A slate of brilliant events have been announced as part of the inaugural NT Art Month this June. This brand-new celebration of the incredible arts quarter in Edinburgh’s New Town launches on 7th June with an exciting Late event across the 10 participating galleries, which will be followed by a month of amazing artistic events and activities to be enjoyed by Edinburgh residents and visitors alike. In addition to the events, headline sponsor Hampden & Co has been announced, with Good Brothers Wine providing drinks sponsorship. NT Art Month offers the opportunity to explore Edinburgh’s wealth of culture and galleries across the New Town. NT Art Month highlights the importance of supporting local commercial spaces as platforms for nurturing new artistic talent and mounting world class exhibitions.
Ffiona Lewis will be joined by Open Eye Gallery’s Artistic Director, Michelle Foster, as she discusses her first solo show at the gallery, Harris Machair. This body of oil paintings and works on paper is the culmination of four years of repeated wanderings to the Outer Hebrides while renovating a small farm in coastal Suffolk. While travelling again and again to Barra, the Uists and Harris in her summer months, Lewis saw resonances of the work on the farm in observing their native collectives. This informal event will take place on Thursday 15th June from 2-3pm at the gallery, as Ffiona invites guests to explore her solo show alongside her.
Watson Gallery on Queen Street will host two live painting sessions during the festival. Artists will sit on Saturday 10th and Saturday 24th June, allowing gallery visitors the rare opportunity to observe their artistic process live and in-person. Watson Gallery offers a broad selection of high-quality contemporary and investment art by Scottish, British, and international artists. The gallery aims to encourage everyone who appreciates all forms of art to come and see for themselves their exciting and ever-changing art collection and the art on offer is suitable for all budgets, from affordable art pieces to investment artworks. The participating artists will be announced closer to the event.
Powderhall Bronze Editions will share their specialist knowledge of bronze casting on Friday 23rd May at 7pm. Kerry Hammond, one of the directors of Powderhall Bronze fine art foundry, will discuss the technique of lost wax casting at the Summer Place gallery. After meeting whilst working in foundries in London, Kerry Hammond and her husband Brian Caster set up Powderhall Bronze in Edinburgh in 1989. The foundry offers a casting service to artists from small scale gallery pieces up to large public commissions. Notable pieces cast at Powderhall include Really Good by David Shrigley which was sited on the Fourth Plinth in London’s Trafalgar Square, Lulla-Bye by Andy Scott in Princes Street Gardens and Your Next Breath by Kenny Hunter at The Edinburgh College of Surgeons. The gallery displays and sells bronze sculpture designed by both Kerry and Brian as well as selected artists whose work is cast at Powderhall Bronze. It also offers hand-crafted furniture by contemporary crafts people and selected wall art by featured artists.
On Dundas Street, The Scottish Gallery will host a ‘Meet the Director’ talk with their Managing Director, Christina Jansen, Wednesday 14th June at 5pm. Christina Jansen has over 25 years’ experience working in the arts and is a specialist in 20th century Scottish art, design and applied arts. Find out more about this prestigious heritage business and what makes it special.
From 2pm – 6pm, on Friday 16th June, Atelier Gallery on Howard Street are holding an Artist in Residence Drop-in Session. Atelier Gallery’s Artist in Residence is Linda Park, known for her dramatic landscape and seascape interpretations in oil, she uses an array of brushes, knives and other implements to create rich and evocative scenes bursting with colour, movement and texture, capturing the subtle variations in light and form within a landscape as it changes throughout the day or season and in different weather conditions. She spends a large part of her time carrying out commissioned pieces, painting specific memorable scenes for customers for birthdays, weddings, anniversaries and statement pieces for new homes. The session will provide an opportunity to see Park at work and to discuss the commission process.
NT Art Month is sponsored by Hampden & Co. From their offices in London and Edinburgh, Hampden & Co offer banking expertise to personal and professional clients across the UK. They deliver a service that is tailored to each client and to their family and business. Mark Prentice, Head of Banking at Hampden & Co, comments, As a bank based in Edinburgh with many clients in the New Town, Hampden & Co is delighted to support NT Arts Month. Edinburgh is blessed with many exceptional local galleries and the festival is a great way to encourage people to explore them and to celebrate the arts available on their doorstep.
Drinks sponsorship is provided by Good Brothers Wine, who bring the best of the world’s vineyards to Edinburgh. Their new location, Good Brothers Wine Cellars, opens from late May 2023 at the northeast corner of Dundas Street and Northumberland Street. Graeme Sutherland, co-founder of Good Brothers Wine Bar in Stockbridge, will be supporting New Town Art Month with his newest venture, Good Brothers Wine Cellars – at the heart of the Art Month trail. Sutherland comments, Our galleries are a vital part of Edinburgh’s cultural scene, and New Town Art Month is such an exciting addition to the city’s summer calendar. It’s a true pleasure to be celebrating the launch of this annual event and supporting our new neighbours in the New Town throughout the month. The team and I can’t wait to welcome art-lovers to our friendly wine shop and tasting rooms – a fun diversion as they gallery-hop.
The List are the media partner for NT Art Month, and the festival is organised by Chloé Nelkin Consulting.
