Circus Artspace

We have some free copies of The Illustrated Freelancer’s Guide - a brilliant publication by and !

This essential resource has been created to fill an information gap for creative freelancers to understand their rights and best practices in avoiding and addressing difficult situations.

Pick up a copy from Circus Artspace during the Highland Zine Bothy open day next Tuesday from 4-6:30pm.

Thanks to the .scot & for providing these copies 👏

Highland Zine Bothy - forthcoming workshops and open days during July & August!
https://mailchi.mp/e649bec9a18f/zine-bothy

CALL FOR PARTICIPANTS - only one week left to apply!

We Have Questions #2: Who Are We?
Tuesday 3rd - Thursday 5th September, The Old Brewery, Cromarty, Highland

WHQ is an annual two-day residential working group for rural practitioners in the arts and the third sector, using our creative practice to explore and interrogate our place in contemporary life.

Artists Cat Meighan and Hector MacInnes are seeking practitioners from a range of creative, arts, education and community backgrounds to convene a working group exploring rurality, creativity and social engagement. The theme for WHQ2 is the question “Who Are We?”, inviting participants interested in exploring the pressures and forces that are currently acting on, and shaping, our identities as artists, as political agents, as rural, as…?

During the working group residential in Cromarty, participants will contribute in one of two ways: some will lead a session, by presenting a short provocation and then hosting a zine-able activity; others will be chosen as a respondent, closing the session either through reflective conversation or their creative practice.

For freelancers and professional practitioners not participating as part of salaried work, a fee of £672 + reasonable travel expenses will be offered.

Find out more here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LJBQx7Nd-4ghmmZlVCE2raC4n3buD5GY/view

WHQ #2 is brought to you with the help of Fèis Rois.

Image: an AI generated image of a crowd of Highlanders, which in spite of requests to be ‘diverse’ is overwhelmingly white and elderly. Laid over the image is the text: “WHQ2, Who Are We? Call for participants”

Wow, where to start? A zine library in the Highlands has been a long held dream that we started to bring to life with Iona Gibson from DeZiners over 8 months ago. Since then we secured a bit of funding from Scotmid Co-op’s Community Grant to purchase the shed, fix it up and with the help of many volunteers the Highland Zine Bothy has emerged.

Our aim is to celebrate zine activity with our local community by archiving and showcasing zines from the Highlands and beyond.

The Highland Zine Bothy launched as part of our Highland Pride celebrations on 21st June 2024 and we were overwhelmed by your response. Huge thank you to Iona💫, the volunteers, the zine doners and everyone who came to celebrate with us 👏

Finally, if you have a zine you want to donate, please DM .zine.bothy (Instagram) or email [email protected] to express your interest.

📸 photos 3 - 9 by Alexander Williamson - Creative Content
are part of the Outer Spaces network.

Something for the kids this summer with Circus’ Richard Bracken?

It’s the last day of school! Are you wondering what to do with the kids over the summer holidays?

🎨 Inverness Museum and Art Gallery are delighted to be hosting a Summer Art Club with artist Richard Bracken as part of High Life Highland’s School’s Out programme.

This special series of workshops is aimed at 8-12 year olds and will be held over three Thursdays on the 4th, 11th and 18th July from 1-4pm here in our Room to Discover.

Richard will guide your child through a range of art making techniques in response to our current exhibition by Charlotte Hodes which is inspired by summer picnics. Over the three weeks we will explore papercut and collage, screenprinting onto fabric and ceramic painting. Create a picnic set to be enjoyed at a family picnic in Bellfield Park, Inverness on Saturday 20th July.

Richard Bracken has a passion for working with children and young people of all ages and is currently the lead artist for Room 13 in Caol.

🔍 View and save activities in the School’s Out programme NOW!
https://hlh.scot/4bH3jVd

Please note: you will need your HLH card to make a booking.

Homepage

Hope everyone has had a great pride month, we’ve met some lovely folk and had a blast! 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ The Circus team want to thank all the volunteers involved in our pre-pride celebration…

💜 Thanks to Highland Pride for collaborating with us without their support it would not have been possible to provide free workshops.

💚 Thanks to Ross & Karen from Midnight Majic for providing the DJ 101 workshop and sharing their skills so generously.

💙 Thanks to Alexander Williamson - Creative Content for spending the day with us and capturing the event in these beautiful photographs.

🧡 … and finally thank you to Outer Spaces for enabling us to access the space on Carsegate Road to deliver events like this.

