Amps is a community of people who make and cultivate creativity in Dundee, working together to collectively build on the future of the city. We connect through events and projects designed to help establish links, showcase work and develop collaborations. Join Amps and help make Dundee even better!
Our evening Meet-Ups are relaxed opportunities to meet and share ideas with other artists, designers, makers and doers in the city. They’re a great space to connect with new people and catch-up with familiar faces. You can also take part in small group chats, contribute to discussions, listen to others and share news, opportunities and conversation with one another.
Not been to a Meet-Up before and curious to know what they’re like? Take a look at a reflection of our 2022 Summer Social.
Hapworks_00, 7 Castle Street, DD1 3AA
Tickets are free and booking is essential.
This event is for Amps only—become an Amp and come along!
Event hashtag: #AmpsDundee
Not an Amps supporter yet? As well as opportunities including regular events, your work being profiled on our digital platforms and our Ampersand+ peer-sharing project, part of your Amps subscription goes towards our Community Ideas Fund!
Got an idea for a project that could positively impact Dundee? Awarded each year at our annual Forum, Amps can team up to pitch new creative collaborations that benefit the wider city, with the network voting to decide which project will receive support. The more Amps there are, the bigger the fund. Last year’s was £2,500 – find out about the awarded project!
Help us grow the Fund and make Amps more accessible by supporting a Pay It Forward subscription! Your contribution will help someone experiencing cost as a barrier to getting involved.
If you would like to support us in creating even better content, please consider joining or supporting our Amps Community.
Join Double Door Studios to celebrate their fifth birthday with a very special exhibition, showcasing five pieces from each of their five residents – Islay Spalding, Christina Vernon, Holly McAfee, Ieva Jankovska and Calum Rennie!
Curated to showcase the diverse and distinct styles of work created at the studios, the exhibition will provide a glimpse into the resident’s unique styles through the mediums of contemporary jewellery and modern framing. Each maker will exhibit a suite of works, celebrating their maker’s signature style or conveying evolution of design through collections old and new.
When
Sat 31 May–Sun 1 June, 11am–4pm
Where
Double Door Studios
7 Ward Road
Dundee, DD1 1LP
Please note, Double Door Studios is located upstairs on the first floor of an old building without a lift. If in doubt, please get in touch with the team at doubledoorstudios.dundee@gmail.com prior to your visit. They are happy to arrange virtual tours.
If you would like to support us in creating even better content, please consider joining or supporting our Amps Community.
UNESCO City of Design Dundee have released four brand new free trails of Dundee and its design history! Featuring illustrations by Rhianne Connelly and graphic design by Luke Cassidy Greer, each map encourages visitors and locals alike to explore the city’s past and contemporary design legacy.
Each tour varies in time, from short hops to longer jaunts, covering everything from converted cinemas to submarines and world-class architecture. Physical copies of each trail are available to collect from the McManus, V&A Dundee or Central Library. Digital versions can be downloaded online alongside an audio guide by dundee radio club‘s Becca Clark, featuring expanded facts and bonus stops.
If you would like to support us in creating even better content, please consider joining or supporting our Amps Community.
Alongside all applicants to Creative Scotland’s Multi-Year Funding, Creative Dundee made a commitment to centring Fair Work practices within our organisation – an intention that aligns with the Scottish Government’s target of becoming a Fair Work nation by 2025. In taking the time to outline how this commitment responded to and could guide the way our team works together, we found ourselves asking – as an organisation regularly working with and advocating for creative practitioners – ‘how does Fair Work extend to freelancers?’
Broadly speaking, there’s not a great deal of clarity about the expectations around Fair Work and freelancers – and what the responsibility is of those who work with them to ensure that their Fair Work practices cover freelancers as well as employed staff.
This blog explores Creative Dundee’s approach to Fair Work, insights from freelancers about better working practices, and how freelancers might benefit from knowledge about Fair Work for self advocacy.
