Category: Muirhouse

The Travelling Gallery is back on the road

An exhibition of contemporary art responding to the themes evoked by Scotland’s Year of Coasts and Waters 20/21

Travelling Gallery has announced the relaunch of its Spring 2020 exhibition, Shapes of Water, which was paused due to the pandemic. The new autumn tour will take place from 2 September to November across Scotland.

The Travelling Gallery will be stopping off at North Edinburgh Arts in Muirhouse on 15th September.

Travelling Gallery, an exciting event supported by EventScotland through Scotland’s Year of Coasts and Waters 20/21 and Scotland’s Events Recovery Fund, has invited three thought-provoking and exciting young artists to produce new work reflecting their individual perspectives on our relationship with coasts and waters.

The mobile art gallery – which drives contemporary art to all corners of the country – will feature an exhibition of drawings, riso prints, audio and film work from the three artists when it takes to the road later this week. 

Its Autumn tour will begins outside Edinburgh’s City Art Centre today (Thursday 2 September) before visiting venues across the country.

The three exhibiting artists are:

Suzie Eggins works across drawing, printmaking and sculpture and uses her imagination as a microscope to examine the cells and structures of our natural environment to create beautiful geometric drawings and installations. For Shapes of Water, Eggins turns her attention to Scotland’s water and explores the idea that our thoughts and emotions can affect our environment.

Amy Gear is a mixed media artist based in Shetland and characteristically uses her Shetland dialect to outline her artistic practice, using local words to describe the coast and landscape.

Her drawings and paintings go beyond the traditional ideals of a beautiful landscape and instead explore the connections between body and land. For Shapes of Water, Amy departs from a piece of writing inspired by her Shetland Grandparents describing the comfort in witnessing steely storms and angry waves; knowing that the unrest will benefit the buoyant sea life. The resulting artwork is a playful and cherished tribute to family and the sea.

Rhona Mühlebach is a Swiss filmmaker based in Glasgow and her films capture the atmospheric Scottish landscape placing intriguing narratives into the natural environment. For Shapes of Water, Mühlebach is making a stylish crime thriller set in Galloway Forest Park and investigating Sudden Oak Death which can be transmitted by rainwater and carried via rivers and streams.

Speaking of the exhibition, David Patterson, Curatorial and Conservation Manager, said: “We’re thrilled to be back on tour again, and to be able to showcase new work by three exciting young artists, all based in Scotland.

“We greatly appreciate the ongoing support of EventScotland through the Year of Coasts and Waters 20/21 and Scotland’s Event Recovery Fund.”

Convener of Culture and Communities at the City of Edinburgh Council, Councillor Donald Wilson, said: I’m delighted that the Travelling Gallery will be hitting the road, picking up where it left off last year and taking this fantastic exhibition to audiences around Scotland.

“Once again, the Travelling Gallery has devised a fascinating and varied exhibition which I’m sure will appeal to visitors across the country.”

Vice Convener of Culture and Communities at the City of Edinburgh Council, Councillor Amy McNeese-Mechan, added: “As a Council we are committed to making art and culture as accessible as possible to as many people as possible.

“This is the ethos of the gallery itself and through supporting this mobile gallery, art is brought straight into the hearts of town centres. I hope everyone takes the opportunity to pay the exhibition a visit.

Paul Bush OBE, Director of Events at VisitScotland, said: “We are pleased to be supporting Travelling Gallery’s Shapes of Water exhibition as part of Year of Coasts and Waters 20/21.

“Scotland offers the perfect stage to celebrate our coasts and waterways and this unique exhibition will give audiences an opportunity to experience these inspirational artworks as the mobile art gallery tours Scotland.”

The current Scottish Government Covid 19 guidance will be adhered to throughout the tour. In order to keep staff and visitors safe currently 2 visitors or 1 household can visit the gallery at a time, and all visitors will need to leave contact details.

The gallery door will be open and the fan running to increase ventilation, and staff will clean touchpoints regularly between visitors.

