It was wonderful to welcome Scottish Greens co-leader and MSP for Glasgow, Patrick Harvie, to The Briggait in Glasgow on Monday.
We were able to take Mr Harvie on a tour of the exciting Briggait Clydeside Market Halls project, which will bring the entire Briggait site back into public use for the first time in 50 years, and we highlighted the crucial importance that artists play in supporting Scotland’s wellbeing and economy.
Wasps CEO Audrey Carlin also took the opportunity to discuss Wasps’ new “Scotland’s Culture Matters” manifesto, which focuses on the strain that the cultural sector is under, and proposes solutions that will help lift the pressure on artists and organisations across Scotland amidst rising costs and stagnant funding.
The Briggait Clydeside Market Halls is a £4.2M project on Glasgow’s River Clyde which will transform two market halls dating from 1889 and 1904 into an exciting riverside destination for food, drink, markets, and events, bringing this Category A listed building back to life to help support Scotland’s creative community.
Funding for the project has come from Glasgow City Council, The Scottish Government, the UK Government’s Shared Prosperity Fund, Historic Environment Scotland, Glasgow City Heritage Trust, the Scottish Landfill Communities Fund, The Architectural Heritage Fund, and Scottish Enterprise.
Read more about the Clydeside Market Halls project.
The Highland Society of London and Wasps Studios are delighted to announce that Crofts at South Dell/Croitean aig Dail bho Dheas by David Greenall from An Lanntair/Open Studios Hebrides is the winner of the 2023 Highland Art Prize. The winner was announced by competition judge Ishbel Murray, artist and art teacher based on the Isle of Lewis, at the prize-giving ceremony in Glasgow on Friday 20th October.
Hosted at Scotland’s provider of creative spaces Wasps’ venue The Briggait, in conjunction with the Royal National Mòd, the prize-giving was attended by many of the 74 artists from 16 art organisations across the Highlands and Islands who had submitted artworks to this annual exhibition and competition. Lady Of The Flowers by Leah Davis from the Society of Caithness Artists was also highly commended by Ishbel Murray.
Welcoming everyone to The Briggait, Audrey Carlin (CEO, Wasps Studios) said: “It is Wasps’ pleasure to host the Highland Art Prize this year, and be in a position to host Highland Art Prize winner for 2022 David Page’s stunning exhibition. The Briggait has been bristling with colour and energy. We were delighted with such a strong turnout on the day, making the Highland Art Prize announcement all the more enjoyable. Congratulations to our winner and to all entrants. The quality and diversity of works has been extraordinary. It seems that the Highland Art Prize has a bright future.”
Introducing the awards ceremony, Maggie Cunningham (President of An Comunn Gàidhealach, organisers of the Royal National Mòd) added that: “Visual arts are an integral part of Gaelic culture, and An Comunn Gàidhealach are delighted with the success of the Highland Art Prize and look forward to working together for many years to come.”
Announcing the winner of the 2023 Highland Art Prize, Ishbel Murray commented that: “David’s artwork captures the atmospheric essence of this crofting location by the sea through a highly sensitive use of colour involving the demanding method of blending pigment and wax to achieve a shimmering effect in an image that has been beautifully reduced to its essential elements.”
The winning artist receives £1,000 (to be shared with their local art organisation), plus an exhibition opportunity at The Briggait in Glasgow, courtesy of Wasps, a charity and social enterprise that provides studio spaces to artists and creators across Scotland. The 2023 Highland Art Prize was also supported by Renfrewshire Council and Bòrd na Gàidhlig.
A major milestone has been reached as Wasps CEO Audrey Carlin signed the construction contract with Michael Scanlon of Clark Contracts, allowing for the repairs and refurbishment of The Briggait’s historic hall spaces to commence at the end of June 2023.
Delivered in two phases, the first phase will see the safeguarding of the roof of the 1899 and 1904 Halls, general repairs to ageing floors and walls, and the installation of new toilet facilities, doors, a café and a reception facing onto Clyde Street. Due to be completed in Spring 2024, these enhancements will open up The Briggait to the Clydeside area and signpost this historic Merchant City landmark from Clyde Street. The 1904 Corner Block on the corner of Merchant Lane and Clyde Street will be completely transformed to create a food and drink offering.
These valuable assets are to be conserved and brought back into public use, allowing communities and visitors to take advantage of the full complement of spaces and activities in the building for many years to come. Wasps intends to expand its events and exhibitions capacity into these two halls from 2024 onwards, in turn bringing more opportunities for the creatives of Glasgow and beyond.