As defined by the Fair Work Convention, “Fair Work is work that offers all individuals an effective voice, opportunity, security, fulfilment and respect” – these are known as the five Fair Work dimensions.
Through actions outlined in 2022, the Scottish Government’s vision is that embedding fair working practices enables success, wellbeing and prosperity for society – “underpinned by the principles of equity and equality of opportunity for all”. It aspires to encourage practices that tackle inequalities that persist (such as the gender pay gap, disability employment gap, and issues addressed by their anti-racist employment strategy) and positively support the economy, as well as the workforce who drive it.
Much of the government’s Fair Work plans rightly recommend equitable practices that centre people. However, their action plan makes no mention of freelancers. Indeed, if you look for results online linked to ‘Scottish Government Fair Work for freelancers’, much of what appears is work driven within the creative and cultural sector. Given that freelancers make up the majority of the creative workforce in Scotland, it’s positive to see that the sector is broadly reflected as being proactive. Many organisations and institutions rely on freelance practitioners and arts workers extensively for programming, production, facilitation, technical work, leading on progressive practices, design work, retail products and much more.
After the welcome news of success in receiving Creative Scotland’s Multi-Year Funding earlier this year, organisations had to complete a ‘Fair Work First compliance’ form, confirming their commitment to paying the Real Living Wage and providing channels for ‘effective voice’ for employees. Applying this conditionality to grants (such as those distributed by Creative Scotland) enables the Scottish Government to seek commitment to Fair Work without legislation.
Creative Scotland’s own objectives for Fair Work are to promote fair pay, conditions, and employment opportunities across the creative sector. Although it’s unclear at this time how they will monitor an organisation’s demonstration of this, it’s even less clear whether these objectives – and the five aforementioned Fair Work dimensions – are afforded to freelancers when there’s no explicit requirement.
When writing our Fair Work statement at the end of 2023, we framed it to respond to how the organisation supports our staff team but in tandem wanted to ensure that it outlined how we extend the Fair Work dimensions to our work with freelancers. This became the statement that now lives on our website, sharing our commitment to how we work within our team and with others.
We felt it was necessary for our statement to differentiate between the team and freelancers. This isn’t because we consider freelancers as secondary or additional; rather, doing it this way meant we could clearly respond to guidance that addresses employees specifically, acknowledging that some of the benefits and framing of how we respond to the dimensions are things only applicable to employed staff (i.e. four day work-week).
This differentiation also meant that we could explicitly underline that freelancers are intrinsically part of how we think about Fair Work, rather than it being implied (or worse, an omission). Highlighting the difference makes it obvious, particularly when there is no expectation that this information be presented at all. In being explicit, we hope that it encourages others to consider how to include freelancers in their Fair Work plans, if they haven’t already.
It also feels worth noting that our statement talks about working and connecting with freelancers. Even when we’re not commissioning people, we still have a responsibility in how we interact with them – particularly when we hold power in those relationships as a resourced organisation. The freelancers we connect with are also always incredibly generous in the insights and experiences they share with us. We want to ensure that generosity is reflected back through our actions.
It should come as no surprise that freelancers think and talk about fairness in working all the time. In the lead up to developing our statement, two focussed discussions held with our Amps network and freelancers in the city explored the things organisations could do better when working with freelancers, building on many conversations over the years. Not only did these exchanges guide our statement, but they help Creative Dundee more broadly as an organisation too – we know there’s always the opportunity to learn and put this learning into practice.
Contributions (some of which are shared in graphics above and below) were grouped under five themes: fairness and expectations; care and consideration; communication and clarity; support and resourcing; and invoices and payment. It’s worth noting that ‘fairness and expectations’ garnered the most responses – things like “clients don’t have enough awareness of the process or time involved”, “more collaboration and less instruction, especially if they’re not paying enough”, and “stop trying to get free work or extras for free” – but all responses fit under the umbrella of the Fair Work dimensions.
