Tag: exhibition

Students focus on stardust spectacular

Edinburgh College photographers throw spotlight on students’ winter showbiz special

WAMOS 2

A student photography exhibition celebrating Edinburgh College performing arts students’ winter showbiz spectacular is now on display at Leith’s Creative Exchange.

The exhibition showcases the college’s recent show We Are Made of Stardust, developed and performed by Edinburgh College students. Two HND Photography students – Tracey Largue and Sara Thomson – took the photos of the show that feature in the exhibition, showing off the vibrancy, energy and emotion of the performance.

We Are Made of Stardust, which featured HND Year 2 Acting and Performance students, was devised by lecturer Scott Johnston and formed using the cast’s own ideas and stories. The 30 young actors in training shared their personal tales of love, loss and life with the audience in performances at the college’s Perfoming Arts Studio Scotland (PASS).

Marjory Crooks, curriculum manager for broadcast media, said: “This is a fantastic opportunity to see examples of the highly professional work produced by two of our photography students. The students on our various creative industries courses are encouraged to collaborate on projects to develop their practical skills and share their learning experiences.”

Scott Johnston said: “This was an incredibly successful show in terms of audience feedback which was universally extraordinarily positive. The cast all learned from each other by sharing ideas and experiences. This helped build the actors as a team, an essential part of working in any field but especially in theatre.”

The We Are Made of Stardust exhibition at Creative Exchange on Constitution Street runs until Friday 30 January, 9am – 5pm each day.  

WAMOS 3

Edinburgh College is currently recruiting for a range of courses in the Creative Industries starting this month including evening classes in Digital Photography: Studio Image Manipulation and Photography: Introduction to Portraiture. For more details on these and other courses, visit www.edinburghcollege.ac.uk.

 

City Centre regeneration plans go on display

PUBLIC EXHIBITION FOR £20M CITY CENTRE REGENERATION PROJECT

st_andrew_square_311014_051_low resolution

Initial proposals for a £20m regeneration project in the Register Lanes area on the south east corner of St Andrew Square will go on display at a public exhibition today. 

The exhibition at the Voodoo Rooms will present early stage ideas for the area, which will include the regeneration of the currently neglected backstreets off and around West Register Street, and will comprise a complementary mix of high quality office space, hotel, serviced apartments, retail units and restaurants.

Initial plans include the restoration of 42 St Andrew Square, the former RBS headquarters and home to one of the finest examples of an art deco banking hall, which is now on the ‘at risk’ register.

The overall aim is to develop the buildings, which range from Victorian gothic to 1960s functional, as part of one comprehensive scheme that works successfully alongside the plans for the St James Quarter and the objectives of the Register Lanes Study.

Chris Stewart, CEO of Chris Stewart Group, said: “This is an important site and we welcome all views as we shape our ideas and designs. We want to create a vibrancy for the area. To do that, we are looking at a mix of new uses for the buildings; uses that we expect will deliver an economic boost for local traders, together with considerable environmental improvements for the benefit of local residents and visitors to the city.”

Chris Stewart Group has a track record for completing complex transformational projects. The company recently completed the Advocate’s Close development in Edinburgh’s Old Town, which has been awarded the RIAS ‘Best Building in Scotland’ award and has just begun works at Baxter’s Place, in Edinburgh, which is to become a Marriott hotel.

The exhibition will take place in the French Quarter, Voodoo Rooms, 19a West Register Street, EH2 2AA, between 3 -8pm on Thursday 27 November.

 

Dates set for Centipede photo exhibition

12.12.12 was a particularly special date, and it’s a day in history that has been captured for ever thanks to the Muirhouse Centipede Project. Muirhouse folk were encouraged to get out and about with their cameras on that memorable date, capturing images on four seasonal themes. Reverend Linda Dunbar of Muirhouse St. Andrews’s explains what happens next:

“We received a good number of entries of photographs taken during the 24 hours of 12/12/12 that captured something of the Advent themes of Love, Joy, Hope and Peace. The submissions are going on display in the North Edinburgh Arts Centre from 26 February – 3 March, Muirhouse Millennium Centre 4-10 March, Muirhouse Library 11-17 March (to be confirmed) before ending up at Muirhouse St Andrew’s Parish Church on the 18 March where they will find a permanent home.

The official launch of the touring display will be on

Tuesday 26 February at 11am in North Edinburgh Arts Centre

with free coffee and scones on offer too! The winners of the children’s and adults’ entries will be on display – it would be great to see folk there.”

MuirhouseCentipede

Gym Fest 2012 hits new heights

aEdinburgh Leisure and Active Schools teamed up again to stage Gymfest, a celebration of the city’s young gymnasts, at Broughton High School yesterday. And with financial support from Active City the annual display reached new heights – quite literally! fA wide range of gymnasts from across the city took part in the Broughton spectacular – from enthusiastic new dancers and fun gymnasts (some performing in public for the first time) to top young athletes who already participate in competitions – and the packed audience was entertained from start to finish by some spectacular performances. kGiven the high standards throughout the afternoon it was fitting that all the participants received medals, so take a bow:

City of Edinburgh Gymnastics Club (Senior Team)

City of Edinburgh Broughton Recreation Team

Blackhall Primary School Gymnastics Club

Castlebrae Community High School Gymnastics Club

Broughton High School Gymnastics Club

City of Edinburgh Firrhill Recreation team

Tynecastle High School Gymnastics Club

Gylemuir Primary School Gymnastics Club

Granton Primary School Dance Group

Corstorphine Primary School Gymnastics Club

Ferryhill Primary School Gymnastics Group

Pentland Primary School Gymnastics Club

Stockbridge Primary Dance Group

City of Edinburgh Gymnastics Club Display Team

puzz5bglqvz1z6

 

Welcome to Muirhouse to open in … yes, Muirhouse!

