FOCUS

A celebration of D&G creativity and talent

Summer 2022 Features: Bright Sparks Hugh Macmillan Leaders Unlimited The Old Mill Gallery Creative Producer Youth Arts in D&G Emergent Awards Performance Collective Stranraer Maggie Ayres DG Events Showcase

Image: Bea Last, Spring Fling

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Creatives Unlimited supports and enhances the sustainability and resilience of the region’s creative professional practitioners and arts organisations. Dumfries and Galloway is home to a long-acknowledged vibrant and talented creative community and Creatives Unlimited has been designed to ensure it supports and connects individuals and organisations working across all art-forms.

Focus magazine is a showcase of the region’s creative and cultural sector, and DG Unlimited members. FOCUS highlights the excellence within the region.

We hope to inspire the viewer to seek out the creativity within the region to take part in it, experience it, and own the art made here.

FOCUS is a creative celebration and important visual archive of Dumfries and Galloway’s creativity and talent.

Funded by Creative Scotland, The Holywood Trust, and Dumfries and Galloway Council, Creatives Unlimited is a year-round, region-wide programme of support, training, mentoring, guidance, artists’ resources, and networking events delivered for creative and cultural practitioners and organisations in Dumfries and Galloway.

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Bright Sparks....................... 4 Hugh Macmillan...................5 Leaders Unlimited, Alumni Showcase: Lucy Lee, The Old Mill Gallery............. 6 Focus on DGU Team Creative Producer – Tabi Mudaliar....................... 7 Youth Arts in D&G Catriona McGhie................. 8 Lauren McDougall............... 9

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Emergent Awards..........10/11 Performance Collective Stranraer............................12 Maggie Ayres.....................13 Tabi’s Two Good Reads.....14 Maggies Book Choices......14

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DG Events Showcase........15

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Lighting the way creatively-Bright Sparks Three of our region’s creative talents have been awarded funding from DG Unlimited’s (DGU) Bright Sparks Awards which, aims to support practitioners from any discipline to create innovative and ambitious new work. We believe artists and creative practitioners play a necessary and important role in contributing to the overall health, development, and wellbeing of society. They often challenge our view of the world but also help us understand it better. They can bring beauty, excitement and joy to our lives. And they can inspire and provoke in equal measures.

These awards will enable each artist to challenge their approach to their practice, to be bold and to take creative risks.

Bright Sparks forms part of our Creatives Unlimited programme which intends to enhance the sustainability and resilience of the region’s creative community.

Given the breadth of creativity across Dumfries and Galloway, unsurprisingly the standard of ‘expressions of interest’ was very high. The panel had a tough choice but, after hearing from the shortlisted proposals, unanimously selected three innovative, exciting – and risk-taking! - ideas.

We are thrilled to unveil Emma Jayne Park, Robbie Coleman and Robert Shields (ONR), as our 2021/22 Bright Sparks Award holders.

Emma is a highly respected dancer, theatre maker, facilitator and micro-activist whose approach to her practice has always begun in the body. Her proposal, ‘Rooted’ will look at the potential of sitespecific dance, co-choreographed with a local community member, captured on film and installed in situ via etched QR codes.

“I believe that rooting it in a place, inspired by the choreographic choices of someone connected to that place could spark an exciting new approach to working.”

Established public artist, Robbie Coleman, is moving outside of his comfort zone. Collaborating with artists John Wallace, Alan Cameron and Bill Coleman, the

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audience will be able to watch and join in on live collaborations between various creative stations.

When we spoke about creating a face for the music, we really wanted something that felt otherworldly and mysterious and unsettling, but still had an element of fun and childishness to it. All the graphics for each track will have him as the main subject, and we’re thinking of ways to incorporate him into the live show”

“Rituals of Repair - Things seems to be coming together in the project. It’s a collaboration so finding a common creative language is a challenge, but one that is making us work in unexpected ways, which is interesting. We are intending to have an Open Day/work in progress at the beginning of September so if anyone is interested in becoming involved or finding out more about the project, please get in touch.” (robbiecoleman1@hotmail.com) Robert Shields, known as ONR, is a singer, songwriter, multiinstrumentalist and producer with high profile supporters, including Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Niles Rodgers.

