The Steeple, Fife
The Steeple
67 High Street
Newburgh
Fife KY14 6AH
The Steeple in Newburgh is a beautiful conversion of an historic building into a purpose-built studio and events complex. Redeveloped by award-winning architects, Nicoll Russell Studios, The Steeple opened in 2008 and has 6 studios, a flat and studio for visiting artists and a project room run by local charity Fife Arts Co-operative.
For more information about the residency flat including costs and availability please visit our Live-Work section.
For a full detail of the public programme which is run by our project partners, Fife Arts Co-operative, please visit www.steeplearts.co.uk.
A brief history of The Steeple
The former Town Hall, Town House and Corn Exchange is a prominent historical landmark in the centre of Newburgh's High Street. The Town Hall had ceased operation in the late 1970s and had, except for very occasional use, been empty for the next two decades. When Fife Council put the Town Hall on the market in 2001, there was impassioned local debate about the future of the building and, in particular, concerns were raised about it falling into the hands of private developers.
The founding member of the FAC, John Strachan, who lives in Newburgh, then approached Wasps proposing that we buy and redevelop the building into a new arts facility for local artists and the wider population of Fife. Familiar with our work, John believed that a Wasps / FAC partnership could deliver a new arts building in Newburgh, while retaining the Town Hall as an important community resource.
Wasps had in the past looked at buildings in Auchtermuchty, Cupar and St. Andrews to meet the needs of artists working in the area. However, these investigations – as is often the way with property projects – came to nothing. The Newburgh proposition, however, met all our conditions for developing new studios: there was clear artist demand; growing community demand for a new facility; very strong support from Fife Council; and their agreement to sell the property for less than its market value (with Scottish Executive approval).
Impact of the project
Newburgh is an old fishing village on the banks of the River Tay but, despite its picturesque setting, in 1997 Fife Council and the Scottish Executive identified Newburgh as one of Fife's most needy rural areas. Since 2001 the town has been the focus of considerable regeneration and now boasts a range of community initiatives, including the Newburgh Orchard Project and the Waterfront Regeneration Group.
The development of The Steeple has played a major part in Newburgh's energetic renaissance. In anticipation of The Steeple opening, a new commercial gallery 'The Sun Gallery' and retail business, the Twist Fibre Craft Studio, moved into formerly empty shop units on the High Street. An artist awarded a year long residency by FAC in 2007 has also since relocated to Newburgh permanently with her partner. She has purchased a former church and plans to redevelop it into another cultural venue.
Fife Council has estimated that The Steeple will bring an increase in spend in the local economy by up to £66,000 each year.
With 7 professional artists already working in the building and a diverse programme of exhibitions and workshops scheduled, we know The Steeple will go on to have a major impact on both the economic and cultural life of Newburgh.
Cost and Funding
The cost of redeveloping The Steeple was £430,000. This project was made possible with the generous support of Fife Council, Scottish Enterprise Fife, the Scottish Arts Council Capital Lottery Fund, Heritage Lottery Fund, Fife Environment Trust, East Fife LEADER+, the Community Environmental Renewal Scheme and loan finance from Triodos Bank.
Partnership
The Wasps Trust and partner charity Wasps Artists' Studios specialise in buying, redeveloping and providing affordable studios for artists in Scotland. The Wasps Trust has assets of £3 million and now owns 6 properties for 300 artists. Wasps Artists' Studios manages 16 properties across Scotland for some 750 artists each year. For more info please click here.
Fife Arts Co-operative began life as a group of local artists, makers and designers who came together in 2001 to carry out arts activities in North East Fife. The group was constituted in 2002 as a company limited by guarantee with charity status to develop, manage and programme The Steeple's new project room. For more info please visit www.steeplearts.co.uk.
We firmly believe this project represents a new way of bringing amenities to rural areas through an innovative partnership between the local and national. Through the Fife Arts Co-operative, the project is very much driven by local artists for the local community, with the support, expertise and experience of a national organisation, Wasps Artists' Studios.
Wasps Artists' Open Studios Weekend 2009: Steeplearts is delighted to present an exhibition of approximately 60 Chinese socio-political posters collected in the early 1980s by a British teacher working in Wuhan in Central China. The exhibition ‘Red Star, White Flowers’ marks the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China on 1st October 1949.
This collection is being shown for the first time in Britain and will appeal to those interested in graphic/poster art and particularly in its use as propaganda in a Communist regime. The exhibition will be open every day from 12pm - 4pm from 1st - 10th October.
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