Today (Wednesday 20 March) Glasgow City Council revealed the 23 artists which will make up the first community engagement phase of its Creative Communities: Artists in Residence project - a citywide programme which aims to elicit views from local people about how to improve health, wellbeing, confidence and quality of life throughout the city by strengthening local links with arts and culture.

First announced in 2017, the £400,000 programme places artists and arts organisations into each of the city’s 23 wards. In this current first phase of the programme, artists will be immersed in communities, working creatively with local people and organisations to co-design the residency activity which will take place in the second phase. Anyone who makes a contribution to a local community, whether through living or working there, is welcome to take part and artists will be based in local spaces and places.

The aim of the programme is to open up dialogues across the city in order to enable Glasgow’s diverse communities to make new connections and realise new opportunities through creativity. Activity will cover a range of art forms, including music, performance, visual art, film and craft. These activities will shape and inform the second phase of the programme which will start later in the year and run until April 2020.

Artists were selected (full list in notes to Editors' Notes below) by a panel made up of Glasgow Life teams, and established culture sector and community partners from across the city. Each of the 23 projects selected will be awarded a fee of £10,000 to carry out the work in their area, with the remaining budget being used to support delivery of the city-wide programme, the development of support networks, training and resources for the artists and for participants, research and evaluation of the initiative’s impact, as well as direct costs of activities the selected artists and arts organisations undertake, such as provision of materials, venues, and equipment hire.

The Creative Communities programme was created as part of Glasgow City Council’s 25 year Cultural Plan to create and champion local art and strengthen the links between culture and wider aims of improving overall health. 

Councillor David McDonald, Depute Leader of Glasgow City Council and Chair of Glasgow Life, said:

Culture can have a transformational impact and has been pivotal in Glasgow’s rebirth in recent decades. Our ‘Creative Communities – Artists in Residence’ programme takes arts and culture to a local level, into the heart of our communities where it become a tremendous force for good; improving health, well-being and the general quality of life, boosting the confidence of individuals and communities, raising educational outcomes and breathing new life into some neighbourhood facilities.

“We know from studies from participatory arts projects elsewhere that they deliver real positive outcomes from healthy eating through to increased physical activity.

“Recognising how central culture is to the vibrancy, vitality and profile of our city, this programme is also an investment in our creative talent, supporting our artistic community and working closely with them as they make a positive impact in every neighbourhood in our city.

“By nurturing a supportive environment for the cultural and creative industries, we can remove barriers which prevent the sector from reaching its full potential – whilst at the same time ensuring arts and culture are readily accessible to all those who live and work within our city. Cultural participation should be open to all.”

Notes to Editors

The full list of 23 artists by ward:
Ward 1   Linn | Deirdre Nelson
Ward 2   Newlands/Auldburn | The Village Storytelling Centre
Ward 3   Greater Pollok | Daniele Sambo & Hannah Brackston
Ward 4   Cardonald | Fiona Fleming
Ward 5   Govan | The Glasgow Barons
Ward 6   Pollokshields | Alec Finlay & Henry Bell
Ward 7   Langside | A Kind of Seeing
Ward 8   Southside Central | Ailie Rutherford, Alex Wilde, Rae-Yen Song and Brian Morgan
Ward 9   Calton | John Binnie
Ward 10 Anderston/City/Yorkhill | Donna Rutherford
Ward 11 Hillhead | Creative Electric
Ward 12 Victoria Park | Elena Mary Harris
Ward 13 Garscadden/Scotstounhill | Ignite Theatre
Ward 14 Drumchapel/Anniesland | WAVEparticle
Ward 15 Maryhill | Louise Nolan
Ward 16 Canal | Glasgow Sculpture Studios
Ward 17 Springburn/Robroyston Springburn | Winter Gardens Trust
Ward 18 East Centre | Skye Loneragan
Ward 19 Shettleston | Street Level Photoworks
Ward 20 Ballieston | Fraser MacLeod
Ward 21 North East | Walker and Bromwich
Ward 22 Dennistoun | Karen McGrady Parker
Ward 23 Partick East/Kelvindale | Tricky Hat