‘Everything OK’ is an electronic music project blurring tape and analogue studio recording techniques with modern digital processing, creating a unique, exciting and inspiring live and recorded audio experience.

“I’ve created a character as the face of the project - called Worm - designed by myself and local graphic designer Chris McHenry.

Congratulations to all three of these amazing artists - we can’t wait to see how their creative ideas develop, engage with, and inspire people across the region and encourage new audiences to Dumfries and Galloway.

More information on DG Unlimited and the artists can be found by visiting: www.dgunlimited.com Become a member of DGU - it’s free and open to individuals and organisations. Details at www.dgunlimited.com or email comms.dgu@gmail.com

Hugh MacMillan, Poet

DGU has been very supportive of my practice and my projects based around Dumfries and Galloway. I believe myself to be a local writer by which I mean a practitioner who finds local history and culture to be both a fascinating resource and a method of reaching things that are universally true. Think globally act locally as Paul McCartney says! Many of my most successful projects have been centred round local or regional legacy: ‘Forgotten Doors’, which explored people’s memories of extinct buildings in the town, ‘The Blash o God’ about an 18th century cult from Closeburn, ‘The Brownie o Blednoch’, a modern response to a famous Wigtownshire fairy story etc etc. In several of these projects I have collaborated with artists and writers, some local some not. Collaborations are always fun, leading to long term friendships and lasting antipathies! I think the region is very fortunate in having cultural organisations like DGU, the Stove and the Wigtown Book Festival all of which offer real support to individual artists, and all of whom have supported me personally.

I think this area is one of outstanding beauty matched by astonishing cultural wealth. I hope I’m adding bit by bit to the latter and honour DGU and its ICC professional development fund in aiding me over the years in this.

I usually have a few irons in the fire. Soon to be published is ‘The Leaves of the Years’ a volume of responses by contemporary Scottish writers to the great Galloway poet William Neill,

co-edited by myself and Stuart Paterson. Another project I am very excited about is ‘Me and John Keats’, tracing the footsteps of the great radical poet John Keats and his mate Charles Brown who, turned away at William Wordsworth’s house and disgusted at the fact the latter was campaigning for the local Tory MP, set off on a walking tour of Dumfries and Galloway, from Burns’ grave in Dumfries to Burns’ birthplace in Alloway, a pilgrimage

to a man Keats saw as a brother poet and a truly radical spirit. Along the way they reflected on food, language, culture, rheumatism, love, indigestion and a range of other topics, recorded in poems, notebooks and letters. I plan to trace the route as exactly as I can and add my own thoughts about old age and indigestion while paying homage to the landscape and to Keats himself. I might even write a sonnet or two.

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Old Mill - Lucy Lee

The Old Mill has been slowly developing since the 8 years in our ownership. Going from the bathroom showroom it had previously been, through a few years as studio spaces for various artists, we have finally found our feet as a studio, gallery, garden and bookshop. In the studio we not only create work ourselves, but also run courses in nature based art making and production of ‘natural’ art materials. Some of the plants we grow in the garden are used to make plant inks, paints and fabric dyes, otherwise we forage most of the other ingredients for our paints, beeswax crayons, inks, charcoal, paper, strings and fabric dyes. The bookshop carries titles and authors interested in encouraging a move towards nature based art materials as well as looking at culture through a critical lens, growing connectivity to each other, ourselves and our environments.

