111 Artists and Makers to Take Part in Record Breaking Spring Fling

This year’s annual Spring Fling open studios weekend will be a record-breaker with 111 artists and makers throwing open their doors to visitors.

Taking place across Dumfries and Galloway from 23 to 25 May, it has earned a reputation as the leading event of its kind in Scotland.

This year there will be extra attractions including Flock, a sculptural display of 1,000 ceramic birds created by primary and secondary school students from across the region. 

There will also be a spectacular costumed street performance called The Sailmaker’s Palm, combining theatre and music, by Oceanallover plus From Tree to Sea, an installation inspired by the region’s maritime past in the coastal woodlands at Dumfries House, Garlieston.

The weekend will feature everything from painting, photography, sculpture, illustration, original prints and ceramics to jewellery, textiles, wood and metalwork.

Natasha Kinsella, Events and Exhibitions Development Manager for Upland CIC which runs Spring Fling, said:

 “This will be the biggest ever Spring Fling, and one of the most varied, with artists and makers of every imaginable kind opening their studios and welcoming visitors.

“It marks a major step forward for the event as it continues to grow in scale, ambition and creative scope.
“It’s a wonderful chance to meet the creators of superb contemporary art and craft in their own homes and studios and explore beautiful places across the region.

“And this year we’re especially delighted that visitors can also enjoy a spectacular street performance from Alex Rigg and a new site-responsive commission on the Galloway coast.

“They can also take part in Kim Ayres’ interactive Crowd photography project, and experience a remarkable display of 1,000 ceramic birds created by school students from across Dumfries and Galloway.”

Flock, saw students from 56 schools create their own clay birds – real and mythical – including pheasants, finches and even a phoenix.
They will all be on show in the walled garden at Barwhillanty Estate near Castle Douglas. The initiative was the idea of Frances Ross from Sorbie and has been supported by Upland.

She said: “Our aim was to fire young people’s imaginations and give them the chance to work with clay, which teaches skills like problem solving and manual dexterity.

“We went into the classrooms and talked to the children about birds they know and asked them to make one – either from reality or their imagination.

“The results have been wonderful, and they have made everything from pheasants to phoenixes.”
Fellow ceramicists Clare Dawdry and Ruth Jones visited schools across the large rural region throughout the autumn and winter to work with the children.

Spring Fling visitors themselves can be part of the art with Crowd, a photographic project by Kim Ayres who is inviting people to pose individually to have their picture taken – after which he will meld all the images together in one large collage.

There will also be the chance to see work by jewellery designer Sonah Chaudhry and photographer Trinity Coombs this year’s recipients of Upland’s annual £1,000 Emerge bursaries for early career artists and makers.

The weekend is a great opportunity to explore one of Scotland’s most beautiful rural regions, with participating studios being spread from Langholm in the east to Portpatrick and the Mull of Galloway in the west.

As ever Spring Fling visitors have the option of following a series of six colour-coded routes which take them round studios in different parts of the region. Bus tours are also available, giving people the chance to let someone else do the driving – and reducing carbon emissions.
The standard studio opening times are 10am to 5.30pm, but many have special evening openings as well.