What is Scene Stirling?
Welcome to Scene Stirling, home to Stirling’s Place Partnership project, a collaborative initiative by the city’s arts and cultural partners.
SceneStirling is funded by Creative Scotland and Stirling Council with other partners contributing through in-kind support and match funding.
The Place Partnership has some specific aims as a collaborative project which is a commitment to Stirling’s cultural and creative future. These are:
Position, mobilise and enable our creative communities to achieve positive change.
Establish a sustainable infrastructure to support and bring together our creative communities within rural and city areas.
Develop pathways for growth and [creative] business development
The project is coordinated on behalf of the partnership by Artlink Central, with the support of Stirling PR.
The scenestirling.com website is where all opportunities are advertised.
SceneStirling has a focus on raising the profile and visibility of creativity and culture in Stirling, supporting pathways for our sector to develop, supporting particular communities and areas to strengthen their cultural offers and networks, and commissioning artists in ways that address the aspirations and ambitions of the Place Partnership.
This is underpinned by collaboration and therefore we are excited to support interesting and innovative collaborations and partnerships through our programme.
The Scene Stirling Symposium
As Scene Stirling - Stirling's Place Partnership - reached the end of its original journey in June 2023, we invited the local creative community to come together to celebrate, reflect and plan for the future.
Hosted by Stirling's Makar Laura T Fyfe, the symposium featured 8 artists and creatives who have been funded by Scene Stirling over the past 3 years. From Covid Micro Grants, to Unlearning Open Grants and Digital and Climate Change Commissions, and through the Eastern Villages and Doune Creative Networks and the recent Community Justice Grants, we looked back and celebrated successes while addressing any gaps and barriers. Together, we also reflected on where the road leads to now, and what we need to get where we want to be as a city-wide creative and cultural community. We discussed themes such as collaboration (both local and including national and international opportunities), support for our artists and creative communities, resilience, access and equity.
The artist-led event included a pop up exhibition, artists presentations and roundtables, and Q&As.
You can skip through the video of the event to access the following content:
(TIMESTAMPS 00.00.00 Opening Speeches and Intros (Laura Fyfe, Tara McLoughlin, Kevin Harrison) 15.22.00 Artists presentations: 15.36.00 Rebecca Wilson 23.27.00 Omar Aborida 32.08.00 Carolyn Fraser 37.22.00 David Sherry 44.51.00 Stirling's Cultural Strategy Presentation by Bryan Beattie (Creative Services Scotland) 1.04.05 Roundtable 1 1.33.59 Artists presentations: 1.34.05 Hannah Uttley 1.42.11 Zephyra Durkin 1.46.13 Orla Stevens 1.52.00 Stephen McAll 1.59.26 Roundtable 2 2.33.53 Closing speeches and Laura Fyfe's poem.)
Arts and Culture Stirling
Image reproduced with the permission of Destination Stirling.
Together we’re shining a spotlight on Stirling's thriving arts and culture scene to help raise the region’s cultural profile.
Not only a great place to live and visit, Stirlingshire is also home to a wealth of local artistic talent and ground-breaking cultural initiatives for residents and visitors to enjoy; from festivals, theatre and live music, to creative workshops and exhibitions.
As well as attracting tourists, we’ll be keeping our home crowd engaged and informed about the wide variety of arts and culture opportunities available on their doorstep. Encouraging all our communities, rural and urban, to support local and get involved.
We also support new and established talent by: creating opportunities for artists to lead change in Stirling, encouraging collaboration between artists and Stirling’s communities, and supporting pathways for developing arts and culture as a career. As well as attracting inward investment, commissioning new work and building a resilient and enterprising arts and culture network.
BACKGROUND
In 2018, Stirling Cultural Partnership established a Place Partnership programme, in collaboration with Creative Scotland. The aim of the programme is to amplify the brilliant creative activity already taking place in Stirling, learn about what it needs to thrive, and develop new activity which supports its sustainability. The Place Partnership promotes an open, collaborative approach to working together, where the city’s arts and cultural partners opt-in to support each other and from this, new opportunities can emerge.
Partners include: Artlink Central, Big Noise Raploch, Forth Valley College (Creative Industries), Creative Stirling, Historic Environment Scotland, MacRobert Arts Centre, Stirling Council (Tolbooth, Albert Halls and Events), University of Stirling (Art Collection) and Stirling Smith Art Gallery and Museum.
THE PROJECT
The first year of the Place Partnership was led by Creative Stirling, along with project manager Ruth Currie. One of the key activities in year one was to help Creative Stirling develop a new creative hub on Stirling’s high street.
Made in Stirling, at 44 King Street, is a unique store where people, place, imagination and curiosity converge. As well as showcasing and selling the work of local artists, the hub hosts a series of arts events and workshops and is home to a community radio station and a community kitchen.
The project was also supported by a range of Cultural Connector projects which aimed to support the wider network of artists and creatives across Stirling’s towns and villages and included ‘Pecha Kucha’ and ‘Creative Breakfast’ programmes. In May 2019, a Cultural Symposium was held.
In its second year, the Place Partnership management moved to arts charity Artlink Central, working alongside local communications agency Stirling PR. The programme’s focus in years two and three was on visibility of the arts and cultural scene in and across Stirling as a whole.
Help us promote and shout about the talent, stories and aspirations of the creative communities in Stirlingshire by sharing your news with us at: hello@scenestirling.com
