Eight of Scotland’s arts organisations are moving this summer to Glasgow’s new centre for the arts and creativity, Trongate 103.
Funded by Glasgow City Council, The National Lottery through the Scottish Arts Council, Scottish Enterprise and The Merchant City Townscape Heritage Initiative, Trongate 103 will open to the public in September 2009 - offering opportunities for the public to participate in, view and buy a wide variety of art.
Trongate 103, which has been re-developed by Elder and Cannon Architects, is being described as a landmark in the story of Glasgow’s cultural development - as well as a unique home for some of Scotland’s best known artists and creators, including Glasgow Print Studio, Street Level Photoworks, Transmission, Glasgow Centre for Media Access, the Russian Cultural Centre, Glasgow Independent Studio and Project Room, Sharmanka and Project Ability.
The project has been driven forward through the collaborative efforts of these organisations in partnership with Culture and Sport Glasgow, who have led on the creation of a joint vision for the project from its earliest stages, and the supporting design, access and audience development plans that support this vision.
Trongate 103 sees the development of an existing six-storey Edwardian warehouse into a creative hub for the production and exhibition of contemporary visual art. It will house galleries, workshops, artists’ studios and production spaces supporting the creation of art in a wide variety of media including printmaking, photography, digital media, film, video, kinetic sculpture, painting and ceramics.
There is no other facility like this in the UK - and few others in the world - in terms of supporting such a broad range of practice.
At the same time as supporting the careers of professional artists, the building will offer opportunities to members of the public to view, make and learn about art in an environment that values the creativity of all. Trongate 103 will offer classes and training courses for members of the public, curriculum based education programmes for schools, and tailored outreach projects for youth and community groups.
Malcolm Dickson, chair of the Trongate 103 Tenants’ Forum, said: “The organisations in Trongate 103 show the diversity and vibrancy of the visual arts in the city. They have emerged from the grassroots at various times across the decades and cater to an incredible amount of artists and audiences. They are about showing and making art as well as about bringing out the creativity of others. “Art is the yeast in the bread, not the icing on the cake - the stuff of the everyday as well as the extraordinary.”
Jim Tough, Chief Executive of the Scottish Arts Council, said: “Trongate 103 is an outstanding new creative space in the heart of Glasgow’s Merchant City, an environment for artists to collaborate, nourish their ambition and sustain the excellence that Scotland is recognised for across the world. The mixture of bespoke spaces for creation and extensive new exhibition areas, alongside inviting, welcoming spaces for the public is a significant commitment to the health and growth of our creative communities. The sympathetic restoration of the building ensures that wherever artists are working, the surrounding Glasgow cityscape offers limitless inspiration. We wish the tenants a long and flourishing residency in their new home.”
Images: GCC (Click on images to enlarge)