As lockdown began in spring 2020, we were launching our first series of art courses, and I was about to embark on the Leaders Unlimited course. Having to cancel our full program was at first a relief as we were understandably nervous, however, it did mean we lost the thread and momentum of growing our small creative business. After lots of work on the part of the DG Unlimited team, Leaders Unlimited was able to go ahead online, this really helped to continue a thread which had been lost when we suddenly shut our doors and cancelled all events. The course also inspired welcome thought into how we might want to continue in the future. The mentorship sessions I had with Tina Fiske of Cample Line gave me helpful insight into the running of a successful arts organisation and helped with the loneliness I had struggled with pre pandemic, learning and building a creative business ‘on the job’, not knowing if we would make a success of our ideas.

Since Leaders Unlimited, my confidence has slowly grown, and we are now in the middle of our first season of creative workshops which are going really well and we are receiving great feedback. We hope to continue to develop the workshop ideas we have and grow our understanding of how and who we are able to best serve. In the next couple of years I intend to begin a MA in Art Psychotherapy which we hope will influence the courses we do and grow the pool of people who can access the skills we are developing.

The Old Mill is an exhibition space, bookshop, art studios and garden. It is situated in the beautiful port village of Palnackie, on the Solway coastline in the heart of Dumfries and Galloway. The aim of its founders, Edward and Lucy, is to create a space for inquiry into the connection between creativity, spirit and our natural environment.

Find us at www.theoldmillpalnackie.com www.facebook.com/oldmillpalnackie Instagram as theoldmill_palnackie

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Creative Producer -Tabi Mudaliar Tabi Mudaliar is our Creative Producer and works with the team to deliver Creatives Unlimited.

Tabi is a writer, radio broadcaster, and film producer and she has been part of the DGU team since 2019. Her role involves working with the team to creatively develop and deliver a year-round, region-wide programme of support, training, mentoring, guidance, and events for the region’s creative sector across all art forms. We asked Tabi to share her top DGU memorable moments.

I spend most of my time with creatives so memorable moments are almost a daily occurrence. The day I attended a meeting at Gracefield Arts Centre and saw unique glimpses of original print works in the making.

Or when I dropped in for coffee with a friend at A’ the Airts and was treated to a private viewing of their next gallery exhibition. Or when I was interviewing someone for their podcast on zoom, and by the end of the interview, I had a new friend. There was one Spring morning, in my home office, when I was the third person in the world to hear a newly composed piece of music. All these moments, and more, are why I love being a Creative Producer.

meant that the DGU AGM and Circuit event had to take place online via zoom, very early on in the first lockdown. That was an experience and one I will never forget. I have been a radio broadcaster for a number of years and have done filming and television previously but doing a live event, with performers, for over fifty people via zoom and being MC for it, was an experience all on its own; it was the online digital version of rubbing your tummy, patting your head, juggling, and reciting a poem, all at once! It went without a hitch, so much so that we did it again the following year.

My third memorable moment is a special one. I started working with DGU in late 2019. By the time the restrictions were in place in March 2020, I had only met with my colleagues in person on a handful of occasions. Fast forward to May 28th, 2022, and David McDonald, Maggie Broadley, and I – the DGU team - are finally together at my wedding, after almost two years of seeing each other only on zoom. That was a special day and I’m so happy by dear colleagues and friends were able to be there with me.

Briefly, and because I tend to find folks are not quite sure what I do, a Creative Producer is just as it says – I am a producer who plans, develops, organises, and leads in the delivery of films, recordings, events, courses, or creative projects – all with an added creative flair and vision.

If I have to pick three memorable moments, they would be There is a Place is a short art film I am proud to have produced for DG Unlimited. I loved working with filmmaker James Alcott, poet Celia Donovan, and composer Ralph Kinsella, to bring the vision of the film to life. The producer is the unseen force behind a film. We put everything in place so the creatives can create, and the vision of the film is captured in sound and image. It’s one of my film productions that I am most proud of. You can see it here. https://www. dgunlimited.com/there-is-a-place.html During the restrictions of 2020 we all had to adapt quickly. The timing of the start of the global pandemic

Maggie Broadley, Tabi Mudaliar and David McDonald

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DGU Youth Arts Advocate

DGU, in conjunction with its pARTners group, commissioned the Articulate Culture Trust to develop a Youth Arts Framework for Dumfries and Galloway. We’ve always believed that it’s vital to understand what kind of arts provision is already out there and to give young people a voice in deciding exactly what is needed to make youth arts in the region the best that it can be.

