The Wasps team is very pleased to announce the availability of new community assets now open at Perth Creative Exchange, delivered in partnership with Perth UNESCO City of Craft and Folk.
A ceramics kiln, a glass kiln and a photography darkroom will be open for makers to use on a pay-for-what-you-use basis, meaning users only pay for the cost of electricity for kiln firings and to replenish materials in the darkroom. Community Assets are an invitation to community members to engage in craft making, and the team looks forward to seeing this new provision in action.
Glass Kiln: Using a specialist glass kiln, users can explore numerous glass making techniques from fusing to annealing. With two technical advisors on hand, you will be able to push your creativity and further explore the versatility of glass making.
Ceramics Kiln: This specialist ceramics kiln will allow users to fire ceramics and glazes. With an in house technical advisor who works as a ceramicist on hand for enquiries, you’ll be able to further your ceramics knowledge and create your next pieces.
Photography Dark Room: This bespoke dark room is located right in the heart of Perth Creative Exchange. Made to measure, the dark room has everything you need to begin developing your own film and enlarging to various scales. With a specialist technical advisor on hand for inductions and enquiries, photographers can develop with confidence.
These assets are tools that members of the local community can use without the costs of a regular membership or rent. You only pay for what you use, for instance for the kilns, you will pay for the electricity used, and for the dark room a small fee towards the replenishment of chemicals used.
As the UK’s first and only UNESCO City of Craft and Folk Art, Perth is a destination for craft. Being known as a ‘craftis toun’ as far back as medieval times, craft makers are still predominant in our contemporary cultural scene, craft is celebrated throughout the city including in the collections on display in Perth Museum and the current Glass exhibition at Perth Art Gallery.
Wasps recently celebrated the fifth anniversary of Perth Creative Exchange becoming a home to artist studios, and creative industries as well as a cultural destination housing a gallery with a changing exhibition programme, and a business incubator space with the Perth Ideas Centre.
This joint venture, funded by the UK Shared Prosperity fund and supported by Perth and Kinross Council, further embeds Perth Creative Exchange as a cultural venue in Perth city centre, but also works towards community engagement goals of our UNESCO designation. The funding from the UK Shared Prosperity fund, supported by Perth and Kinross Council, also covers the costs of technical advisors for each of the assets to ensure that users can have thorough safety inductions, but also so they can ask questions or share experiments to further creative innovation.
While community access to kilns and dark rooms does exist across Scotland, the pay-for-what-you-use model, possible due to the funding leveraged, reduces financial barriers to entry by avoiding membership models, upfront purchasing costs, or space rental.
Once you have had an induction, you can book in to use the assets whenever Perth Creative Exchange is open, which is Monday-Friday (9am-5pm) excluding public holidays. The assets are aimed at makers who have some experience in using these kinds of facilities. If you would like to use the Community Assets as part of a workshop to teach beginners, the team would love to hear from you! To book an induction or enquire about the Community Assets, please email: perthcommunityassets@gmail.com.
