After several very successful years spent developing Cupar Arts, Festival Director Gayle Nelson is set to leave the role. Here, she talks to Jenny Messenger about the triumphs and challenges of running the festival, and why she would encourage everyone to get involved. How did Cupar Arts first get started? Cupar Arts started in 2008 under a different name (Cupar Arts & Heritage Project) and eventually the name was shortened to Cupar Arts in (I think) 2012 when the organisation achieved charitable status. Originally, various people had come together with the idea of launching an… Read More »What’s next for Cupar Arts?

City Art Centre exhibition – Paper Trail: Drawings, Watercolours, Prints Paper’s important role in visual art is often overlooked in favour of what is on the paper, rather than the material itself. Yet the City Art Centre’s “Paper Trail” exhibitionseeks to put this right, emphasising paper’s endless potential and recognising that paper is as much a part of the artwork as paint or charcoal. Drawing on the City Art Centre’s permanent collection of historic and contemporary Scottish art, the exhibition reconsiders the ways that artists can make use ofthe humble sheet of paper, showcasing watercolours… Read More »Rock, Paper, Scissors

Between Ice and Sky Dundee has a rich history of developing far-flung shipping routes and industrial innovation, writes Jenny Messenger, both of which are flagged up in the McManus’ Charting New Waters exhibition – a showcase of recent acquisitions to Dundee’s permanent collection. Despite being set in a traditional gallery space, the artwork and objects on show are steeped in the art and business of travel. A major acquisition is the Antarctic Suite, a series of six icescapes painted by Kirkcaldy-born Frances Walker, who travelled to the Antarctic Peninsula on an 18-day voyage after receiving… Read More »Between Ice and Sky

Exquisite Corpse The Society of Scottish Artists (SSA) launched their intriguingly titled ‘Exquisite Corpse’ exhibition in St Andrews Museum at the weekend. This is the first time that the SSA have exhibited in St Andrews and this exhibition features 22 artists selected from 300 proposals submitted through an open call to SSA Members. Gayle Nelson of Cupar Arts is also the current President of the Society of Scottish Artists (SSA). Here, she speaks with SSA Vice President, Paul Charlton and SSA Member of Council, Katharine Aarrestad, both of whom curated the exhibition. How did you come up… Read More »Exquisite Corpse

Making a Monument Jenny Messenger Tucked away on Chalmers Close off Edinburgh’s High Street, disembodied voices and choral songs from Trinity Apse filter through the noise of the city. Inside, a video of interviews with community choirs from New Zealand shows a parish priest talking about how buildings aren’t everything. Olivia Webb’s Voices Project relocates a series of sound installations created for sites in Christchurch, New Zealand (where community spaces were devastated by the 2011 earthquake) to the deconstructed space of Trinity Apse. An aural monument, Voices Project is part of Edinburgh Art Festival’s recent… Read More »Making a Monument