Photos of Zing installed

Last year I was approached by the Sculpture Placement Group (SPG) who asked whether I would like to contribute any of my sculptural works in long-term storage to the Sculpture Adoption Scheme, an adoption service for sculptures, seeking to match works of art with new guardians.




"The Sculpture Adoption Scheme will bring sculptural joy into people’s daily lives and will test a new model for circulating artworks, increasing access to art ownership and alleviating artists of the pressures of storage and space. Let’s give work hidden in storage a new life!"

It was launched as part of the exhibition Sculpture Showroom which ran from the 20th April – 7th May during Glasgow International Festival of Visual Art 2018

I was delighted to hear that my sculptures Zing are being enjoyed by the independent organisation North Lanarkshire Advocacy who adopted my artwork last year. They sent me some photos of the work installed.



https://sculptureplacementgroup.org.uk/sculpture-adoption-scheme/sculpture-adoption-scheme-2/

Sculpture Placement Group Curators' Talk - Sculpture Showroom, Gi 2018 @GiFestival

Join Sculpture Placement Group for a talk about Sculpture Showroom at Glasgow Sculpture Studios on Sunday 6th May at 3pm. 

Sculpture Placement Group will lead a walk round their newest project Sculpture Showroom, an adoption service for sculptures, seeking to match works of art with new guardians. Participants will be able to learn more about the works included in the exhibition and the wider adoption scheme that includes 95 works, all of which are available for adoption.

The talk will take place on Sunday 6th May at 3pm and will last for around 1hr. Places are free of charge, but places are limited so please book your place using this Eventbrite link https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/sculpture-showroom-curators-tour-tickets-44668794567

Sculpture Showroom takes place at Glasgow Sculpture Studios, The Whisky Bond, 2 Dawson Road, Glasgow, G4 9SS

Sculpture Placement Group hosts Artists and Adoptors Speed Dating Event at Glasgow Sculpture Studios

Sculpture Placement Group would like to invite you to take part in their Artists and Adopters Speed Dating event on Thursday 26th April, 6-8pm at Glasgow Sculpture Studios, The Whisky Bond, 2 Dawson Road, Glasgow, G4 9SS.



This event accompanies Sculpture Showroom, an adoption service for sculptures, seeking to match works of art with new guardians. It will bring together artists and prospective adopters to meet, talk about sculptures offered for adoption, spaces that may be available for the display of works, new audiences for the work and to perhaps even start the adoption process. The event will use a ‘speed dating’ format to allow participants to meet and learn about many different sculptures and organisations/groups in the one evening.

Places are free of charge, but places are limited so please book your place using Eventbrite https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/artists-and-adopters-speed-dating-event-artists-tickets-45172778998

Opening of Sculpture Showroom, 21st April 3-5pm at Glasgow Sculpture Studios

I am pleased to be contributing to Sculpture Showroom, an adoption service for sculptures, seeking to match works of art with new guardians. The project is conceived and curated by Sculpture Placement Group (SPG), a new organisation seeking to prolong the lifespan of sculptural works.

For Sculpture Showroom, SPG have worked with artists to identify sculptural works in long-term storage with no current future that they are happy to offer for adoption by community groups and other organisations. Sculpture Showroom will bring sculptural joy into people’s daily lives and will test a new model for circulating artworks, increasing access to art ownership and alleviating artists of the pressures of storage and space. Let’s give work hidden in storage a new life!

When looking through the catalogue I realised how many of the artworks are stored by members of the artist's family. From my Granny's garage to the attic of Miriam Mallalieu's ex-boyfriend, artwork is being stored, and indeed hidden, in all kinds of 'empty' space.

Sculpture Showroom will act as a pilot for SPG’s ongoing sculpture adoption scheme and is launched as part of Glasgow International Festival of Visual Art 2018. There are 95 works by 54 artists currently offered for adoption and these are presented within a catalogue and exhibition. All works included are available for adoption during the festival and beyond. 

