencils, card & more are available (& free), sketchbooks, clay, canvas, etching plates, lino can be provided at cost.  Tea, coffee & water will be available (donations to cover costs welcome).

It’s on 2pm-6pm Wednesdays during term time (and during school holidays by arrangement with lead artist) – pop in, stay for a while, stay longer – we look forward to seeing you!

Room 13 Community Studio, Caol Youth Centre, Glenkingie Street, Caol, Fort William (Scotland)

Lochaber Young Artist of the Year Award 2014

Lochaber News Image YAA 2014

Lochaber Rotary Club recently decided that recognition and reward for Lochaber’s young visual arts talent was needed.  The brief was simple: the new award would be open to artists aged 7 – 17, selection to be based on a portfolio of work showing evidence of originality, development and enthusiasm.  Room 13 International was pleased to assist the Rotary Club bring this new award to the attention of Lochaber’s young artists and was delighted to see the quality and hard work evident in all the portfolios submitted.

On May 23rd 2014 at Art Lochaber’s annual exhibition awards were presented by Lesley Benfield, Chief Executive of Fort William Chamber of Commerce, to:

Overall Winner:  Ella Robertson Smith, Caol Primary School

Runner-up: Sarah Clelland, Lochaber High School

Runner-up: Wiktoria Zumościk, Lochaber High School

Highly Commended:

Korrine MacMillan, Lochaber High School

Jamie-Lee Birrell, Lochaber High School

Lachie Robinson, Mallaig High School

Rachel Bolton, Lochaline Primary School

Ella, Sarah and Wiktoria each received a trophy and vouchers for artist materials from Artmedia store in Inverness.  In addition, one work from each was selected to be shown in the annual exhibition.

The four Highly Commended young artists each received a sketchbook and certificate.  All entrants received a thank-you letter with feedback from the Selection Panel.  It is hoped that the award will continue to spark inspiration and encourage young artists to keep making artwork.

Congratulations Ella, Sarah, Wiktoria, Korrine, Jamie-Lee, Lachie and Rachel – and thank you to everyone who got busy, made work and entered portfolios.

 

 

 

Rotary Club of Esk Valley Fundraising Ceilidh

Our thanks to the Rotary Club of Esk Valley, who are tonight hosting a ceilidh to raise funds for Room 13 International. Members of the club have shown great support for our studios and projects in Scotland and overseas. In 2013 some members attended a presentation from young artists and studio managers responsible for the Room 13 studios in Lochaber, Scotland, and others have previously visited the studio in Caol Youth Centre.

We thank them for their efforts in support of our work and hope everyone has a fantastic evening!

Members of The Rotary Club of Esk Valley meeting some of the young artists and studio managers on a previous visit to Room 13

 

New Administrator post for Room 13 International – applications closed.

Are you looking for an admin job with a difference? Room 13 International is looking to recruit a resourceful and self motivated person to provide administrative support as we develop the organisation. 

Like the studios themselves, the organisation of Room 13 International has grown organically, and has now reached a crucial stage in its development. Dedicated administrative support is urgently needed to support the team of artists currently responsible for leading and developing the organisation and enhance their ability to deliver the expected high standard of creative and socially valuable work.

The position is expected to be of particular interest to someone who is self motivated and has excellent organisational and interpersonal skills. If you think you could handle working behind the scenes at Room 13, we would love to hear from you!

No more applications please. Applications to this post are now closed. Thanks to everyone who applied. We look forward to introducing our new administrator soon.

“People aren’t like Robots!” Exhibition

Room 13 Open Day

We have an open day coming up where you can come by and experience Room 13 by diving right into the middle of it all and see for yourself how a Room 13 works within a school and community environment!

There will be visits to the original Room 13 based in Caol Primary School at regular intervals throughout the day. The artists in residence and managers will be on hand and will happily answer any questions you may have about what really goes on in a Room 13. It will be also a great opportunity to bring up any individual project ideas you may have which are relevant to your community or organisation and you can book a one to one meeting to discuss it further.

Room 13 Open Day, Caol Youth Centre from 11:00am – 3:00pm on the 27th of September.

Come by for the whole day or just drop in for a chat!

Contact: admin@room13internation.org for further details on the day’s events..

Room 13 Summer Studio 2013

Room 13 Community Studio in Caol was the focal point for our 2013 summer programme. which included Portfolio Preparation for senior school pupils, workshops for Very Young Artists and popular afternoon studio sessions for artists of all levels of experience and ability.

There was drawing, painting, construction, wood, wire, looking, thinking, talking, photography, glitter, poetry, printmaking, sculpting, discovery, hilarity, collaboration, mystification, exploration and questions. Lots of questions.  A good time was had by all.

Browse photos of the fun and interesting happenings at Room 13 Summer Studio 2013.

More photos here on our Facebook page.