Tour dates 
Exhibition Launch – Thursday 2 September – City Art Centre Edinburgh
Saturday 4 September – Portobello High Street ( Porty Art Walk) 
Monday 6 September – The Ripple Project, Restalrig Road South, Edinburgh
Saturday 11 September – Portobello High Street ( Porty Art Walk) 
Tuesday 15 September – North Edinburgh Arts
Friday 17 September – WHALE, Wester Hailes, Edinburgh
Thursday 14 – Mon 18 October – Summerlee Museum, Coatbridge
Friday 22nd October – Queen Margaret University, Musselburgh
Monday 1/2 November – East Renfrewshire 

More dates will be added to the tour.

Boys Brigade is back in Muirhouse

66th Muirhouse Boys Brigade started back on Friday 27 August. Here’s some important information for returners and for young people interested in joining the BBs:

We start at 6pm, please do not arrive early. All parents/guardians must come in to the hall to sign the annual consent form. If a young person turns up without a parent or guardian we may have to send them home.

We welcome boys and girls who are in primary one, two and three in our anchor section, primary four, five and six in the junior section and Primary seven and all secondary pupils in our company and senior section.

We finish at 7.45 for all children in Primary one to six. For young people in Primary 7 and secondary school we finish at 8.30. All young people will be in the church at the same time as the government no longer limits numbers for youth groups.

Cost

We do not charge a joining fee. We do charge subs each night. This pays towards capitation fees for Boys’ Brigade locally and Nationally along with insurance. The subs also pay towards resources, equipment and awards for presentation night.

This year we need to increase the subs. This was not a decision taken lightly. For the last 20 years we have had the same fee, however with the capitation fees continuing to rise each year we have made the difficult decision to increase our nightly fee.

This session it will be £3 a night.

Uniform – for the first few weeks we ask that all young people do not wear uniform as we settle back in.

We will post in the future the information for new parents along with information for parents who have existing uniforms that most likely will be too small now.

COVID specific guidance to protect all young people and our volunteer leaders:

We must follow all government guidance for youth work.All adults must wear masks when coming in to the church building. All our leaders will be wearing masks for the full evening.

All young people who are 12 and older must wear a mask at all times inside the church building. Younger members can wear masks of they wish. Anyone with an exception should bring their lanyard along and this should be discussed when the parent fills in the annual consent form.

There are hand gel stations at the doors that should be used at entry and exit. We will also have hand gel available throughout the evening.

Please bring your own pen for filling in the consent form.

Subs will be collected as the young people enter.

Please as much as possible bring the correct change, we do not hold petty cash in the church.

If you have been told to self isolate you must not come along to Boys’ Brigade until the self isolate period is over.

If your young person has any symptoms of COVID you must not send them to Boys’ Brigade.

Any young person who develops symptoms during the night will be isolated and a patent/guardian will be called to collect them immediately.

Parents are asked to maintain distancing when inside the building.

Leaders will be remaining 2m away from young people as much as possible.

Any failure to follow the COVID guidelines could lead to us having to stop meeting face to face for an extended period of time.

We will not be running a tuck shop at this time.

Our first few nights are all about reconnecting and embedding the routines.

We really look forward to seeing all the young people back in the church halls!

Muirhouse Library’s on the move!

Library will deliver services across North Edinburgh

Good News Everyone!

As you all may know, the library is closed and due to be demolished/rebuilt as part of a new community hub (more details in the link below).

https://northedinburgharts.co.uk/development/

We have been working away at securing a place for us to operate a library while we are waiting for our shiny new building and we can finally announce that we will be opening a new Library lending service based in the Edinburgh College Granton Campus, where you will be able to get Borrow Books, Hearing Aid Batteries, NEC Card Applications, Food waste bags, internet access and of course, see our smiley faces again!

Dates for opening have yet to be finalised, but more info on that will follow very soon.

We will also be start delivering activities again in various locations throughout the community.

Bookbug sessions will be the first to resume on 7th September at West Pilton Neighbourhood Centre.

Places will be limited and a booking system will be operating.

Keep an eye out here for more info of other activities.

We are so happy that we will back in the community again after such a long time away and look forward to see you all very soon!

Muirhouse Library team

In the Frame: Free documentary-making course with Screen Education Edinbugh

In the Frame is a free programme for people living in North Edinburgh to learn documentary filmmaking and make their own short film.  

