Gray’s to open up creative opportunities to thousands with Mobile Art School

The art school is set to head out into the community with the launch of the Mobile Art School, an innovative project will focus primarily on widening access to creative education and careers for young people.

The team from Gray’s will travel to local schools in the custom-built Mobile Art School van equipped with state-of-the-art creative tools and materials, delivering workshops across a range of art and design subject areas.

The Mobile Art School will also offer training and mentoring opportunities for students and graduates, helping to develop the next generation of community-engaged artists and designers, attracting and retaining creative talent in Aberdeen and the North-east to further benefit the region in years to come.

Head of Gray’s, Libby Curtis, commented: “The mobile art school exists, essentially, to get the word out about the opportunities in the creative industries – it’s a fantastic industry to work in, and I’m not sure everyone understands what those opportunities are.  

“So many people will benefit from this fantastic new project. We are going to be having a huge programme of events, workshops and activities, aimed at schools and colleges. We want to get out there and talk to young individuals, those individuals that are thinking about, or are interested in, art and design, and the Mobile Art School provides us with a great platform to do so.  

“We really hope that the Mobile Art School acts as a catalyst for people to start talking about the creative opportunities that exist.”

Elaine Forrest, Principal Teacher for Art, Design and Technology at Aberdeen Grammar School, added: “We are delighted to have been part of this exciting opportunity; a platform that allows a greater understanding of the creative industries, directed specifically for students at a pivotal time in their lives.

“Aberdeen's creative scene is becoming much more vibrant with the Art Gallery re-opening and large scale projects such as Look Again and Nuart, along with smaller galleries, exhibitions and craft fairs growing in numbers. It is an ideal time to experience the Mobile Art School, to engage pupils with how varied a future they could have should they follow a career in Art.

Craig Barrowman, Mobile Art School Coordinator at Gray’s, added: “The Mobile Art School is going to give people a chance to try some of the amazing range of skills and techniques that students here learn.

“We will be offering traditional skills, such as drawing, sculpture, and stone carving. We will also be doing more high-tech workshops, such as sculpting in VR, where people can use VR headsets and cutting edge technology to create forms of infinite scale in a virtual space.

“I’m really excited about is taking the amazing range of kit that we have and sharing the experience of how amazing it is to be an artist and designer and how much fun it can be.”