The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
£4.5m arts hub breathes creative life into old Perth school building
FAIR CITY: Provost officially opens joint project between council and Wasps Artists’ Studios
A new £4.5 million arts hub has officially opened its doors in Perth as tenants took the wraps off their first exhibition.
The Perth Creative Exchange at the former St John’s Primary School on Stormont Street was unveiled by Provost Dennis Melloy yesterday.
Artists, ranging from illustrators to jewellery makers, have taken up residence in the new venture which was created as a joint project between Wasps Artists’ Studios and Perth and Kinross Council.
The space also contains a new gallery, the Gannochy Project Space, where the first exhibition by the tenants, Fair Exchange, will run until March 28.
It is expected the new space will create 66 jobs and generate wage earnings of nearly £1 million per year.
Audrey Carlin, chief executive of Wasps, said the new space would fill a gap in Perth’s creative market, where there has been a “real shortage” of high-quality, affordable studio and workspaces.
Ms Carlin said: “We have been overwhelmed by the enthusiasm that artists, makers and creative businesses have shown for the new Perth Creative Exchange, and it has been amazing to see this old school building come back to life.
“The official opening is the chance to mark what we hope will be the start of a new chapter in the story of the area’s cultural economy – and will also be the moment when we start to welcome in the general public, for what will be the first of many exhibitions.”
One of the new tenants, illustrator and author John Halverson, had three previous ill-fated attempts at getting his own studio space before the Creative Exchange arose.
One burnt down, one was a “death trap” with floors that flooded and blackened power sockets, and the third was in such a dodgy area the police advised him to leave before it was relieved of all his stock and equipment.
He said: “I have been waiting for years for a space like this.”
Other new tenants include visual artist Susan Hutchison, dinosaur illustrator Jon Hoad, ceramicist Ceri White and landscape artist Libby Scott.
Provost Dennis Melloy wants the new venture to provide an economic boost to the area. He said: “We are creating an environment which encourages creative and artistic growth, whilst retaining and attracting talent to Perth.
“Not only has Perth Creative Exchange attracted resident creative people to the Fair City, this splendid facility is already fully let and expected to support 66 full-time equivalent jobs and generate wage earnings of just under £1m per annum across the local economy. Perth and Kinross is a place where businesses thrive.”
“Opening is the chance to mark what we hope will be the start of a new chapter in the story of the area’s cultural economy. AUDREY CARLIN, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OF WASPS