Running from 20th September 2021 to March 2022, the programme will amplify the voices of local people and capture snapshots of life in the community by providing a platform to express themselves through a series of short documentaries.    

Participants will learn each stage of documentary filmmaking, from an introduction to the genre via watching films, to learning the key skills in camera, sound, directing, editing, and interview techniques. We will also cover the ethics of documentary and support learners to use these skills to devise and produce a short film. 

Many films used as case studies will come from the Pilton Video/SEE archive, which reveal some of the hopes and issues that matter most to the community in North Edinburgh over the past 40 years.   

No previous film experience is required and In the Frame is open to people living in North Edinburgh (Crewe, Drylaw, East Pilton, Granton, Pennywell, Muirhouse, Royston, Salvesen, Telford, Wardieburn, Waterfront and West Pilton). 

The programme will take place on Tuesday evenings for adults (aged 19 and over) and Wednesday evenings for young people (aged 14 to 18) with films shot throughout November and December and editing in January & February, with the film’s receiving their premiere on the big screen in March.  

The programme is funded by Inspiring Scotland’s Creative Communities Programme which is funded jointly by the Scottish Government’s Culture and Justice directorates and aims to extend opportunities for people to take part in creative endeavours throughout their lives. 

To find out more and to take part, please complete our short form here and the team will be in touch. 

Free ‘nearly new’ school uniforms at Fresh Start this morning

Today and tomorrow at FRESH START Ferry Road Drive

Pirniehall, St David’s, Craigroyston and Forthview Primary Schools

Craigroyston Community High School

subject to availability

New community testing stations open today

  • Blackhall Mosque, 1 House O’Hill Road, EH4 2AJ from Monday 9 August to Thursday 12 August and Saturday 14 August from 9.30am to 5.30pm, Sunday 15 August 9.30am to 5pm
  • Wester Hailes Healthy Living Centre, 30 Harvesters Way, EH14 3JF from Monday 9 August to Sunday 15 August,  9.30am to 5.30pm (5pm on Sunday)

VACCINATION BUS ARRIVES AT NORTH EDINBURGH ARTS TOMORROW

Scran Academy shortlisted for industry award

Scran Academy is celebrating after being shortlisted for a leading UK industry Award. This week, Scran was announced as a Finalist in the Apprenticeship and Skills category of the Public Sector Catering Awards and the recognition will see the youth-led organisation appear at the Ceremony in London later this year.

Scran Academy’s initial focus was to use the innovative food social enterprise to help young people from North Edinburgh to overcome their learning and life barriers and lead more meaningful lives.

Scran’s community-based school uses food to support learners disengaged from mainstream school to access qualifications and work. Despite being less than four years old, they have grown and scaled their impact to support thousands of people throughout the pandemic and city wide.

This includes the creation of the youth-led Scran Café based at the Comely Bank NHS Centre, which creates a welcoming, relaxing and safe haven for as many as 100 frontline NHS workers and clinical trainees on a daily basis.

Last year Scran also launched the Scran Van, a food truck that provides free healthy food to children and families across the city to combat hunger and increase positive youth activities.

All of these food initiatives puts employability skills, job opportunities and personal development for youth at the heart of what they do.

This award nomination comes as this ground-breaking social venture seeks to empower hundreds more young people with the skills and confidence to lead in the hospitality industry.

At the same time the programme will take a significant bite out of the poverty-related barriers, life challenges and injustices the young people face on a daily basis – being care-experienced, disengaged from mainstream school, at risk of homelessness, unemployed or suffering from poor mental health.

Nominee and Founder of Scran Academy and social entrepreneur, John Loughton BEM, said: “This nomination is a real vote of confidence in our community work and a recognition in the power of food to change lives.

“Will Bain and his team work magic at Scran to ensure food is positive for all people, not just those that can afford it. At Scran we do hand-ups, not just hand-outs and young people go on to change their own lives once they realise people believe in them.

“Scran’s story shows is that if we support local community organisations that are run with passion and authenticity, we can develop creative solutions to social inequality. It also shows that unlike the stereotypes so often in the media, young people make a real and positive contribution to society and your postcode does not have to be your destiny.”