Thanks to funding from the Holywood Trust, we were able to recruit Catriona McGhie, a freelance Creative Producer from Stranraer, as our Youth Arts Advocate.

The aim of the role is to develop the work of the Youth Arts Framework, to work alongside existing organisations supporting young people’s involvement in the arts and for Catriona to speak directly to her peers, bringing their views to the fore.

Catriona is passionate about both Dumfries & Galloway and the Arts. As a young person living within the region, she is aware of some of the issues which young people face when trying to engage with the Arts, some of which she has faced herself, and is keen to help others to gain new experiences.

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“DGU has opened doors for me and I would love to be part of that, ensuring other young people have the chance of similar opportunities.”

Catriona has been considering the 6 key recommendations from the framework and has selected Recommendations • 3 (Develop clear progression pathways for young people to broaden and deepen arts and cultural engagement) • 6 (Develop and build on opportunities for children and young people to have a meaningful voice in cultural planning and provision) to be her main area for research and development.

Like many things in our lives, the work of our YAA had been put on hold due to COVID-19 but we are delighted that Catriona has been able to get back out and about, building on her earlier work. Please contact comms.dgu@gmail if you would like more information or to be part of the conversation.

More information on Catriona and her work can be found at https://www.facebook.com/ catrionamcghiemusic

Digital Focus - Lauren McDougall Lauren joined DGU in the summer of 2021 as our Digital Intern and we’re delighted to have her continuing beyond the internship, working alongside Catriona and supporting young practitioners voices to be heard.

Lauren is a multi-disciplinary artist based in Dumfries whose practice rotates from various media, including photography, moving image, physical and digital collage.

“My work lies within feminist frameworks; I use my practice as a tool to explore the relationships women obtain with themselves, non-human nature and social institutions. Through my practice, I manifest the place women are situated in the patriarchal society by creating surrealist depictions of the female form. My work is dedicated to the female gaze, as I create these abstracted figures to challenge the

western representation of women in historical and contemporary culture.

As a lot of practice derives from the misrepresentation of the female, I work a lot with found footage and imagery. By reappropriating advertisements and archived works, my work introduces a process of replacing the male perspective with an alienation of the female form. Free from objectification and sexualisation, my work aims to allow viewers to recognise the unfamiliar for what it really is.

A significant root of my practical and philosophical framework comes from the theory of ‘Objectification, Fragmentation and Consumption’ that Eco-Feminist Carol J Adams proposes in her publication ‘The Sexual Politics of Meat.’ Adams emphasises a narrative that connects women and non-human animals through their oppression within the patriarchy. Therefore, much of my work is devoted to exploring this cycle and analysing the relationship between women and non-human animals within the anthropocentric patriarchy.”

Find out more about Lauren and her work here: https://laurenmcdougall.com (Please note, there is nudity included in images from this website)

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Emergents Awards Guidelines 2021 / 2022 PURPOSE – WHAT WE WANT TO SUPPORT “It is very important for young artists to push boundaries, sometimes you have this urge to do something - and if you don’t follow through with it, you might miss out on a developmental experience”.

Marina Abramovic, conceptual/performance artist, writer and filmmaker.

Emerging artists and creative practitioners play a vital role in our creative community. DGU believes in celebrating and nurturing talent and supporting the growth of the next generation of creative practitioners and those who work hard behind the scenes.

DGU’s Emergents award is part of Creatives Unlimited, a 2-year programme, developed after careful consultation with stakeholders, that aims to raise ambition, stimulate growth and help fulfil the potential of individuals and organisations within the creative and cultural sector.

Emergents awards aim to: • Nurture and support independent creative practitioners to focus on their cultural, creative and professional development, and reach the next stage in their practice and or career.

