Artwork by Leanne Blair commissioned by WHALE Arts as part of 2017-2018 Heritage Lottery project Wester Hailes: Your Story, Our Story has been long-listed for the Scottish Portrait Awards.
Today the long-list of 60 finalists, 30 fine artists and 30 photographers, has been selected for the Scottish Portrait Awards Exhibition in November 2018, at the Scottish Arts Club in Edinburgh.
Leanne’s artwork was produced after a series of workshops with young people exploring photography and portraiture at WHALE Arts and incorporates imagery from Prospect Community Housing’s archive of The Sentinel newspaper, in addition to written text by the children involved.
Leanne Blair says:
“This series was inspired by the young people of Wester Hailes; celebrating their diverse cultural heritage and sense of place within the community today. Acrylic and watercolour paint is used in an expressive way on top of the photographic images to illustrate the vibrancy of Wester Hailes and the children’s experiences. Key pieces of text have been recreated from the young people’s written responses with pencil and Letraset.”
Meghan Bidwell, Arts Engagement Manager (Adults), WHALE Arts says:
“I am delighted Leanne’s triptych has been selected for the second annual Scottish Portrait Awards long-list. We are looking forward to the exhibition, which will be an incredible opportunity for the young people involved to see their portraits exhibited at Scottish Arts Club. Thank you to the Heritage Lottery and National Lottery players for supporting this commission.”
ENDS
Notes to Editors
About WHALE Arts
Since being set up by local people in 1992 WHALE Arts has firmly established itself as the cultural anchor organisation for Wester Hailes. As a community-led arts charity and social enterprise, WHALE Arts’ mission is to be the creative heart of a vibrant, thriving community.
WHALE acts as a conduit between our community and creative opportunities through the direct delivery of projects, programmes and events and by connecting our community with city and national cultural partners. We are based in the purpose built WHALE Arts Centre – ‘The WHALE’ – a unique community asset that provides a range of high quality creative spaces including an Arts Workshop, Performance Space, Darkroom and Digital Media facilities for our community.
For full details on the WHALE Arts programme, see the website at www.whalearts.co.uk
About the Scottish Portrait Awards
The winners of the Scottish Portrait Awards, the commendations and the winners of the youth awards will be announced at the Scottish Portrait Awards Presentation on Wednesday 31 October 2018.
The Scottish Portrait Awards Exhibition at the Scottish Arts Club in Edinburgh will be open to the public from 11am to 5pm from Saturday 3 November to Saturday 1 December 2018.
The awards are run by the Scottish Arts Club Charitable Trust.
Media information
- For enquiries or interviews please contact Meghan Bidwell on Meghan@whalearts.co.uk or call 0131 458 3267.
