IC:Innovative Craft Blog

‘Raising the Bar – to Olympic Standards’

Posted Wednesday 3 September 2008, 04:26pm

This was a comment made after a recent visit to the Dovecot shows by Scottish sculptor and metalworker Sam Wade. Positive comments like this, from a professional maker and artist, are incredibly encouraging. It feels as though we may be on the right track!  ‘Inspiring – both metal and tapestries’, wrote a recent visitor from the USA. ‘Great to see the building used for something beautiful and useful’, added a local, Edinburgh visitor. One of many delights since opening has been the steady influx of local residents who knew the Dovecot building well in its previous life as a swimming pool and seem to unanimously approve its rebirth as a gallery and tapestry studio. Critical comment has been strong too: Catriona Black in The Sunday Herald awarded Raising the Bar four stars, describing American exhibitor Myra Mimlitsch Gray’s work as ‘sensuous … the work of a great storyteller’. A recent comment piece in Crafts magazine by Corinne Julius says enthusiastically: ‘What Dovecot offers is a place for reflection and excitement, a type of space that’s been sorely lacking in the UK.’

Reaction to One Eco Home’s beautiful, sustainable furniture has been good too, with several direct sales and good orders. An immediate outcome has been the contact Helen Mudie of One Eco Home has made with new Scottish designers for her stable.  Don’t forget to go and look at their full product list at www.onecohome.co.uk.  Also any purchases of display items at Dovecot are subject to special discount – don’t miss the chance to visit, see and buy!

We’ve had our second party here too, with the Scottish Arts Council’s annual gathering up of arts professionals here on 9 August and a special visit of international cultural attachés – projects from Venezuela to Japan are now in the planning. 

The Olympics are over, but the international, Olympic standards remain here in Edinburgh!