Press Release
13 September 2010
Dumfries & Galloway Arts Gracefield Arts Centre Edinburgh Road Dumfries, DG1 1JQ
Tel: 01387 253383 Fax: 01387 253303 E-mail: [email protected]
An unusual afternoon out is on offer in the pretty village of New Luce on Saturday 25 September. The tiny community of New Luce first commissioned sculptor Matt Baker as lead artist, assisted by Jo Warner, as community artists eighteen months ago. Since then the village has enjoyed a rich and varied experience running workshops and exhibitions, producing photographs and ‘The Film of New Luce’. The New Luce Community Arts Project has now culminated in four sculpture installations which were informed and inspired by the local residents, their memories and the history of the parish.
From 2.30pm to 5.30pm New Luce celebrates the opening of its Community Arts Project with tours of the sculptures made by Matt Baker and Jo Warner, with design input from the community. Presiding Officer Scottish Parliament, the Rt Hon Alex Fergusson will open the project at a reception, and the afternoon will also include a poetry reading by Stewartry poet Mary Smith and music from Wigtownshire Small Circle traditional music at 4pm. In the evening traditional band Life O Reilly will play in the Kenmuir Arms. Mandy Green, who plays in Life O’Reilly, was brought up in the same pub! The event is supported by GaelForce.
The New Luce Community Arts Project was born when New Luce Community was offered possible funding by SSE Generation via their Artfield Fell Windfarm Community Fund. Local resident Una Forster felt that an arts project could involve and engage all ages and people in New Luce area. It enabled the community to work together with professional artists, produce final work with meaning – and also have good fun. Lord Stair donated the sites where the sculptures are being installed, and Dumfries & Galloway Arts have acted as project managers and advisors. Una Forster said: “Matt has wonderfully met our criteria, integrating his work beautifully with the landscape and he and Jo have added lovely modern twists. It has been a fabulous journey, taking us in directions we did not expect – we have produced four distinct artworks which draw local people and visitors to beautiful and lesser known places around New Luce.”
Nationally renowned artist Matt Baker, who has worked on several striking projects in Dumfries and Galloway, and visual artist Jo Warner have engaged with the community and produced artwork that both complements the environment yet is distinctive. Matt Baker, who has created, among others, artworks at Cairnsmore of Fleet, the Galloway Forest, St Mary’s Loch and on the Nith in Dumfries, said: “I am so impressed that this tiny village had the ambition and ideas to engage with a contemporary art project. There were no compromises made – this was a very fulfilling project.”
Ends >>>
Note to Editors:
• Dumfries & Galloway Arts (formerly Dumfries & Galloway Arts Association) is based in Dumfries, with an office open to the public at The Midsteeple in the High Street – the new Arts Information Hub. Dumfries & Galloway Arts create and support arts development at all levels, from grassroots to high profile national and international work and projects.
We provide an independent single point of contact for a wide range of arts and cultural information, advice, tickets, contacts and skills, which can be accessed by a variety of audiences, artists and stakeholders. www.dgarts.co.uk
Contact:
Jean Atkin
Marketing Officer
Dumfries & Galloway Arts
Gracefield Arts Centre
28 Edinburgh Road
Dumfries
DG1 1JQ
01387 253383
[email protected] PLEASE NOTE CHANGE OF EMAIL ADDRESS!