Catalyst for change

(Photo- Kevin Harrison of Artlink and Scene Stirling with aerial dance artist Hannah Uttley)
 
Today I attended  a one-day event, Scene Stirling Symposium, to celebrate the creativity and community of Stirling.
Many artists have received grants from this funding body  and they spoke about how it had helped them in their careers.
 
Here are some comments:
 
“ I didn’t need a big production company to make films. It could just be me and my camera and a tripod”  Zephyra Durkin, non-binary filmmaker and videographer.
 
“Self investment gave me a confidence in my own creative voice.” Orla Stevens, artist from Callander.
 
“ Working with community groups allows me to be really experimental with people who are not confined by the construction of art history and something exciting and new happens,” Hanna Uttley, multidisciplinary community artist and aerial dance artist who has run workshops for vulnerable people including aerial dance classes for those suffering from trauma.
 
“Covid made my business, it made me do things I would never have done” - Rebecca Wilson, ceramicist and jeweller, co-founder of the Central Scotland School of Craft in Dunblane.
 
Other artists taking part were Omar Aborida, musician and filmmaker who received a grant to produce a video with local reggae stinger IBrina, David Sherry, a performance artist interested in making artworks that relate to everyday life, songwriter Stephen McAll, and Carolyn Fraser who works within the environment.
 
It revealed, what many of us have long known, there is a wealth of creative talent in the area and people don’t have to go to Edinburgh or Glasgow to establish themselves or work collaboratively with others.
 
But what is needed is a cultural directory of artists across all genres so they can find each other.
 
For in the art world today collaboration and community is everything.
 
I was delighted to see that my friend Laura Fyfe, poet and writer, chaired this exciting event.