Exchange creating bright future for Perth’s artists
Perth’s new art studio complex housed in what was a disused primary school has become home to over 20 creatives.
The innovation for the Fair City has been brought to fruition by artists organisation Wasps, a national charity and social enterprise which provides high quality affordable studios and workspaces across Scotland.
Perth Creative Exchange, built with a £4.5 million investment, will get its official opening in February, but already artists are reaping the benefits of making it their creative base.
Perth born and bred jewellery maker and workshop tutor Jenna McDonald ran a boutique in Crieff up until a year ago.
She took a gamble by giving up the shop and working from home in the hope of being able to secure space at the Creative Exchange when it became available.
With a studio leased at the Stormont Street facility, she is now all set up to make her bright, bold aluminium and sterling silver jewellery.
Millie the whippet is her constant companion in the comfortable bright workshop space.
“It’s very hard these days to run a creative business on the High Street, and I’d heard about this project about three years ago and thought ‘yes, that’s for me’. I’m delighted now I’m in,” said Jenna.
She hopes that being based in affordable premises in the city will give her a bigger market for sales and commissions plus more opportunities to run jewellery workshops.
Around two dozen painters, illustrators, photographers and sculptors have also made the move.
The Perth Creative Exchange facility, a partnership with Perth and Kinross Council, offers 26 studio spaces,13 creative industry spaces plus many other support facilities.
The aim is to enable artists and makers to build up their businesses in a sector where earning a living can be tough.
Jon Hoad, whose work is used internationally to show what fossilised plants and animals looked like when they were alive, is another recent incomer.
Jon said: “It’s a brilliant opportunity for me. My pictures have been commissioned for use in museums, books, magazines and on TV, but now I want to expand my business to start producing things like T-shirts and posters of my own.”
Roberta Pederlozi commented: “Perth is such a lovely city – not too big and very friendly. I think that this building will really help it to become a creative hub.
“It is also superbly located, within easy reach of everywhere from Aberdeen and Dundee to Edinburgh and Glasgow.”
Ceri White, a ceramicist from Dunning specialising in colourful planters, had previously been working in a small wooden shed.
She said: “I kitted [the shed] out when I moved to the area, but in the winter it’s barely usable, it’s so tiny, cold and damp.
“These days I need to work more efficiently and to have more space, so this studio is perfect for me.”
In addition to studios, Perth Creative Exchange will provide 13 workspaces for creative businesses, a teaching space, hot-desking area and meeting rooms plus a public cafe, gallery and project space.
It is also home to The Famous Grouse Ideas Centre which is dedicated to incubating creative businesses.
Audrey Carlin, Wasps chief executive officer, said: “This really is a landmark moment for us.
“Wasps has come a long way since it opened its first studios in Dundee back in the 1970s.
“We are now supporting Scotland’s creative community in facilities from Shetland to Dumfries and Galloway.
“The facility could make a real difference to Perth, and the surrounding area, providing a much-needed boost to the artistic community while developing the creative economy.”
It is hoped Perth Creative Exchange will provide the right infrastructure and support to keep creative people in the area. University of the Highlands and Islands graduates often leave the area after completing their course in Perth because of the lack of suitable facilities and employment opportunities.
The hope is they will not want to go, now the studios and business space beckon.