Their insights highlight that there are still knowledge gaps in how to fairly hire and support freelancers in the sector. Some of this will be rooted in inexperience and lack of familiarity of freelancing, alongside barriers for those who know or want to do better, such as lack of financial resource, timelines dictated by funders or partners, and working with partners who have different expectations or understandings of working with freelancers.
At Dundee’s Culture Summit in November 2024, a paid working group of freelancers shaped one of the event’s themes to foster discussion around artists and practitioners within the city’s creative ecology. Their presentation outlined the precarity and variety of freelance life, and the many skills that one person is required to learn and juggle when self-employed. Enthusiasm was shared for the development of a freelance charter or similar resource, one that would encourage fairness and transparency when working with freelancers in the city – but how can freelancers be supported in taking the lead in this work, and what can organisations do to enable the conditions for this to happen?
Self advocacy can feel particularly difficult in a small city like Dundee – the risk of burning bridges or limiting yourself in what is already a relatively small pool of available work sits alongside the fact that skilled creative work is routinely undervalued. Asking for what’s fair can stir up feelings of asking too much or concerns that you’re being (or being perceived as) unreasonable. Repeated and common issues are a drain on a freelancer’s time and energy, and some – particularly emerging practitioners – may simply be unaware whether asks of them are appropriate or reasonable.
While freelancers spend a lot of time considering fair working, they may not use the framework of Fair Work in doing so – or know that organisations within the creative and cultural sector may have made a commitment to embed Fair Work practices. Using the five dimensions, we’ve collated some points to consider – though this list will not be exhaustive nor applicable to all work undertaken.
For individuals, the opportunity to have an effective voice is crucially important. Having a say at work is consistent with the broader suite of rights available to citizens in democratic societies.
It is a reasonable aspiration to want work that is fair – and for fair work to be available to everyone. Fair opportunity allows people to access work and employment and is a crucial dimension of fair work.
Fulfilment can arise from positive and supportive workplace relationships that promote a sense of belonging and this overlaps strongly with respect as a dimension of fair work.
Respect at work enhances individual health, safety and wellbeing. Dignified treatment can protect workers from workplace-related illness and injury and create an environment free from bullying and harassment.
Security of income can contribute to greater individual and family stability and promote more effective financial planning, including investment in pensions.
Alongside the above, we’ve collected some Fair Work related guidance for creative freelancers in Scotland. We don’t believe the onus should be on freelancers to ensure that they’re being treated fairly, but we know that space and resources to aid understanding and growth in confidence is the first step in being able to advocate on behalf of not just yourself, but the wider community – because better working practices that are adopted due to your advocacy support the freelancer who comes after you, just as the acceptance of bad practice unfortunately lowers the bar for future work.
The creative and cultural sector has the power to do good work and set high standards for fair working for freelancers, who are the core of our creative ecosystem. It’s essential that organisations extend their Fair Work practices to the freelancers they work with, and understand their responsibility to form fulfilling, respectful, safe and sincere opportunities that recognise the knowledge, experience, care and creativity that freelancers bring to all that they do.
If you would like to support us in creating even better content, please consider joining or supporting our Amps Community.
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If you would like to support us in creating even better content, please consider joining or supporting our Amps Community.
Creative Dundee is all about shouting out, connecting and supporting the incredible creative networks all around the city. Through original content we aim to platform the views and voices of a broad range of creatives in Dundee, across different disciplines, and as individuals, collectives, and grassroots organisations.
This year we’re looking to commission creators to explore topics that expand the conversation on the creative industries in Dundee, or highlight socially engaged perspectives on the role of creativity in climate action, wellbeing, activism and more.
If you have an existing idea for a blog or feature, or would like to register your interest in being commissioned for our website – we would love to hear from you!
Deadline: 10pm, Fri 30 May
If you would like to support us in creating even better content, please consider joining or supporting our Amps Community.
A major new UK-wide project by artist Jeremy Deller to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the National Gallery will have its Scottish chapter take place in collaboration with Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design (DJCAD) students in Dundee on Sat 24 May.
