RGU Create Networks supports creative groups across the North East

Seven networks across Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Angus, Moray and Orkney have been selected as part of RGU’s Create Networks programme, delivered by Gray’s School of Art’s creative unit, Look Again with funding from Creative Scotland.

The creative networks have received grants ranging from £500-£1500, to host workshops and activities to enhance knowledge, skills and capacity in the sector and to improve health and wellbeing across the north-east.

The Create Networks programme builds on the strengths of the first programme delivered in 2021 which supported groups of artists, musicians, designers and makers during the Covid pandemic lockdowns.

One of the groups selected for the latest RGU’s Create Networks programme is Angus Creatives. This grass roots network includes over fifty creative people who initially met online during lockdown. With support from RGU’s Create Network programme, the group is now hosting events to bring members together, and to attract new members.

Carol Sinclair from Angus Creatives said: “As a dispersed network it is very important to get together in person.  Our sharing event will help members get to know one another and will also include an activity to cement collaborative working and inspire ideas for network development.  

“RGU’s Create Networks programme will really help our group come together to strengthen relationships, enhance group cohesion, promote greater understanding across arts forms, combat isolation and enhance health and wellbeing.  It will also help raise the profile of the Angus Creatives as an active, inclusive and supportive creative network and we hope to encourage wider participation with our group.”  

In Orkney, an interdisciplinary group of Orkney based practitioners and researchers that includes artists, curators, writers, archaeologists, renewable energy experts, RSPB and geologists, have come together to host visual art workshops entitled ‘Air, Sea and Soil’ led by Tracy Mackenna at The Museum of Loss and Renewal with £1500 of funding.

Tracy MacKenna who is leading the workshops said: “Being awarded a Create Networks grant is a fantastic way for people to work together to devise an event that will celebrate Orkney and communicate it anew to local residents and international guests.”

In Moray, RGU’s Create Networks programme is supporting ‘Art in Nature’ workshops based at Moray Arts Centre that are being led by Moray’s Creativity & Nature Wellbeing network.

Harry Ross from Moray Art Centre said: “We are offering ‘Art in Nature’ workshops to help improve people’s wellbeing through creativity and nature.  Our network offers an invaluable hub to foster collaboration and knowledge exchange. It also reduces competition for funding in an austere financial climate. Whilst public health is in its early stages, we believe that through partnership working, and with the support of RGU’s Create Networks programme, the arts can help support health provision and build capacity in the Grampian Health region.”

In Aberdeen, Aberdonian drag duo, Joy on Tap, which comprises of performing artists Sleepy and Cadenza, has received funding (£1369) to expand their network and to collaborate with the Glasgow drag collective, ‘Shut up and King’ to co-produce a showcase featuring under-represented artists.

Tegan Hartley from Joy on Tap said: “We want to foster a safe LGBTQIA+ scene in Aberdeen, something the city desperately needs, and help its nascent drag scene to thrive. To do this, it’s crucial that we establish connections to the wider Scottish drag scene, increase diversity and platform under-appreciated groups within the artform, through for example drag kings. Look Again’s Create Network programme offers really invaluable support to help us do this.”

Jon Reid at Creative Aberdeen has also been selected to be part of the Create Network Programme, as has Gray’s School of Art alumna, Saiorse Horne, who has set up a creative collective called ‘Easterly Archive’, to deliver creative events across the region.

The North East Curators Network, is also benefitting from Create Networks support and is hosting a North East Curators Network event, aimed at curators (institutional and freelance), producers, students at graduate level and cultural sector professionals.

Svetlana Panova from the North East Curators Network, said: “As a curator in Aberdeen city, the support of RGU’s Create Network programme will allow me to connect with colleagues and create an active network of support and exchange across the North East of Scotland, hopefully continuing past the event. Currently in the city there is a very limited opportunity for subject-specific curatorial professional development outside of institutional roles, as well as a lack of space to share and network. This event will also be a great opportunity to connect with speakers from outside the city and explore positive examples of curatorial practice.”

Project Lead for Gray’s Create Network programme, Hilary Nicoll, says: “We are absolutely thrilled to have secured more Creative Scotland funding to support the evolution and adaptation of more grassroots creative networks in the north east. The first Create Network programme helped ten networks of creative practitioners thrive throughout the lockdown, and we’re looking forward to supporting further development among our diverse and innovative creative sector post-pandemic.

“The Create Networks programme, led by Look Again at RGU, is an important part of the University’s desire to support the cultural, economic and social regeneration of the north east, and to foster a vibrant culture of grass-roots creativity across the region as the creative sector grapples with the cost of living challenges that we are all experiencing.”

A sharing event will take place on 5 July at the Lemon Tree to allow the funded groups to come together to discuss how they used the award to support their creative networks.

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Main image shows 'Air, sea and soil' drawing group in Orkney, led by Tracy MacKenna. Gallery images show 'Art in Nature’ workshops based at Moray Arts Centre, Carol Sinclair at Angus Creatives, Jon Reid at Creative Aberdeen, Aberdonian drag duo, Joy on Tap,  Svetlana Panova from North East Curators Network (credit Isabel Housgassian) and a Curatorial Development Seminar (photo credit, Aberdeen City Council Archives, Galleries and Museums).