Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Inverness Creative Academy reports 30,000 visitors during first year since official opening

The old building has been transformed as part of a major £6m project.

Former BBC Senior Producer Kate Hooper and Professor Donald MacLean of StrategyStory, the first tenants to move into the newly completed building alongside artists who have been resident in Phase 1 since 2018.
Former BBC Senior Producer Kate Hooper and Professor Donald MacLean of StrategyStory, the first tenants to move into the newly completed building alongside artists who have been resident in Phase 1 since 2018.

More than 30,000 people visited Inverness Creative Academy during the workshop’s first year.

The north’s first major creative hub was opened by the Princess Royal last year.

Since then, it has hosted 21 art exhibitions and its 32 studios for resident artists are now fully occupied.

The academy is based at the former Inverness Royal Academy building in the Crown area of the city.

More recently, it served as the Midmills campus of Inverness College.

It underwent a £6 million revamp over a four-year period to transform it into its modern use.

Creative academy art sessions tackling social isolation in Inverness

The centre is operated by Wasps (Workshop and Artists Studio Provision Scotland).

Another 53 office and flexible working spaces were also recently completed. All but 10 of those units have been filled.

Wasps chief executive officer Audrey Carlin said: “Delivering Inverness Creative Academy to the community has been an honour.

“And for all those invested in the development of this stunning new cultural resource, a source of great pride.

“I would like to thank all the supporters for their time and generosity.

The old Inverness Royal Academy building has been transformed.

“Without which we would not have been able to deliver this stunning facility for Inverness and the surrounding area.”

The academy runs a community engagement programme called Inverness Openarts. It provides free access to art-making with the intention of boosting wellbeing and tackling local social isolation.

More than 400 people have attended sessions on clay making, collage, weaving and stop-motion animation.

One regular participant said: “The sessions are one of the only forms of social contact I have.

“They allow me to get out of my house and focus on doing something enjoyable.

“The sessions and the people who lead it and take part are helping me to slowly get over my anxieties about going out and being around people.”

Creative project was years in the making

Energy efficiency was a core element of the refurbishment.

A cash injection from Social Investment Scotland (SIS) was received earlier this year for more sustainable heating and lighting upgrades.

Chris Jamieson, head of investments at SIS, said: “It is great to see Inverness Creative Academy going from strength to strength in such as short space of time.

“The Wasps Trust plays an important role in supporting the arts and creative industries, but its work also has a big impact on local communities.”

The project spent a long time in the pipeline.

It began in 2014 when a public consultation identified the need for a creative space in the Highlands.

Interested in all the latest news and updates from Inverness? Join our Facebook group.