The Dundee project titled ‘Meet the Gods‘, offers a chance to collectively revel with the Roman deity Bacchus and his mythical friends. Art students will demonstrate the power of the Art School to produce collective joy with a showcase taking place in Dundee City Square and Myatt Hall – renowned historical landmarks and cultural cornerstones of Dundee.
The event will include a performance by ‘weirdo-punk performance band’, Fallope and the Tubes, and there will be the opportunity to leave with your own DIY merch with the help of of collaborative artists Peter Kennard and Cat Phillipps (KennardPhillipps). ‘Meet the Gods’ will also be supported by a series of facilitated and collaborative workshops with Dundee Community Gardens.
When
Sat 24 May, 2–6pm
Where
City Square & Marryat Hall
Dundee
DD1 3BG
This event is part of ‘The Triumph of Art’ by artist Jeremy Deller, a nation-wide project that was commissioned by the National Gallery, London, as part of its bicentenary celebrations. It marks how festivals are part and parcel of art, culture and civic life, and that art and artists can be catalysts of collaboration and joy.
This summer will see new participatory public events in all four nations produced in partnership with The Box, Plymouth, Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design in Dundee, Mostyn Gallery, Llandudno, and The Playhouse in Derry-Londonderry. For the final event in July, they’ll take over Trafalgar Square in London for a free, family-friendly celebration with contributions from all four nations.
If you would like to support us in creating even better content, please consider joining or supporting our Amps Community.
Alongside Dundee’s Changemakers Hub, we’ve been delighted to bring back Fabric – an informal peer-learning journey to share, reflect and imagine how collective action can shape a better tomorrow.
Bringing together creative practitioners and community organisers, this iteration of Fabric focused on community climate action, giving participants the knowledge, skills, confidence and connections to fuel future work or projects.
In this blog originally shared with Dundee’s Changemakers Hub, Shona Cherry takes us on a field trip to The Scottish Crannog Centre for the final Fabric session, ‘From Dwellers to Changemakers’, reflecting on the Fabric journey and a day exploring learnings from our ancestors.
The 2025 Fabric cohort, like the ones gone before, is a group of climate and creative community members with one thing in common – Dundee. The city has brought us together, for a variety of reasons, and the stories we’ve shared with each other during the four steps of this Fabric journey have been connected by the common thread of this incredible place we all love.
Sometimes though, a wider perspective is valuable and our day outside the city at The Scottish Crannog Centre provided us with new and different viewpoints. The benefit of stepping away from the daily norm and our own wee worlds, not just into a different space but into an otherworldly place, is altering in some way. Even if it’s not entirely obvious how.
Set on spectacular Loch Tay, the centre team is currently rebuilding the Crannog which sadly burnt down in 2021. The fascinating process by which they embrace traditional skills with a peppering of modern supports was shared openly as the Fabric group wandered the village. The peacefulness and tranquillity of this place can’t be overstated, which may have been helped by the unusually calm and sunny weather.
This amazing space and the incredible team there tell tales of life from the iron age. I’m not sure I’ve ever experienced a bunch of individuals with such endless knowledge and passion for their work. As we heard stories of what life may have been like, I was distracted by birdsong – a reminder of the constant connection in nature between past and present – and I wondered if the birdsong would have been the same back then.
We were told how communities had to work together to survive, not venturing far for subsistence. Perhaps aware of other crannogs on the loch but really nothing beyond that. In the context of our globalised world today, that’s hard to wrap your head around and at the same time, rather enticing. Sometimes our ‘hyper-connectivity’ can feel overwhelming. So many people to follow and connect with. So much information.
But our modern-day communities have an opportunity to create real change and elevate us. We can take the benefits of the world we live in now, use the lessons from the past, and discard the things that do not serve us or our peers. We were told that:
“What we’re doing here is trying to find our way back to the start of the story.”
