Artist
PROJECTS
The Stove
The Stove Network
EXPLORATION
Can the 'arts' really make a difference in our communities, can creative practice help bring people into the heart of decision-making for themselves, and their environments, to co-develop better solutions for the places they live.
The work
I have been part of growing the collective 'arts' practice of The Stove since I joined the Curatorial Team in 2015 (what was a collective creative directorship). Over this time I have had the privilege to be a core part of the dynamic Stovie team, and worked with them, our membership and our community, to help re-imagine and re-shape our collective work to the ever changing needs of our place, Dumfries and the wider region.Part of our work has been to evolve the roles and framework that supports The Stove, an experiment and exploration of its very own, and as part of a recent re-structure (April 2021) I moved from a freelance position to a permanent contract as Partnerships and Project Development Manager.
The collective practice of The Stove exists, grown by our team, artists and non-artists, our members, and our community, to develop community-led work as a foundation in local, and grassroots, decision-making through creative action.
A bit more info
The Stove Network (TSN) is a community-focused and membership organisation (membership of 600+) that uses the arts and creativity as tools to involve people in deciding and shaping the future of their town and the places they live. A regular programme of activity is run from The Stove Cafe, the heart of The Stove's 3 storey building on the High Street, alongside larger partnership projects that are directed towards creating skills and opportunities, empowering disadvantaged communities, building capacity and using creativity to shape community-led solutions for our places. This is a multi-disciplinary way of working with individuals, groups, organisational partners, third sector organisations, local authorities and governing bodies to build relationships and collaborative work from grassroots action.
A few Links
Creative Placemaking – a local phenomena in the South of Scotland