• Provide resources and practical support to help nourish the emerging creative minds that will

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encourage more people to experience the arts and help our communities flourish.

WHO CAN APPLY We want to hear from early career creatives aged 18-30 based in Dumfries and Galloway, who currently lack support to create new or develop existing work and/or have limited access to professional or practical skills development opportunities, mentoring and confidence building.

EMERGENTS AWARDS: KEY POINTS • We will accept submissions from a wide range of specialisms - for example visual artists, craft makers, printmakers, environmental artists, socially engaged practitioners, writers, musicians, producers, directors, designers, performers, photographers, filmmakers, and technicians.

• Applicants must have one years’ creative practice experience and/or have completed their apprenticeship, vocational training or studies at college and/or university.

• Proposals must show a clear development opportunity which could be for a period of research, time to create new work, travel, develop future ideas, further skills training, networking and mentoring.

SIMPLE APPLICATION PROCESS:

• Discuss your idea with one of the DGU team; if it fits with the aims of Emergents, you will be emailed an Expression of Interest Form to complete, • Shortlisted applicants present their proposals to the awards panel in a method of their choice; for example, discussion, film, powerpoint presentation, performance, audio recording, • We don’t have a view on the types of ideas that we will support, • No match-funding is required,

• Mentor fee.

• 100% of total project costs up to £1,300 (including up to £300 mentoring costs).

SOME EXAMPLES OF WHAT WE WON’T SUPPORT The types of activities and costs that Emergents cannot contribute to include: • Promotional, marketing, design costs, print collateral, advertising, websites.

• We expect to award 3 creative practitioners £1,300 each to support creative and/ or career development.

This includes £300 to work with a mentor

• Self-publishing and distribution costs for creative products.

• The total amount available for Emergents is £3,900,

• Projects already completed.

• The funding for awards must be spent by 28th February 2023.

PRIORITIES Emergents will prioritise proposals which: 1. Show how and why the proposal is new and ambitious.

2. Have evidence to support claims that the work will be of professional quality.

3. Explain how and why the proposal will enable applicants to move their creative and/or professional practice to the next level.

4. Clearly describe how the idea will be implemented.

SOME EXAMPLES OF WHAT WE WILL SUPPORT The types of activities and costs that Emergents can contribute to include: • Creative practitioner fees.

• Testing new ideas and methods of working.

• Creative practice research.

• Exploring collaboration with other creative practitioners/art forms.

• Developing skills e.g. costs of online or other training courses.

• Creating new work or further development of current work (including materials or small pieces of equipment).

• Requests for equipment only.

• Contribution to daily living expenses in Scotland.

APPLICATION PROCESS AND DEADLINES

1st Stage • Read these guidelines, • Contact the DGU team (comms.dgu@gmail.com) to arrange a time to discuss your idea, • If your idea is eligible, we will email you an Expression of Interest form which should be submitted by 12noon on Monday 22nd August 2022.

2nd Stage • Awards panel shortlist Expression of Interests on Tuesday 23rd August 2022 • Decisions communicated by 5pm on Wednesday 24h August 2022

3rd Stage • Shortlisted applicants present their idea to awards panel on Tuesday 30th August 2022.

• Award decisions communicated on Wednesday 31st August 2022 Contact details: comms.dgu@gmail.com https://www.dgunlimited.com

• Presenting and showcasing new work e.g. exhibitions, online or in-person events/festivals/ productions.

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Performance Collective Stranraer On a cold and blustery Thursday and thanks to the generous support of The Galloway Association of Glasgow, the William Syson Foundation, and the Holywood Trust, Performance Collective Stranraer finally met up for their first residential Lab since 2019.

It was a very happy band of emerging theatre makers that sat down to dinner that night in The North West Castle Hotel, full of plans to spend the next three days in The Millennium

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Centre making theatre together.

The hotel gave us a brilliant package deal – we’ve told PCS not to expect that level of luxury on tour!