Borja Prada’s ‘Welcome to Muirhouse’ photography exhibition opens at North Edinburgh Arts Centre next week. Borja’s pictures tell a wonderful story, so see the exhibition – and quite a few ‘well-kent’ local faces – if you can …

We have previously featured Borja’s work in both the NEN’s print and blog versions, but his story’s worth telling again. Borja, who’s Spanish, was a student at Telford College and his daily bus journey to college took him through past Pennywell shops. When it came to choosing a subject for his final examination exercise, Borja decided upon Muirhouse – the buildings, the people and the sights.

The young Spaniard (pictured top) spent eight months taking photographs and getting to know individuals and families across the area, building trust and forming lasting relationships while compiling a large body of work for his portfolio.

The result was ‘Welcome to Muirhouse’, a book of photographs Borja paid to have printed – and a remarkable 98% pass mark for his examination result!

The photographs tell the story of Muirhouse as it is today, capturing personalities and places before the place changes forever through regeneration.

Borja said: “This upcoming display is organized to show the work I have been doing for the past year documenting Muirhouse and the lives of its inhabitants. It will give a chance for everyone to meet there with the local community and anyone interested
in arts is most welcome to come along”.

‘Welcome to Muirhouse’ opens at North Edinburgh Arts Centre on Tuesday (6 November) from 5.30m, and will then be on display until 30 November.

PREVIEW Some images from the exhibition:

Living Well welcomes new manager Sandra

Living Well North Edinburgh (formerly PROP Stress Centre) has warmly welcomed new manager Sandra Walkingshaw (pictured above).

Sandra said: “I am delighted to have joined the Living Well team as the new manager. I am really looking forward to working with all our members, staff and volunteers on continuing the excellent work that is currently going on and also planning for the future aims and goals of Living Well North Edinburgh.”

Living Well North Edinburgh are currently presenting ‘The Journey Within’, an exhibition of members’ arts and crafts, at North Edinburgh Arts Centre as part of the Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival 2012. The exhibition runs until 2 November.

In Dad’s Shoes exhibition opens at Scottish Parliament

In Dad’s Shoes, a photo exhibition which shows what it means to be a dad, opened in the Burns Committee Room in the Scottish Parliament at Holyrood yesterday.

Organised by Fathers Network Scotland and Dads Rock in conjunction with Dad’s House, the exhibition tells the story of thirty dads of all types, through images and their own words. The pictures – both personal snaps and professional images – shows the great variety of life as a dad, and the aim of the exhibition is to highlight positive, caring images of dads and their children.

Two local men were among the thirty dads whose stories and pictures were recorded for the exhibition. Dads Alex Newport, from Wester Drylaw, and Malcolm Borthwick, are members of a North Edinburgh group set up specifically for dads. Based at the Haven Project in Craigroyston Primary School, the father’s group is run by Circle Scotland’s Nick Smithers, who enlisted the NEN’s help.

Alec and Malcolm were photographed and interviewed last month, but this was the first time they had seen the finished product – fortunately both men were happy with the display!

Alex Newport lives with his sons Cameron (12), Declan (9) and daughter Tiffany (7) in Wester Drylaw.

 “Life doesn’t always go to plan. My partner developed Huntington’s disease and is now in care – that had a devastating effect on our family, and it’s been really tough. There have been lots of ups and downs, but things have been more settled as the kids have grown up. They understand more now. The biggest challenge has been the change in lifestyle – from having enough money to having to be very careful, but have a social life as a family and we’ve done lots of fun things together over the summer.

“My big hope for my kids is that they enjoy school – I didn’t have a good educational experience and really I hope my own children will continue to enjoy school – the opportunities available to them are much greater. There will be more challenges – Cameron is nearly a teenager, and daughters can bring other challenges – but we’ll get through them together.”

Malcolm Borthwick lives in Granton with his two-year old son James.

 “It was an almightly struggle to get custody of James – my ex-partner’s family made things difficult and I think at first the authorities thought that, because I was brought up in care myself, I wouldn’t be a fit person to bring up my own son. I think the opposite is true – I’m going to do everything I can to make sure James gets the opportunities that I never had.

“I have a boy and girl from a previous relationship. They’re both really brilliant, and I think I’ve learned enough from bringing them up to make sure James is well looked after and cared for. We do everything together – fishing, reading books, going for walks – and I try to make sure James eats all the right things and has a healthy diet. He’ll get the best start in life I can give him.”

Alex, Malcolm and Nick (pictured top) were joined at Holyrood by Circle Scotland Director Liz Dahl, and parliamentarians of all political persuasions were among the first-day visitors – Children and Families minister Aileen Campbell, Sarah Boyack, Lewis MacDonald, Margaret McCulloch and Ann McTaggart were among those MSPs to look in on the exhibition.

Good news for North Edinburgh dads – dad’s group Dad’s Rock will be launching new weekly sessions at The Prentice Centre on Saturday mornings from the end of October. We’ll keep you posted with details when they are confirmed.