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'Game-changing' arts hub opens in Inverness


By Val Sweeney

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A MAJOR new arts hub has opened in Inverness in a bid to provide new studio space for artists along with an economic boost for the city.

The Inverness Creative Academy, which has been hailed as a game-changing venture, has welcomed its first tenants including a photographer, textile designer and a glassmaker.

It follows completion of the first phase of a £5.7 million project to regenerate the B-listed Victorian Midmills building which once housed Inverness Royal Academy and Inverness College.

The work is being carried out by the Wasps Artists’ Studios social enterprise which has pioneered similar hubs and projects across Scotland, including Nairn.

Chief executive Audrey Carlin said the new academy was something to celebrate.

"It provides excellent artists and makers with a new home in the heart of Inverness," she said.

“The Highlands is a region of huge talent and creativity but many people have been held back or forced to leave because there is too little studio space. The opening of the creative academy is an important first step towards reversing this trend and helping to build the strongest and most vibrant possible creative economy.”

The new tenants include glassmaker Catherine Carr, who uprooted from Cumbria to buy a house just yards away from the building.

"Finding studio space has always been a nightmare so when I heard about the old academy buildings in Inverness I was really excited," she said. "I had visited artists in Wasps studios before and knew they were good.

"I am really looking forward to being among a group of artists again. Working alone in your own studio can be isolating.

"Having other artists around gives you people to bounce ideas off."

She felt the academy will act as a magnet for further creative businesses and fits in well with other projects to strengthen the economy by boosting business and tourism.

Multi-media artist and marketing consultant Louis Buick, who returned to Inverness after working as a DJ across Europe, said the academy has answered his prayers.

"It's hard to find quality space to rent so I created a makeshift office in a cupboard at home, but it's not really somewhere you can take people for meetings and my own creative work has had to be done all over the house," said the 26-year-old who runs the Minsu Manor clothing brand.

The first phase of the academy comprises 30 studios and an exhibition space and cost £2.2 million.

Fundraising is under way for the second phase which will include offices for creative companies, a public cafe, performance and events space plus workshop areas. The project is also supported by Highland Council, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Creative Scotland, Inverness City Heritage Trust and McCarthy and Stone Retirement Lifestyles.


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