Led by the new Artistic Director Sarah Rose Graber, and Associate Director Drew Taylor Wilson, the group did yoga, physical theatre, clowning, ensemble improvisation, writing and choreography.

Participants also shared their creative projects, each receiving specific support and guidance on

how to progress it. As usual with PCS, this residential experience was open access to all, accommodating within our creative practice mobility and mental health challenges. Each day’s opening and closing ceremony provided an opportunity to check in and affirm everyone’s feelings and strengths, as well affirming new learning and joyful experiences. We have no doubt that the embers of certainty fanned to life in this Lab will blaze on.

Maggie Ayres, visual art, painter

I look up at the sky and breathe.

I feel the earth under my feet and feel connected…

My earliest memories are of looking up at the big sky over the Solway where we lived, playing in the fields of my grandparents’ smallholding nearby.

natural world does inform my work. In curves and shadows, I find hidden worlds. Here I sense a connection to the unseen where the imagination can wander and explore, from the tiniest cell form to the infinite universe.

abrading the surface to reveal the paint below.

Summer days seemed unending with smells of hazy hayfield and saltwater carried in the air.

I am driven by the desire to make visual an impossibly unseen concept like the displacement of air beneath a bird’s wings into a human breath. Indeed, how would such unseen concepts taste, smell, feel, look and sound?

For the last three years I have been developing new paintings based around themes of breath and sharing space.

I’ve lived in several places since then but returning to Dumfries and Galloway in 2005 was at once a new beginning and a coming home. At last, I felt able to explore a creative path in a much more focused way and there were opportunities to become part of a rich and broad artistic community.

I have always been much more drawn to abstract expression in my creative practice rather than to the representational.

Looking at one of my pieces you might catch the hint of a bird’s wing, a stormy sky or rolling hills. These are the lines that I am drawn to. Undoubtedly the

At the same time, it’s important that I set all this in a sociopolitical context chiefly around the inclusivity of common humanity.

I focus on my ongoing exploratory sketchbooks to make abstract paintings, currently mainly using oils and cold wax medium on wood panels. Each piece is multi-layered as I build up texture and light to express my thoughts, memories and ideas.

It is a continual process of building up paint and then scratching away until it feels close to what I want to communicate.

A self-directed residency at WWT Caerlaverock on the Solway in November 2019 allowed me to consolidate these themes of shared sky, migration and the political nature of boundaries.

This work culminates in a solo show, “breath”, at Farfield Mill, Sedbergh near Kendal commencing on the 9th March until 15th May this year.

I will also be taking part in Spring Fling in June.

I use various techniques including monoprinting, layering and

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Two good reads from Tabi Mudaliar Here are two books I’ve loved reading this year, and I have been fortunate to speak to both the authors.

Kathleen Hart kindly did a fab interview with me for our DG Unlimited Podcast, Voices Unlimited. And Graeme Thompson spoke to me about his book for my radio show, TotallyTabi.

Devorgilla Days

If you live in Dumfries and Galloway, or have ever visited, you will recognise the magical places Kathleen writes of in her book…

From renovating her cottage to exploring the seemingly quiet, but actually bustling town, she encounters a whole community of book lovers, beekeepers, artists and writers and lobster fishermen throughout the book. Furthermore, Kathleen starts wild swimming, a ritual that brings peace and clarity to her mind as her body heals. ― Annandale Observer Kathleen Hart was educated at a convent school in Cheshire before experimenting with various occupations from air hostess to antiques dealer, but her favourite so far is author. She does her best writing in a whitewashed cottage in Scotland where she keeps bees, swims in the sea and every day encourages thousands of her PoshPedlar Instagram followers to ‘make room for the magic’. https://www.waterstones.com/book/devorgilla-days/ kathleen-hart/9781529300420

Themes for Great Cities

As a child of the eighties and a teen in the nineties, this was a nostalgic trip into my fan girl days of going to EVERY Simple Minds concert I could get tickets for! I will meet them one day, I will… Read while playing ‘New Gold Dream’.