What surprised me was that the centre is a social justice organisation. Being able to draw comparisons between the work of Dundee Changemakers and The Scottish Crannog Centre was unexpected but affirming. They have a strong commitment to social causes, the environment and sustainability, fair work and accessibility – what we at Changemakers might call, a just transition.
Whether implicit or explicit, they are doing the multi-faceted and diverse work of an organisation with far reaching goals and impact. This place isn’t just a museum or a historical educator (although those things are, of course, extremely important), they are actively bringing communities together around some of our most pressing societal issues, through sharing stories from the past and connecting them with those of the present.
Throughout the day, we were free to explore the variety of activities at the centre, which included how people from that time might have prepared food (the home-made cheese with wild garlic was delicious!), made clothes, created and used tools, and entertained each other.
We were treated to a hilarious puppet show which animated stories of crannog life in the most unexpected way. Telling stories is a way of explaining ourselves that has existed throughout time. It’s how we understand our past. Many folk stories might have only existed verbally but are often there to communicate or connect us to lessons for the future – such as the utterly sustainable life that these people might have had.
The stories we heard perfectly captured their self-sustaining way of living – there was no extraction, only interaction.
After our meander through time and a generous lunch offering, we were joined by Claire Cooper from Bioregioning Tayside. Bioregions are a way of reframing how we see ‘place’ beyond our current understanding. Considering our geography from the perspective of community, land, availability of resources, rather than the manmade boundaries we all know, was a shift. ‘Change the Frame, Change the Story’ is their thought-provoking tagline.
We were prompted to consider how we adapt and respond to the environment we find ourselves in, physical or otherwise – valuing, shaping and interacting with one another, and the idea of reinhabitation.
Claire shared some powerful examples of storytelling for impact, that combine the natural environment, art and sustainability on a massive scale. One of which was The Awakening – a 9,000 sqm art installation of a giant hand sited on the Coire Lairige at the Spittal of Glenshee. Co-designed by Tayside-based artist Martin McGuinness and Fraser Gray, it was inspired by the Glen’s many connections to the legendary pan-Gaelic giant hero Finn mac Cumhaill, including the story that he is asleep under the mountains with his warriors ready to be awoken at a time of great portent to come to our aid. Made from 2,500m of Jute and Geotextile it was installed to coincide with the UN Climate Change Conference COP26 in November 2021.
Again, we were directed to consider how the past can inform the present. The idea of looking back to understand where we are now is important for bioregioning, as it is for most of the ways we consider the future.
I left the Crannog wondering what this means for us, at Dundee Changemakers Hub, as well as the many other climate and social action groups in the city. We cannot go back to where we were, no matter how many of us might wish for a bygone, less complicated time. There is a way forward that allows us to take what was precious and worth saving from the past and combine it with the incredible advances we’ve made (the good ones, at least!), to create a better future – just like they’ve done at The Scottish Crannog Centre.
With renewed enthusiasm we have an opportunity to reweave connection, create stronger social fabric, and take action that will bring us beyond what we experienced with Fabric.
We took a long, slow exhale at the end of March. After celebrating the changemakers in Dundee and the incredible work of local people and grassroots organisations driving climate action and social justice in our city, Dundee Changemakers Hub turns its attention to what’s next, with the intention to continue to foster connection, facilitate collaboration, and elevate community action.
Shona Cherry is Hub Manager at Dundee Changemakers, and has been working in sustainability, mainly in food and drink, for over 6 years. Her work-life of 30+ years has taken her through many industries, sectors and roles, and led her to return to a role supporting and serving the incredible people of Dundee.
Dundee’s Changemakers Hub is delivered by a collective of four local community organisations: Transition Dundee, The Maxwell Centre, ScrapAntics, and Uppertunity. The Hub offers support, events, workshops and micro-grants to connect and amplify collective community action.
The Hub is part of a growing national network of Climate Action Hubs funded by the Scottish Government’s Climate Action Fund, which aim to build local awareness of the climate emergency, develop local plans, help groups take up funding opportunities, and contribute to a Just Transition.
