Cairngorm Leader - Cairngorms Local Action Group

The project aims to fulfil these aims through the following activities:
· A Craft Maker will be selected by elected pupils from schools within the Kingussie High School cluster group to facilitate craft workshops during a 40 day residency in the Badenoch and Strathspey area. Residencies will also be taking place in Sutherland, Skye and Lochalsh.
· It is proposed that three craft media are studied in depth, one in each location with three showcase exhibitions running concurrently in each location, Badenoch and Strathspey, Skye and Lochalsh and Sutherland.
· Workshops will be led by the selected maker and participants will create their own craft pieces in the medium facilitated by the maker.
· The residency in Badenoch and Strathspey will be hosted in Kingussie High School with workshops offered to all 6 feeder primaries to the High School.
· The residencies will link when the new work produced is put together as a touring exhibition.
· Community Workshops will be run in conjunction with existing arts and youth groups. The community workshops will target a varied audience including non-traditional arts participants including young people who facilitate youth facilities as well as amateur artists affiliated to one of the many art groups within Badenoch and Strathspey. This will provide best value from the maker.
· Professional development sessions will be offered to staff involved in the project to enhance there skills to ensure an enhanced legacy are left of the project.
· An information day will be organised at the opening of the exhibition, raising awareness of the project to interested professionals, schools, makers and individuals.
· The residency will provide the craft maker with the opportunity to develop their own work in response to the project in Badenoch and Strathspey. The Cairngorms National Park will offer the maker the opportunity to maximise the use of natural resources.
· All involved schools and makers will be issued with guidelines on the residency and will have to have read and understood their commitment prior to commencement of the residency.
· A handling collection will be created by the chosen maker and two other selected makers (chosen by the selection panel) to allow participants to understand how the work is made. The handling collection will consist of part-made objects, sample materials and explanatory information. This valuable resource will be made available to all schools and venues when the showcase exhibition tours.
· It is anticipated that the handling collections from each area will eventually form an educational resource that can be accessed by all schools in the Highlands.
· There will be a showcase exhibition of work at the Iona Gallery to raise awareness of the residency and crafts within the community; the exhibition will consist of work from the three makers involved in the project. One piece of work from each of the three makers will be selected for the showcase exhibition.
· It is hoped that a final collection of works created throughout the Highlands, as a result of the individual residencies and showcase exhibitions, will culminate in a touring exhibition to celebrate the 2007 year of culture.
· Pupils in school will document the project, providing feedback for monitoring purposes and information that will contribute to a catalogue for the final exhibition
This project was approved on the 5th August 2004.
The Total Cost of this project is £15,860 with a contribution of 19.92% from Cairngorms LEADER+.