19th March, 3:00pm at DCA Centrespace
With unprecedented levels of vacant commercial property across the UK, ‘meanwhile use’ – or the temporary use – of urban space has become increasingly popular. For artists and creative practitioners, who play a vital role in thriving cultural ecosystems, this can mean access to new spaces at low cost or even for free – yet, by its very nature, meanwhile use is precarious. Meanwhile Space Ecologies is a workshop and panel event, exploring temporary space models in Dundee and informing research into the impacts of meanwhile spaces.
Led by researchers Dr Emma Coffield and Gareth McMurchy from Newcastle University, our workshop will bring together artists, creative practitioners and businesses, grassroots organisations, existing creative spaces and researchers to map Dundee’s existing creative space ecology, the opportunities and challenges associated with meanwhile use models, and the impact they have on creative practice and communities.
At our evening panel event, hear from creative practitioners in Dundee who have navigated temporary space to exhibit, collaborate and animate spaces across the city, as well as insights from researchers Dr Emma Coffield and Eilish Victoria (Creative Dundee and University of Dundee) on how temporary space models work, and the motivations behind each of their research projects.
Choose to come to either the workshop or the panel, or join us for both! Following the event, you’re welcome to stay and continue chats at Jute Cafe Bar within DCA.
DCA Centrespace, 152 Nethergate, DD1 4DY
Ticket options:
Workshop and Panel Event (3:00–5:00pm)
Workshop only (3:00–5:00pm)
Panel Event only (5:30–7:00pm)
Tickets are free and booking is required.
3:00–5:00pm – Mapping Meanwhile Ecologies Workshop
5:00–5:30pm – Refreshments
5:30–7:00pm – Panel Event
7:00–8:00pm – Optional social upstairs at Jute Cafe Bar
Dr Emma Coffield is a Lecturer in the School of Arts and Cultures at Newcastle University. Emma is internationally recognised for her collaborative work around artist-run/led initiatives and meanwhile use. For over 15 years she has worked with a range of self-organised, grassroots artistic practices run by and for artists across the UK, as well as local and national governments, to highlight the working conditions and limitations imposed upon creative practice by temporary use. To date, Emma has led or co-led 10 collaborative, transdisciplinary projects in this area bringing together artists, creative practitioners, academics and local policy makers in order to foster co-designed, long-term urban futures. Emma also has a keen interest in notions of ‘employability’ in the cultural and creative industries, and the impact of this discourse on students’ experiences of teaching and learning within Higher Education.
Original Copy (OC) is a Dundee-based, grassroots, artist-led collective founded by Laurie McInally and Dana Leslie, with designer Lauren Bloor. OC supports early-career artists through accessible exhibitions, collaborative projects and community-focused events, often operating within temporary spaces across the city. Working responsively to Dundee’s changing creative landscape, OC uses short-term and non-traditional venues as sites for experimentation, visibility and collective learning. Their model explores how temporary space can foster sustainable peer networks, reduce barriers to participation in the arts and create meaningful connections between artists and local audiences.
Katherine Murphy(she/her) is a working-class feminist independent curator and producer from Dundee, now based in rural Perthshire. Her practice centres care, collaboration, and long-term relationships, working closely with artists to develop thoughtful exhibitions, publications, and public programmes. Katherine has worked with artist-run spaces, cultural institutions, and higher education, and is a board member at Generator Projects and the Scottish Working Class Network. She previously lectured in Professional Practice at DJCAD and now works with Dundee Ceramics Workshop. Recent projects include Unfolding ~ Correspondent with Dundee Contemporary Arts and Jerwood Arts, and Sulfur V, an ongoing collaboration with artist Alexia Laferté Coutu.
Eilish Victoria (Facilitator) is a Creative Producer at Creative Dundee, Associate Research Fellow at the University of Dundee and currently 1 of 6 Community Innovation Practitioners leading projects across the UK through the AHRC Creative Communities programme. Her current work looks to unlock creative space for creative communities providing space to make, collaborate, gather and act; and demonstrating Community Wealth Building in action. This work follows on from Hapworks which brought together Dundee’s creative communities to better understand what spaces are needed and the current challenges around accessing space, developed a future vision for creative space in the city and animated a vacant retail unit between February 2024 and June 2025 through pilot project Hapworks_00.
Those attending the workshop will be provided with information on how their contributions will be captured and asked to consent to taking part in academic research on arrival. A stipend is available to support the participation of creative practitioners in this work. The workshop will inform the outcomes of two research projects: AHRC Creative Communities, a partnership project by Creative Dundee and the University of Dundee; and Understanding the impact of ‘meanwhile’ spaces on the ecology of artists’ studios in Scotland: A scoping review led by Newcastle University on behalf of Creative Scotland. If you have any questions, please feel welcome to contact eilish@creativedundee.com.
As our workshop seeks to better understand artists’ and creative practitioners’ experience of accessing and running creative spaces, we are offering a £75 stipend to freelancers or volunteers who would benefit from financial support to attend. If this stipend would support you in taking part, please contact eilish@creativedundee.com by 12 noon on Wed 11 March. Recipients will be selected at random and be notified on Thu 12 March with the offer of a supported place.
This event will be held in Dundee Contemporary Arts’ Centrespace on Level -2. If you are arriving from the rear of the building next to the Science Centre, there is a lift which will take you directly to Level -2. If you are arriving via the main entrance on the Nethergate and a lift would be helpful, there is step free access and a lift straight ahead to the right of the main gallery entrance. There are three accessible toilets located on the Ground Floor, Lower Ground Floor and Level -1 all of which are accessible via lift. A quiet room can be found on Level -1. Further access information about navigating spaces within Dundee Contemporary Arts can be found on their website.
If you have any access requirements you would like us to know about ahead of the event, there will be an opportunity to share this with us when booking your ticket, or you can email eilish@creativedundee.com.
This event will be alcohol free with the exception of the optional social upstairs in Jute Cafe Bar at the end of the event.
Photography and audio recordings will be taking place during the event. If you would like to opt out of audio recordings or ensure your image is not publicly shared, please speak to a member of the Creative Dundee team on arrival.
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