Aileen goes with the flow on river project
Artist gets funding grant to research Ericht system
A Blairgowrie-based artist has been awarded a grant from Creative Scotland for a project on the River Ericht in the town.
Aileen M Stackhouse has been granted the funding from the national arts development agency as part of its open projects programme which aims to encourage individuals or groups of artists to put together proposals for new work.
This could include exhibitions, research, plays or books and the fund has awarded over £800,000 to 36 initiatives in the latest round of grants.
Aileen, who has been living and working in and around Blairgowrie for 28 years, will undertake extensive research into the River Ericht which will inform future work.
A trained sculptor who graduated from Duncan of Jordanstone in Dundee in 1998 before going on to complete a Masters and a PhD, Aileen became a self-employed artist in 2014 after several years of teaching.
Her first love is creating large sculptures and installations, and the self-described ‘fine artist in her own home’ is delighted to have been awarded the grant.
She said: “It is a really competitive process. I first applied two years ago and was knocked back on one occasion simply because there were too many applications for everyone to be successful.
“This was the third time that I have submitted an application so I feel very lucky that all the work I put into the applications, with help from Growbiz, who have been brilliant, has been successful.”
Describing her inspiration for the project on the River Ericht, Aileen said: “I have always been interested in water. It changes all the time, it changes form and it gets everywhere, it is totally unpredictable.
“And the thing I really like about rivers is that they change so much in height through the year - that fascinates me. Something can happen up the glen and suddenly there is a torrent in Blairgowrie.
“Types of water are different in composition and I want to find out more about that for example.
“So this project, which is 38 weeks long and officially started last month, is about research.
“I will document what I do and who I speak to and I will make a piece of work inspired by the river about water and in particular the Ericht.
“It is such an important river for this part of the country.”
As part of her research, Aileen will be holding a series of four sessions at the Create at NEST workshops on Reform Street where people can come and see what she has been doing and contribute ideas and talk about what the river means to them or memories they have of it - perhaps someone’s income depends on it for example, either now or in the past.
She explained: “I hope to contact people who are involved in bringing people to Blairgowrie because of the river, and I think with the proposed Riverside venture this project has come at a good time.”
Congratulating the successful applicants, Amanda Catto, head of visual arts at Creative Scotland, commented: “The quality, ambition, reach, and diversity of the visual arts in Scotland is reflected in the most recent awards made through the open project fund which will support a range of opportunities for artists and curators to research and develop their work and to reach new audiences.
“These latest awards will provide invaluable support to the successful applicants and we look forward to seeing their work develop as a result.”