Pre-Pride Celebration this Friday from 2-10pm 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

Circus Artspace and Highland Pride are delighted to present a day of drop-in events on the eve of Inverness’ Pride March. All events are free and open to LGBTQ+ folk and allies. 🏳️‍🌈 🏳️‍⚧️

🪧 2-10pm, Pride is a Protest: Placard Making Drop-in
Activate your activism and celebrate Pride in style by joining us to create your very own placard for the Pride March (Suitable for ages 5+ until 7pm). All materials are provided.

🎧 4:30-5:30pm, DJing 101 with Midnight Majic
In this fun and informal session, local dj collective Midnight Majic will go through some of the basics of DJing to help you get started! No experience or equipment necessary.

✂️ 6pm, Highland Zine Bothy Launch
This new zine library in a bothy is a collaboration between Circus Artspace and DeZiners. Not only will you get a first look at the collection, but there will be an opportunity to make your very own zine.

🍹 7-10pm, Sober Pre-Pride Party
***Please note that Crimson Tea Productions have had to cancel their drag show due to unforeseen circumstances. Disappointing we know, but the sober party will continue with mocktails, zines and tunes!

FREE ENTRY​ | ALL WELCOME

VENUE DETAILS | CiRCUS ARTSPACE, Unit 8 (next to Poundland), Telford Street Retail Park, Carsegate Road, Inverness, IV3 8EX – part of the Outer Spaces network.

♿️ Free car parking, ground floor access, wheelchair accessible + gender neutral toilets.

🚌 Catch the number 3 bus (to Craig Dunain) from Inverness Queensgate and get off at the Telford Retail Park stop (opposite the Co-op).

COLLABORATORS (find us on Insta) 💜
.pride .zine.bothy .scotland

📷 Photo credits: 1, 3, 6, James Mackenzie, 2023

Our POSTER PARTY project focused on working with young people from military families and their connections to Fort George.

Funded by Historic Environment Scotland and supported by Army Welfare Service Hub staff on Wimberley Way, Inverness. From March to May 2024, the project involved weekly screen-printing and paste-up sessions for young people (P4 to S6) facilitated by artists Cat Meighan and Richard Bracken.

After an initial research trip to Fort George at the end of 2023, Cat and Richard used the various recruitment posters on display at the Highlanders’ Museum as inspiration for the workshops.

The designs produced are influenced by text and imagery from these military posters along with the architecture of Fort George, which we visited with the young people during the Easter Holidays. Elements from these sources were traced, photographed, copied or cut and playfully repurposed to sit alongside names, commands, personal qualities and shapes generated by the individuals in the group.

Our prints were pasted up each week onto a large billboard outside the Welfare Hub before moving the finished piece to Fort George at the beginning of May for a family and friends showcase in the Grand Magazine.

The billboard is now in our Carsegate space and we plan to do a follow up workshop with the group to create a new set of prints to capture the results of the project.

Circus Artspace Newsletter - new opportunities and projects!
https://mailchi.mp/3904a0de6fb0/mar-2023-circus-newsletter-10327642

Pre-Pride Celebration // Friday 21 June, 2-10pm 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

Circus Artspace and Highland Pride are delighted to present a day of free drop-in events on the eve of Inverness’ Pride March. All events are free and open to LGBTQ+ folk and allies. 🏳️‍🌈 🏳️‍⚧️

🪧 2-10pm, Pride is a Protest: Placard Making Drop-in
Activate your activism and celebrate Pride in style by joining us to create your very own placard for the Pride March (Suitable for ages 5+ until 7pm). All materials are provided.

🎧 4:30-5:30pm, DJing 101 with Midnight Majic
In this fun and informal session, local dj collective Midnight Majic will go through some of the basics of DJing to help you get started! No experience or equipment necessary.

🍹 6-10pm, Sober Pre-Pride Party
A Pride party with a difference, as we will be serving non-alcoholic drinks and mocktails!

✂️ 6pm, Highland Zine Bothy Launch
This new zine library in a bothy is a collaboration between Circus Artspace and DeZiners. Not only will you get a first look at the collection, but there will be an opportunity to make your very own zine.

💅🏼 7pm, Crimson Tea Productions presents Pre-Pride Drag Show
Various drag artists are coming together to put on a fabulous show and end our Pride celebration in style!

FREE ENTRY​ | ALL WELCOME

VENUE DETAILS | CiRCUS ARTSPACE, Unit 8 (next to Poundland), Telford Street Retail Park, Carsegate Road, Inverness, IV3 8EX – part of the Outer Spaces network.

♿️ Free car parking, ground floor access, wheelchair accessible + gender neutral toilets.

🚌 Catch the number 3 bus (to Craig Dunain) from Inverness Queensgate and get off at the Telford Retail Park stop (opposite the Co-op).

