Press Release: Artists & Locations Revealed for SFRM 2016

Locations have been chosen, and teams of Scottish and international artists selected, to create three large murals in the heart of the Dumfries and Galloway countryside next month.

It is being staged as part of the Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design.

Community engagement workshops are planned for 5 March, where local residents can learn more about Spring Fling Rural Mural (SFRM) and contribute their own ideas for the first wave of murals, which will be painted in March.

The, sites chosen so the art can be enjoyed by visitors to the Spring Fling contemporary visual art and craft open studios weekend on 28-30 May, are:

• The Mossburn Animal Centre, Hightae. The mural will be on the side of a large, stone farm building at this centre for ill-treated and abandoned animals. It is visible from B7020. The creators will be Berlin-based arts duo 44 Flavours (Sebastian Bagge and Julio Rölle) and Dumfries and Galloway visual artist Rory Laycock.
• Meiklewood Farm, Ringford, Castle Douglas. Tellas, from Rome, will team up with Kirkcudbright-based Morag Macpherson to create a mural on a large steading near the A75.
• Craigdarroch Arms Hotel, Moniaive. Amy Whiten and Ali Wyllie from Recoat in Glasgow will collaborate with Morag Paterson from near Thornhill. Their mural will be on a gable end at a pub renowned for hosting arts events.

SFRM is being organised by Upland, the Dumfries and Galloway arts agency which runs Spring Fling, and project managed by Recoat. The project is also supported by EventScotland, a team within VisitScotland’s Events Directorate and by Creative Scotland.

Clare Hanna, Upland Director (maternity cover), said: “The murals will be vibrant, challenging, interesting – and if 2014 is anything to go by – enormous fun. It’s wonderful to be creating large-scale and colourful public works of art in the heart of the Scottish countryside.

“We couldn’t have asked for better sites – a centre which cares for unwanted and abandoned animals, a pub in the heart of a village and magnificent farm building.

“So we are really looking forward to bringing together high quality national and international street artists to work with some superbly talented artists from Dumfries and Galloway.

“Just as important is that the same teams will then take the freshness and originality of SFRM to cities in Scotland, England and Germany – which fits in perfectly with this year’s project theme which is ‘exchange’.”

The 2014 SFRM proved a hugely popular addition to Spring Fling. The latest project is again being managed Amy Whiten and Ali Wyllie of Glasgow-based arts agency Recoat and the pair will also be the lead artists.

Amy Whiten, Recoat manager, said: “The 2014 SFRM was one of our favourite ever projects. Dumfries and Galloway has such an amazing community spirit and there was such a warm public reaction to the work. We are really looking forward to being there again, partly because the sites are so amazing. It’s great to have these huge blank canvasses to work with.

“Each of the sites has it’s own appeal. With Mossburn it’s the fact that this is a place that cares for unwanted and mistreated animals, so it’s a really worthwhile cause as well as a great setting.

“Meiklewood is a working farm, and we very much liked that idea, and the building is a really interesting shape with an archway in the middle. And the Craigdarroch Arms is different again, because it’s in the middle of a community where there’s lots of footfall and passers by who will see it.”

Paul Bush OBE, Director of Events at VisitScotland, said: “In 2016, the Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design, we are delighted to be supporting Spring Fling’s Rural Mural project, which will provide a fantastic platform for local Dumfries and Galloway artists to work collaboratively with international talent, and to showcase their work to a wider audience.”

After the work is carried out in Dumfries and Galloway, SFRM will take a novel twist with the same teams going to Glasgow, Newcastle and Berlin to create further works.

SFRM is currently agreeing locations in the three cities, where they plan to get to work in March and April. Recoat and Morag Paterson will head for Glasgow, Morag Macpherson and Tellas will work in Newcastle, with Rory and 44 Flavours going to Berlin.

The workshops

Spring Fling Rural Mural teams up Upland artists with internationally renowned Street artists to paint murals in Dumfries and Galloway and beyond. Two community engagement workshops will give people the chance to contribute their ideas to the creation of the murals. Participants will also have the chance to explore mural materials and learn spray painting.

The workshops will be led by urban art specialist Ali Wyllie, of Recoat, and artist and illustrator Jamie Johnson. They are open to all and no experience is required - just enthusiasm, ideas and curiosity. The workshops are FREE but places are limited to 10 per session, so if you would like to attend we'd recommend moving quickly. Participants should wear clothes that are suitable for painting outdoors and which they don’t mind getting messy.

• Book the morning workshop at: https://sfrm2016muralmappingwithrecoatmorning.eventbrite.co.uk
• Book the afternoon workshop at: https://sfrm2016muralmappingwithrecoatafternn.eventbrite.co.uk

For further information contact Joanna Macaulay on [email protected] or 07787 299487.