If you would like to support us in creating even better content, please consider joining or supporting our Amps Community.
Stobswell Forum, in collaboration with Upper Dens Landscaping Board (UDLB), are seeking a Dundee or Tayside-based artist for the exciting opportunity to redevelop three public art boards at the entrance of the historic Weavers Yard site.
There will be a fee of £6,000 for the project, inclusive of development, consultation, production and installation. When submitting a design, artists are asked to consider the history and future of Weavers Yard, embracing the existing public artworks on and around the site.
The new artwork can be any material or genre, but the artist will be responsible for engaging in consultation with Weavers Yard residents before production and installation. The project must be completed by March 2026.
Complete the submission form before 9am, Mon 19 May, providing the following:
Interested artists can get in touch with the Stobswell Forum for an informal discussion by contacting Trustee Helen King, and a tour of the development is possible on request to Emily Kernahan, Hillcrest Engagement Team.
If you would like to support us in creating even better content, please consider joining or supporting our Amps Community.
Dundee’s Changemakers Hub are currently recruiting for an exciting part-time role within their team! The Hub, anchored by four community organisations and hosted by Transition Dundee, is a collective committed to fostering positive change and climate action in Dundee. Together, they envision a sustainable and inclusive future for Dundee, connecting communities, sharing knowledge, and amplifying local voices.
They are seeking a passionate and community-oriented person for the role of Community Engagement Coordinator. This ‘front facing’ role is key to nurturing relationships and building collaboration with local changemakers, fostering engagement and instilling the Dundee Changemakers ethos. The role would suit candidates who enjoy interacting with a wide variety of people from different walks of life, and are well organised and team-orientated.
This is a 10 month fixed term role from May 2025, working 22.5 hours per week with an annual salary of £18,700.
Key info:
Application Deadline: midnight, Monday 5 May 2025
If you would like to support us in creating even better content, please consider joining or supporting our Amps Community.
Launched in the early 2000s, They Had Four Years exists as an opportunity for Generator Projects to support and nurture recently-graduated artists. One year on from their Degree Shows, a selection of handpicked Fine Art graduates from art schools across Scotland get the opportunity to exhibit newly commissioned work in the Generator Projects galleries.
This year’s edition features the work of five artists: Edward Cawood (Edinburgh College of Art), Olivia Margaret Frances (Glasgow School of Art), Jungyoon Im (Glasgow School of Art), Theodora Koumbouzis (Glasgow School of Art) and Kristína Gondová (Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design). Exploring themes from censorship and opression, to the natural world and industrial heritage, it’s promising to be a varied and unmissable show.
Opening Night
Sat 17 May, 6pm–9pm
When
Sun 18 May – Sun 22 June
Thu–Sun, 12pm–5pm
Where
GENERATORprojects,
25/26 Mid Wynd Industrial Estate,
Dundee,
DD1 4JG
Generator Projects is a Dundee based artist run initiative founded in 1996 by Paul Liam Harrison, Andy Kennedy and Caroline McIntee. As a volunteer organisation, they facilitate a varied cultural programme of exhibitions and events. They are committed to highlighting the importance of grass roots activity and its integral role in developing the careers of emerging artists.
If you would like to support us in creating even better content, please consider joining or supporting our Amps Community.
With over 130 innovative and boundary-pushing projects on display, the Abertay Digital Graduate Show is an opportunity to immerse yourself in the creativity of final year students from Abertay University’s Faculty of Design, Informatics and Business.
Covering everything from concept art and character design to cutting-edge tech like virtual/augmented reality and 3D modelling, the show offers a plethora of opportunities to play and explore.
Whether you’re into technology and digital design, interested in getting into games, or just keen to find out more about Abertay’s wide range of degrees, you’ll have the chance to play games, view graduates’ work, chat to exhibitors and connect with people in the local digital and creative industries.
