Part of Engage, Engage Scotland supports and represents Engage members based in Scotland whilst responding to regional needs.
Engage Scotland offers a programme of advocacy, research, and training we help ensure the quality, inclusivity, and relevance of engagement and participation in the visual arts in Scotland
Sarah Frood Robinson is Engage Scotland’s Coordinator. Contact Sarah if you have any queries or if you would like to discuss membership and ideas for training. Email: [email protected].
Join Engage Scotland’s New Instagram Community @engage.scot
Apply to The Stephen Palmer Travel Bursary 2024
Creative Scotland and Engage Scotland are delighted to announce that The Stephen Palmer Travel Bursary 2024 is now accepting applications.
Application deadline is Noon, Monday 15 April 2024.
Open to freelance artists, curators, producers, writers and educators at any stage in their career. Each bursary supports the creative and professional development of an individual working in the visual arts sector in Scotland. Up to 10 bursaries of £500 available, with additional budget for access needs.
In 2023, we supported 12 practitioners through the bursary. Learn more about their projects with our interview series.
Our priority is to support work that has respect for the environment and for participants to use this bursary to encourage sustainable travel within Scotland and the UK. We are especially interested in helping people who may have had limited opportunity to travel for work purposes before.
People who are not able to travel due to a health condition, disability and/or caring responsibilities, who would benefit from being supported can undertake their research at a distance through digital and/or other facilitated means. Digital software/subscriptions for those who can’t travel and would require specific programmes etc. are eligible.
The Stephen Palmer Travel Bursary was developed in 2022 by Creative Scotland in partnership with Engage Scotland, to honour Stephen Palmer, a highly regarded and deeply respected Officer and Visual Arts specialist who devoted much of his career to the work of Creative Scotland and its predecessor body, The Scottish Arts Council. Established following his death in 2021 these annual awards reflect Stephen’s deep belief in the value of travel to broaden horizons, to build new connections and to inform and inspire the development of new work.
Full information and application form: https://engage.org/engage-scotland/engage-scotland-fact-sheet/
For any further information or support with your application please contact: Sarah Robinson Frood, Engage Scotland Coordinator: [email protected].
Image: Katherine Murphy, previous recipient of The Stephen Palmer Travel Bursary
Mapping Contemporary Visual Art and Design Education in Scotland
Engage Scotland and Queen Margaret University (QMU) Edinburgh are delighted to launch a mapping research report and 3 case studies exploring engagement with visual art and design in Scottish secondary education.
The research describes the challenges that schools face in teaching art and design; and suggests ways for the visual arts and education sectors to partner to better support young people’s learning and access to careers in the creative sector.
The focus on literacy and numeracy because of Covid-19 has led to real concerns across the UK that art and design education will be further marginalised. This research describes the benefits that children and young people gain from art and design education, such as improved wellbeing and confidence. These benefits are even more important given current concerns about children and young people’s mental health. The research demonstrates the potential for training, education, and employment in the creative sector, which is critical as we look to the cultural and education sectors to jointly address social inequalities.
This research was commissioned by Engage Scotland and funded by Creative Scotland and the Scottish Government. The report’s authors are Caitlin McKinnon, Anthony Schrag and Rachel Blanche.
The full research report is accompanied by a list of key findings plus actions and recommendations which could be taken to strengthen contemporary visual art and design education in Scotland.
ART evolution
ART Evolution is Engage Scotland’s exciting new collaborative and responsive programme supporting young people aged 16 – 25, freelance artists, creative educators and visual arts organisations/galleries as we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Our ART evolution partners have blogs where you can follow their projects progress.
In April 2021 Engage Scotland undertook a scoping and consultation exercise, to understand what support the visual arts sector needs to ensure inclusive engagement with young people, as it emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings from the scoping phase are available in a short report available here.
Find us on Twitter @YouthArtsScot
SCAN and Engage Scotland announce the three artists and curators who will receive the Mandate Climate Action Fund
Not going back to normal: Manifesto launch from Collective
New disabled artists manifesto
A new manifesto calling for radical change in the arts was launched last year. Not going back to normal has been created following an open call out to disabled artists. Published as a website and a book, the project combines visual art, poetry, manifestos and more, and includes contributions from 47 contemporary disabled artists living in Scotland.
During the COVID-19 lockdown, the world suddenly became interested in isolation, exclusion, and distance communication – issues which disabled people have experienced long before the pandemic. As the country locked down, disabled artists in Scotland were asked to re-imagine what ‘normal’ might look like in a radically accessible arts world.
Artists Harry Josephine Giles and Sasha Saben Callaghan have brought together contributions of art and ideas which show what the arts in Scotland could and should be like for disabled artists in the post-pandemic era.
Not going back to normal manifesto can be found here: https://www.notgoingbacktonormal.com/
About Not going back to normal
Not going back to normal was commissioned by a consortium of visual art organisations working together to address barriers faced by disabled artists in Scotland, made up of; Arika, Artlink, CCA, Collective (project producers), DCA, Glasgow School of Art Exhibitions, Project Ability, Scottish Sculpture Workshop.
The project is funded by Creative Scotland and Engage Scotland, and is independently managed and curated.
Improving access to galleries for visually impaired people
As part of Engage Scotland’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic, and the associated shutdown of the gallery sector, we supported Kirin Saeed, a visually impaired disability training specialist, to buddy up with the community engagement team at the National Galleries of Scotland, (NGS), in Edinburgh, during the summer of 2020. This micro project saw Kirin work with Meg Faragher, Communities Learning Coordinator in the Learning and Engagement Department, and other colleagues, as NGS sought to maintain existing links with visually impaired audiences and adapt their programmes to offer ongoing access for visually impaired people at this challenging time.
Engage Scotland, SCAN and the Scottish Artists Union launch Visual Arts Manifesto
Engage Scotland has joined
The Visual Arts Manifesto has been launched as a direct response to the current challenges facing the art sector as a whole and is our first public response to the new National Culture Strategy consultation process.
The Manifesto sets out our policy demands but also our collective commitment to positive change. This vision and set of ambitions for the sector will help ensure that we maintain Scotland’s global reputation as a dynamic, innovative place for contemporary visual arts.
