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Cass Art Comes to Doha Under the patronage of its Chairperson, Her Excellency Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, Qatar Museums (QM) has joined forces with one of the UK’s best independent art supply retailers, Cass Art, to open one of their famous stores in the Doha Fire Station, home to QM’s Artist in Residence programme. Cass Art at the Fire Station will support QM’s vision of creating a platform for innovative art and design, by providing artists with an unrivalled choice of top quality art materials from renowned heritage brands. Philip Lawrie, Chief Commercial Officer at Qatar Museums, said: “At QM, we are committed to our promise of inspiring an indigenous culture of creativity and innovation, as well as nurturing young artists. This includes providing artists and the general public in Qatar with worldclass art supplies that will support their creative inspirations, which is also part of our longstanding commitment to enrich 10
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the lives of all those who live in and visit Qatar,” he added. “We hope that this initiative helps to support a vibrant local art scene and gives young and emerging artists the necessary supplies to experiment, create, grow and flourish.” Cass Art sells top quality art supplies from the world’s leading brands like Winsor & Newton, Faber-Castell and Daler Rowney. From oil paint to watercolour, acrylic paint, pens, pencils and sketchbooks, they stock a full range of artist supplies that are suitable for all ages. As with all Cass Art stores, the interior was designed by leading design agency Pentagram. “When we were approached by Qatar Museums about opening a Cass Art at the Fire Station, we were deeply impressed by their vision to develop art and artists in their local community and beyond,” said Mark Cass, CEO and Founder of Cass Art. “Our ethos has always been to encourage creativity at every level, wherever it may be, and to inspire people to discover the power
of art. We look forward to helping local talent grow.” The Fire Station: Artist in Residence programme, which started in September 2015, sits at the heart of Doha’s thriving art community. The residency programme is open to local Qatari artists and residents of Qatar, and runs in nine-month cycles. During the nine-month residency, artists across all disciplines receive production support, mentorships and curatorial advice, enabling them to develop their artistic talent. At the end of the cycle, artists’ accomplishments are celebrated in an end of residency exhibition held at the Garage Gallery in the Fire Station, which showcases selected works from each of the artists. Visitors are able to view the artists’ work in a public gallery every June, as well as visit the cinema, restaurant and art store, all housed at the Fire Station. ✤ GO: Visit www.qm.org.qa/en for more information.