When
Thu 15–Sat 17 May, 12–4pm
Evening Reception: Fri 16 May, 6–9pm
Where
Level 1 and Level 2
National Centre for Excellence in Games Education
Abertay University
Bell Street
Dundee, DD1 1HG
If you would like to support us in creating even better content, please consider joining or supporting our Amps Community.
At the end of May, DJCAD’s much-loved graduate showcase will welcome everyone back into the university studio and exhibition spaces! The Art & Design Undergraduate Degree Show celebrates the achievements of over 450 graduating students from University of Dundee’s Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design, showcasing experimental and inspiring work in textiles, sculpture, product design, illustration, jewellery, architecture and so much more.
For this year’s show, a friends and family opening night event will be held on Fri 23 May before the show opens to the public for its nine day run from Sat 24 May.
When
Sat 24 May – Sun 1 June
Where
Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design
13 Perth Road
Dundee
DD1 4HT
If you would like to support us in creating even better content, please consider joining or supporting our Amps Community.
Each year our Amps network comes together for our Forum, where we also host our annual Community Ideas Fund. Designed to enable an exciting collaboration between supporters of our network, Amps are encouraged to collaborate on and pitch a new idea that will result in a positive social impact in Dundee. The award exists thanks to our growing community; not only do the network vote at the Forum on which project receives the fund, but the award itself is funded by Amps subscriptions. It’s amazing to see this support stretch beyond our network through each project’s wider impact in the city.
This year, the network awarded the fund to a project that seeks to open up Dundee’s studio spaces to share the creative practices and processes within. In this blog we share more about what they hope to achieve.
With the Community Ideas Fund, we’re going to host a long-awaited Dundee Open Studios event. We want to start with what we know: beginning with the small ‘seed’ of jewellery in 2025 then building to invite all forms of artistic practice to open their doors and let the public see the intriguing worlds of makers in Dundee.
We’re both jewellers who have good links with other independent jewellers in Dundee – we already have a network called Dundee Jewellers Collective (DJC), and have organised two exhibitions of our works in the past: The 4th J (2019) and an Autumn Showcase as part of Craft Week Scotland (2022). There is lovely support between makers at various exhibitions around the city, and the Open Studios will help strengthen these links. We want to build on that and create a framework for a larger open studios event encompassing a wider range of makers, artists and designers in Dundee in future years.
Open Studios are a brilliant way for members of the public to see into the hidden worlds of makers and artists. They’re a behind the scenes look at their craft which builds understanding and appreciation of their skills and work. Dundee doesn’t currently have an Open Studios event, even though they happen in all of the areas surrounding us – Perthshire, Angus and Fife have hundreds of artists and thousands of visitors taking part in and visiting Open Studios. As a UNESCO City of Design, it’s something Dundee is definitely missing!
Dundee Open Studios: the Jewellery Edition would take place over the last two weekends in September. As well as designing branding and materials for sharing the event, we’ll create a map which will guide people and share information about who is taking part – a treasure map to spread the joy of the handmade!
Seven studios across Dundee have agreed to take part in our first Open Studios, with 14 jewellers in those workspaces, and several of those spaces have offered to host jewellers who don’t have spaces that people can visit as guest designers, creating space for more than 24 exhibitors. We also want this event to share the work of emerging designers as well as established independent designers, including new graduates from DJCAD. Being part of the Open Studios will improve the connectivity of jewellers in the city and provide networking opportunities for makers. It raises their profile and further shares where these jewellers work, the services they provide and the kinds of jewellery they make.
We hope this is the catalyst to a bigger Dundee Open Studios encompassing all sorts of makers, designers and artists – linking disciplines and sectors across the city, and bringing local people and those from further afield ways to see the creative work and opportunities our city can offer. Students and graduates will also see an event they can take part in, the networks that the city offers, and provide reasons to stay in Dundee and be part of its creative community.
From small seedlings great things grow. Collaboration over competition! Spread the joy of jewellery!
