An organisation championing the arts in Dumfries & Galloway, Upland is celebrating its tenth birthday with an exhibition at Kirkcudbright Galleries.
Weathering the continued tough times for the creative sector (including public spending cuts, Covid and the cost-of-living crisis) the enterprise has tirelessly promoted the region’s artists and makers at home and overseas, and this exhibition, Decade, gives the public a chance to see pieces by forty-five artists and makers, highlighting the extraordinary breadth of talent within Upland’s membership, spanning painting, sculpture, ceramics, film and more.
It’s a good opportunity to look at how a vigorous arts organisation can help bring energy and visitors to an area, raising the profile of the creative community in one of Scotland’s most rural regions. Upland’s year-round creative programme of exhibitions, residencies and events includes Spring Fling – featured in Artmag.co.uk and Scotland’s leading open studios weekend.
The exhibition features ceramics by Andy Priestman, Archie McCall, Doug Fitch, Frances Ross, Heather Armstrong, and Ruth Elizabeth Jones. There is mixed-media work by Denise Zygadlo, Helen Walsh, Alison Corfield, Anne Waggot Knott, Linda Mallett, Rory Laycock, and Silvy Weatherall plus furniture design by Daniel Lacey and Ian Cameron-Smith. Visitors can also enjoy seeing glass by Katy Quinn, hand-stitched creations by Elizabeth Stephenson, and jewellery by Lisa Rothwell-Young. There are mobiles by Jay Rubinstein, mosaics by Kate Anderson, and a rich variety of paintings, photography, and prints from Upland members including Alexander Robb, Briony Anderson, David Quinn, Hazel Campbell, Colin Blanchard, and many more.
Also showing at the Galleries, until 27th April, is the Mary, Queen of Scots Casket, made in Paris, probably between 1493 and 1510, and an extremely rare work of early French silver.