The catalogue includes: Alex Allan, Beth Shapeero, Tom Alan, Daisy Richardson, Jennifer Wicks, Laura Aldridge & Anna Mayer, Laura Aldridge, Tessa Lynch, Victoria Evans, Cate Newton, Catalina Barroso-Luque, Helen Shaddock, Tim Sandys, Louise Gibson, Allison and Bray, Thom Rees, Beagles & Ramsay, Oona Wilkinson, Craig Coulthard, Nick Evans, Louise Barrington, Graham Fagen, James McLardy, Ally Wallace, Raymond Strachan, Zsofia Jakab, Marcin Krupa, Alys Owen, Littlewhitehead, Elaine Allison, Arieh Frosh, Janie Nicoll, Joseph Buckley, Jolanta Dolewska, Elke Finkenauer, David Sherry, Laura Buttons, Oliver Braid, WeiKeong Tan, Lada Wilson, Mary Redmond, Rachel Barron, Andrew Lacon, Emma Pratt, Felix Welch, Corrie Thomson, Rae-Yen Song, Kevin Andrew Morris, Ellie Harrison, Graeme Durant, Leontios Toumpouris, Hannah Imlach, Kate V Robertson, Toby Paterson, Rachel Lowther, Ilana Halperin and Jock Mooney. 

The exhibition includes: Laura Aldridge, Beagles and Ramsay, Mary Redmond, Andrew Lacon, Rachel Lowther, Nick Evans, Felix Welch and Littlewhitehead.

Sculpture Showroom will run from 20th April - 7th May at Glasgow Sculpture Studios, The Whisky Bond, 2 Dawson Road, Glasgow, G4 9SS.

For more information please visit https://sculptureplacementgroup.org.uk/

I'm taking part in an adoption scheme for modern sculpture

An adoption scheme for modern sculpture is being launched by a group of contemporary artists in Glasgow, and I am delighted to be part of it.

Sculpture Placement Group, (L-R) Kate V Robertson, Michelle Emery-Barker and Martin Craig 

The Sculpture Placement Group will give charities and other organisations the chance to borrow sculptures which are currently in long-term storage.

Organisers say it will provide an opportunity to take artworks to places they would not otherwise be shown.

The scheme will be piloted at Glasgow Sculpture Studios as part of Glasgow International 2018, which takes place 20 April to 7 May. A selection of works will be displayed in mock environments designed by the artists, with a larger number of works also available via an accompanying catalogue.

Adoption will be free but "guardians" will take responsibility for care and display of the artwork.

The move follows previous success with the innovative Art Lending Library.

Kate V Robertson, one of the three curators behind the project, said there is "loads of enthusiasm" within the art community for the idea.

She said: "All over the country there are superb sculptures by respected artists that are hidden away and have no clear future when they could be seen and enjoyed by new and wider audiences.

"The art market puts a lot of emphasis on new work by sculptors with little provision for what happens to pieces after an exhibition is over. Some is destroyed but the artists put much of it into long-term storage.

"We've been talking to artists about whether they would like to give new life to some of their work by offering it for adoption and the response has been great, loads of enthusiasm."




Glasgow artist Rachel Lowther said she is looking forward to seeing who comes forward to adopt the pieces she is putting forward.

She said: "My studio is full of sculpture now and it can be a problem finding space to create anything new. Sculptors either have to keep work in their studios or pay extra for storage.

"This is a great experiment - it is better to have art out in the world than in boxes. A sculpture is a better place to meet and talk than a water cooler."



Fellow artist Nick Evans said: "A few years ago I was invited to do a solo exhibition at Tramway, which was great, I really threw myself into creating the pieces. There were a dozen large plaster sculptures around 1.5m tall and weighing 100kg each.

"I didn't want to destroy them afterwards - it was a significant moment in my career. I swapped one with my landlord for two shipping containers and space in the back yard to store the rest.

"The prospect of finding more interesting spaces and ways to display this work really interests me, as does the whole idea of giving a new sense of value to the work."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-43127639


https://www.a-n.co.uk/news/brief-glasgow-artists-launch-sculpture-adoption-scheme-peckhams-arcadia-missa-relocate-due-gentrification