Creative entrepreneurs will be showing off their work through a university’s first in-person showcase since the pandemic began.
The Robert Gordon University is celebrating the work of students and graduates through two exhibitions being hosted at Gray’s School of Art.
The event will be launched officially tonight before opening to the public for two months on Saturday.
It will combine the work of two cohorts on RGU’s creative entrepreneurship short course which first launched in 2020.
Work from 40 creatives is being showcased from a range of backgrounds including book binders, painters, graphic designers and ceramicists.
Helping entrepreneurs transform their business
Aberdeen ceramic maker and creative facilitator, Amy Benzie will be among those showing off her work.
Since she has graduated, Ms Benzie said that the course really helped to develop her work in hospitals for NHS Grampian.
She said: “The Creative Entrepreneurship course is a really focused, short course that offers first class business advice and expertise to anyone starting up in the creative sector.
“For me as an artist, the course has boosted my business acumen and will really help me transform my business as I move forward.
“It’s given me the confidence to develop the creative support I offer through my role as a senior artist practitioner with the Grampian Hospitals Arts Trust to patients across the city.”
Andrea Chappell from Acme Atelier has established a new collection of kilts and textiles since starting the course.
She said: “I have a huge belief and passion for what I do, but far less belief in myself.
“It has been fundamental for me to acknowledge this, as I didn’t see this as a problem previously. Through RGU’s creative entrepreneurship Course, this has changed dramatically and needs to continue to step up.”
A step forward in the post-Covid recovery
The showcase is being delivered at Gray’s School of Art’s Look Again, project Space. After Covid, events celebrating creatives are a welcome sight after many in the arts and creative sectors have been struggling to recover.
In 2020, the showcase had to be hosted online.
Look Again Co-Director and course leader, Hilary Nicoll, said: “We are really excited to be hosting the Creative Entrepreneurship Showcase. It’s fantastic to be running an in-person event and to be bringing creative entrepreneurs from across Scotland together for the first time in so long.
“RGU’s Creative Entrepreneurship programme is really unique. It offers tailored support to emerging creative talent, giving them the business acumen to take their ideas to the next level.”
The Creative Entrepreneurship Showcase exhibition opens to the public on Saturday, March 26 until April 23. It is open from 11am-4pm on Saturday and Sundays.