COLLABORATORS (Insta) 💜
.pride .zine.bothy .scotland

📷 Photo credits:
1, 2 Brian Smith/Jasper Image, 2023
4, 5, 6 Kirsten Louise Photography, 202

FINE ART DEGREE SHOW 2024

Our fourth year Fine Art degree students are pleased to announce their end of year exhibition.

The exhibition will feature the works of eight Moray School of Art students covering a diverse range of fine art work, including painting, photography, textiles, installation and sculpture.

The show is available for the public to view from Monday 10th June until Saturday 15th June between 9.30am - 4.30pm.

More information at www.moray.uhi.ac.uk/msa

🎉 Woop woop the Travelling Gallery is in the Highlands next week from Monday til Wednesday 👇👇👇

The Travelling Gallery
High Life Highland are delighted to be hosting the Travelling Gallery next week at Highland Archive Centre, on Tuesday 30 April and Highland Folk Museum in on Wednesday 1 May. The gallery is free to visit from 12-5pm and everyone is welcome.

The Travelling Gallery is a contemporary art gallery in a bus and the new exhibition, A Bonnie Way, is a group show presenting the work of three artists, Ufuoma Essi, Bobbi Cameron and Sarah Rose from Hospitalfield’s Residencies programme in Arbroath.

For more info click here: https://tinyurl.com/4c7ndef2

We are speaking about our work with young people as part of this UHI online conference on Tuesday.

https://www.uhi.ac.uk/en/learning-and-teaching-academy/events/festival-of-creativity-in-and-out-of-the-classroom

Exhibition preview this Friday from 6-8pm 👇

Join us at for the preview of , an exhibition of recent work by Eric Cruikshank and James Lumsden.
Friday 5 April @ 6-8pm.
Come and enjoy a glass of wine and some good art!
More info here: https://tinyurl.com/3zstttrd
Image: © James Lumsden
Inverness City Centre BID

So amazing to see this banner heading for the Venice Biennale!

We are looking forward to a great evening - join us for some fun!- details on how to get tickets below Incredible Edible Inverness Circus Artspace Inverness Botanic Gardens Blackthorn Allotments Association Velocity Cafe and Bicycle Workshop Highlands & Islands Climate Festival

🌳 A wee shout for this article ‘Guardian of the Gateway: don’t give up on elms’ by Mandy Haggith in the current issue of Reforesting Scotland (no. 69). It features our 2022 collaboration with artist Isabel McLeish to celebrate the 800 year old Beauly Wych Elm; which sadly died of Dutch Elm Disease and subsequently fell in January 2023.

📍 You can purchased a copy of the magazine from Highland Wholefoods Workers Co-operative in Inverness.

This comes highly recommended from a Circus friend 👇

We are delighted to introduce Lizzie Wood as our 2024 Circus Fellow. Based in Inverness, Lizzie has been able to set up a studio in our Carsegate space this week.

“A lifelong reader and student of literature, I was never fully convinced that words alone can do justice to the stories I wanted to tell. As a recent convert to graphic narratives, I have been exploring the medium’s quality of non-verbal, unwritten communication - a visual conversation supported, not dictated, by words. I’m interested in the way in which experiences can be captured through different means, especially those things that are hard to articulate.” Lizzie Wood

Lizzie graduated in 2022 and her practice has ranged from literary criticism, nature writing, visual poetry to memoir. She is currently writing a script for a full length graphic essay, which explores the specific psychological space of Scottish hills in winter, the encroachment of climate change on that space, and the way personal grief is often indistinguishable from the grief of the land.

A passionate walker and mountaineer, Lizzie has undertaken self-directed walking residencies along the Pacific Crest Trail and the Pyrenean High Route - documenting the routes visually to create a series of watercolour paintings. More recently her comic, ‘Solastalgia’, was selected for online publication by the Scottish Mountaineering Press and the original artwork is now on display at the John Muir Trust’s spring exhibition ‘Creative Freedom’ in Pitlochry’s Wild Space until the 25th May.

Read Solastalgia here: https://scottishmountaineeringpress.com/creatives/publication/entry/solastalgia/
Follow on Instagram

The 2024 Fellowship has been kindly supported by The Highland Society of London - thanks to them for the ongoing support.

📷 Images courtesy of the artist

We need volunteers!
Over the past couple of months we’ve been working on a new project; renovating this garden shed to become a zine library.

🧑‍🎨 Now we’d love some help to bring it to life and give it a new paint job.

📍 Join us on Tuesday 26th March, 7-9pm at our space on Carsegate Road in Inverness (swipe right for a map). If you’d like to come please just ping us a message or leave a ✅ in the comments below.

🍻 Well providing the beers, some food and good company in return!
Circus x