Phase Two will involve the installation of underfloor heating, air source heat pumps, more toilet facilities and a beautiful new entrance on Clyde Street with a landscaped outdoor area for the public to enjoy.
The Briggait Clydeside Market Halls project is only made possible by our generous supporters: Glasgow City Council, Glasgow Heritage, Architectural Heritage Fund, Scottish Enterprise, the Scottish Government, Historic Environment Scotland, the Scottish Landfill Communities Trust and Avondale.
For more information on our plans for The Briggait, click here for the development page or contact projects@waspsstudios.org.uk.
Clyde community initiative marks the work of 20th century Scottish Novelist Naomi Mitchison
A public art exhibition celebrating the work of Scottish novelist, poet and playwright Naomi Mitchison will open in Glasgow this autumn, following free creative workshops with communities located on the Clyde estuary.
As part of the celebrations for Scotland’s Year of Stories 2022, provider of creative spaces, Wasps, the Clyde Fishermen’s Trust, and award-winning multidisciplinary artist Rhona Taylor have been collaborating with community groups in Carradale, Tarbert and Glasgow. The locations mark the traditional fishing route along the Clyde to The Briggait, which once served as Scotland’s largest fish market and is now operated by Wasps as a major arts centre. In each location, Rhona Taylor, who is also a Wasps tenant, has worked alongside local communities to explore and respond to different elements and themes present within Naomi Mitchison’s work.
The resulting exhibition will be held at Wasps’ The Briggait, which now serves as a working home for artists and creators and features gallery and event space. Leading up to the exhibition Rhona Taylor has used Mitchison’s work with local communities as a focal point to encourage discussion around the historical relationship between the Clyde’s rural and urban areas, collecting responses and stories about the history of this relationship and how it might develop in the future.
Naomi Mitchison was a prolific novelist, poet and playwright whose body of work spans an entire century, encompassing an array of genres and formats, including children’s literature, feminist science fiction and a semi-autobiographical play. Her work was ahead of its time, exploring themes of self-determinism and equality across gender, race and class.
Mitchison spent the latter half of her life in Carradale, where she was heavily involved in local life and the politics of the small fishing communities of the Clyde. She worked as a farmer and fisherwoman, skippering her fishing boat, the Maid of Morvern, and wrote extensively about her experience of living and working within a small fishing community.
The exhibition at Wasps’ The Briggait opens on Sunday 18 September, will be free to attend, and will feature a collective sculptural installation incorporating the creative contributions of the community groups. It is intended to weave together responses to the themes of community, self-determinism, equality and collective action present in Mitchison’s life and work.
Artist and Wasps tenant Rhona Taylor: “It’s brilliant to be working with the Clyde Fishermen’s Trust and Wasps to focus on Naomi Mitchison for the Year of Stories. Naomi Mitchison wasn’t just a prolific writer, but was a lifelong campaigner and also did some amazing work bringing contemporary artworks to schools in Argyll. She believed that art shouldn’t be confined to big cities, which I couldn’t agree more about. She had an incredible life, and lived much of it in Carradale, so it’s great and very fitting to be working with people in her local communities on this project.”
Jonathan Walker of Clyde Fishermen’s Trust: “The Clyde Fishermen’s Trust are delighted to be working in partnership with Wasps and the artist Rhona Taylor to celebrate the life and work of Scottish novelist Naomi Mitchison as part of the Year of Stories 2022 Community Stories Fund. We are excited to work alongside the communities in which Naomi lived, exploring the themes present in her work and responding creatively through participatory art workshops.”
Marie Christie, Head of Development at VisitScotland said: “We are delighted to be supporting Clyde Fisherman’s Trust project through the Year of Stories 2022 Community Stories Fund. Events play an important role in our communities as they sustain livelihoods and help to celebrate and promote our unique places, spaces, and stories. Themed Years are all about collaboration and Museums Galleries Scotland, National Lottery Heritage Fund and VisitScotland are pleased to work in partnership to create this fund to showcase community stories. By supporting events taking place within our communities, including the Clyde Fisherman’s Trust project, new opportunities with be provided for locals and visitors to come together and find out more about the diverse stories, past and present, that our communities have to share.”
This event has been supported by the Year of Stories 2022 Community Stories Fund. This fund is being delivered in partnership between VisitScotland and Museums Galleries Scotland with support from National Lottery Heritage Fund thanks to National Lottery players.