‘Nobody owes us anything, but the Simple Minds story has been too condensed.

After Live Aid and ‘Don’t You (Forget About Me)’ there hasn’t been quite the credit for those first few records.

I think they contain some really special music. I can hear the flaws but there’s something about the spirit and imagination in them that feels good. They draw from such a wide range of influences ... but the spirit of it was always Simple Minds.’ Jim Kerr, to the author An illuminating new biography of one of Britain’s biggest and most influential bands, written with the full input and cooperation of Simple Minds, shedding new light on their dazzling art-rock legacy. https://www.waterstones.com/book/9781472134004

Maggie’s Book Choices I have chosen two books by different authors which are both in their way like ’love letters’ to culture and family – and collecting.

The Hare with Amber Eyes by renowned potter

and ceramic artist Edmund De Waal is a beautifully written journey of discovery during which De Waal shares his family history and experiences of the Jewish people across centuries. He does this eloquently via his exploration of a collection of 264 Japanese wood and ivory carvings gifted by his uncle which sparked off his own love of objects and of making objects.

Letters to Memory by

Karen Tei Yamashita is a witty, powerful tale of the author’s Japanese family living in America during the internments of the 2nd world war. Uncovering a collection of letters and photographs in the hoarded belongings of a recently deceased aunt, Tei Yamashita delves into the experience of the immigrant – and her family’s culture - with thought provoking resonances to the present day.

Both had me weeping tears of joy and sorrow.

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Events, festivals, galleries, and museums DG Arts Festival Scotland’s largest rural performing arts festival came back with a bang hosting 31 events across Dumfries & Galloway between 20th – 29th May in local venues, outdoors and online. The Dumfries and Galloway Arts Festival celebrated the stories of communities at the heart of our region through their remarkable world class programme combining theatre, music, dance, comedy and spoken word, with audiences joining virtually as well as travelling from far and wide to see shows. Details of the Autumn/Winter year-round Arts Live programme can be found at: https://dgartsfestival.org.uk

Spring Fling leaps back with bumper 20th event Spring Fling, Scotland’s premier Open Studios, returned to its full, real-world glory over the long Jubilee weekend of 2 – 5 June. Across Dumfries & Galloway, over 90 artists and makers welcomed visitors into their studios, giving insights into their work, which ranged from painting to willow-weaving, and from ceramics to wooden mobiles.

To celebrate Spring Fling reaching its 20th event there were also special additional activities. There was a retrospective exhibition at Gracefield Arts Centre in Dumfries, which included Earthlight, a ground-breaking project combining hand-built ceramics with colourful digital projections created by Emma Varley and Ruth Elizabeth Jones A short video was commissioned from photographer and film-maker Colin Tennant to capture the essence of Spring Fling over its 20-year history; and Sarah Stewart was commissioned to create a commemorative limited-edition screenprint. https://www.spring-fling.co.uk https://www.facebook.com/springflingopenstudios https://www.instagram.com/springfling/

Absolute Classics The 2022 Absolute Classics Festival will run from Thursday 11 August to Sunday 14 August. Whether you’re a first-time visitor to Absolute Classics or a seasoned patron, this celebration of classical music will leave you wanting to return time and time again.

Set in the heart of Dumfries and Galloway at the Easterbrook Hall, internationally acclaimed artists will treat audiences to some of the most loved music of all time. Join us and share in the joy of classical music.

For more information and to book visit: www.absoluteclassics.co.uk T: Midsteeple Box Office 01387 253383.

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Funders With thanks to: Creative Scotland, Dumfries & Galloway Council, and The Holywood Trust

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Acknowledgements

DG Unlimited would like to thank all the contributors and everyone who has contributed to the making of this magazine. And, to extend our gratitude to Dumfries and Galloway’s creative community for helping to make our region such a vibrant, culturally active, and creative place.