Trio’s bid to help creative people
GOSSIP group starts
Three artists from the Forth Valley area have set up a Stirling support group for art students and graduates.
GOSSIP (Graduate Opportunities Supporting Sustained Independent Practice) was founded in August last year by Wallace High art teacher Lesley McDermott and fellow group leaders Emma Crombie and Chelsie Dysart who are currently operating from the Cowane Centre in Cowane Street where they have studios.
Chelsie, from Alloa works part time in a supermarket and expects to graduate from Stirling University this summer with a BA (Hons) art and design.
She said: “The three of us are very excited about GOSSIP which is why we are devoting any spare time we have to to continue building it.
“We feel creative people within education and those who have graduated may struggle to find opportunities – or stay in the swing of creating artwork as independent creatives.
“That’s where we come in. We aim to open doors for artists to continue their work outside of education and help them in their own personal path to working as an independent artist.
“We hope they will have fun along the way – by meeting other creative people and building a larger creative community within the Stirling area, where such opportunities are lacking.”
Emma, from Stirling, graduated from Stirling University with a BA (Hons) in art and design last year and works part-time with Stirling Council and Lesley, from Alva, used to run the ARC Gallery in Stirling Arcade.
So far the three have staged an opening exhibition night and networking night in the Cowane Centre studios
They are also organising an exhibition, entitled Communication, which takes place at the Tolbooth from February 16 to 21.
Twenty-two-year-old Chelsie said: “We have been working together to offer a range of opportunities for creative students and graduates
“So far, this has involved our free studio space courtesy of Stirling Council within the Cowane Centre.
“We have had exhibitions and networking events within the Cowane, social events and intend to introduce skill-sharing workshops. We are also taking part in the upcoming Tolbooth exhibitions ‘Communications’ in February.”
GOSSIP have also been working with other organisations including Creative Stirling and the Macrobert Arts Centre.
Chelsie added: “At present we are non-funded. However, in future we do intend to apply for funding to continue offering larger opportunities as GOSSIP grows.
“We work alongside the council at the moment due to the agreement we have with renting studios within Cowane Centre.
“This agreement allows us to use the centre and other council-run facilities within Stirling for events and exhibitions as we are working to build a creative community.”