Islay Spalding is a jewellery designer/maker and founder of Double Door Studios. Since graduating from DJCAD in 2005 she’s developed her practice in garages and workshops before opening her studios, jewellery workshop and exhibition space with the help of DDS’s tenants in 2020. Specialising in bespoke kilt pins and jewellery, Islay takes great joy in knowing that her work is a part of people’s stories. Inspiration weaves between surrealist art, geology, landscapes, architecture, and the beauty of the between, combining organic complexity with modern simplicity, creating unique pieces that are unusual and distinctive yet practical and pleasing to wear. She’s a proud Dundonian and is passionate about her craft and the community, actively seeking ways to promote independent jewellery makers to the public, help new graduates and create networks and links within the industry.
Katie New is a jewellery designer and educator from London, now based in Dundee. After graduating from DJCAD in 1999, Katie returned to London to run jewellery galleries and lecture in design at several art schools. In 2018 she established her home studio The Orangery in Dundee, offering bespoke jewellery workshops that invite people to explore the power of making and celebrate life’s special moments. In her own practice she creates sculptural jewellery in precious materials, creating pieces that explore the relationship between people and plants, and working with eco metals, 100% recycled silver and gold, and ethical gemstones. Her experience in opening up creative spaces to showcase making to the public includes hosting Open Studios across four areas in south London, and the Dundee Jewellery Collective for Craft Week Scotland in 2022.
This new collaboration was made possible through our Amps network’s Community Ideas Fund. Everyone in the network can choose which project they’d like to award the fund to at our annual Amps Forum – find out about the other amazing projects that pitched in 2025. This cash award is funded by Amps subscriptions each year – join Amps and help us make the fund bigger and better!
If you would like to support us in creating even better content, please consider joining or supporting our Amps Community.
The UNESCO City of Design Dundee team have launched an open call for individuals, businesses and organisations to join their new supporter scheme Design Lives Here which aims to make visible support for design-engaged working across the city.
The scheme is open to anyone who champions design within their work, including designers, design-centred businesses, or those who support design by hiring designers, implementing design-thinking in decision making, and more. In joining, supporters must demonstrate their commitment to the Design Lives Here Charter which supports passionate design endeavours, community wealth building and design education.
It is free to apply and join the scheme. Design Lives Here supporters will be recognised by UNESCO City of Design Dundee, featured on their website and socials, promoted to international members of the UNESCO Design Cities Network, and provided with access to the Design Lives Here logo for use on products and more. Supporters will also receive a set of exclusive scheme merchandise.
How to apply:
Dundee is the UK’s first and only UNESCO City of Design. The global designation as a Creative City acknowledges Dundee’s rich design heritage, its thriving contemporary design sector and a city committed to using design to solve problems and make Dundee a better place to live.
This scheme has been inspired by existing supporter programmes coordinated by Galloway and Southern Ayrshire Biosphere, Whanganui UNESCO City of Design and Design Regio Kortrijk.
Identity and graphic design by Stein Design. Design Lives Here is part-funded by the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.
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Makers for Maggie’s Spring Market is back! Head along to Maggie’s Dundee on Sat 10 May 2025, 12 – 4pm, for a fantastic line-up of talented artists, designers and makers from across Tayside showcasing and selling their creations and helping to raise vital funds for Maggie’s Dundee.
Spend some time in the beautiful Maggie’s building designed by star architect Frank Gehry, browse the stalls of some of the best local makers, relax in the pop-up café, try your luck in the raffle and find out more about the vital support offered by Maggie’s cancer centre in Dundee.
Keep an eye on Facebook and Instagram for more info on the wonderful array of makers taking part on the day!
When
Sat 10 May, 12–4pm
Entry: £1 donation to Maggie’s Dunde
Where
Maggie’s, Dundee
Ninewells Hospital
Tom McDonald Avenue
Dundee, DD2 1NH
Maggie’s is a charity providing free support to anyone who has been affected by cancer. Their network of centres across the UK create caring environments that can provide information and practical advice. Designed by world-famous architect Frank Gehry, and built in 2003, Maggie’s Dundee was the first new-build Maggie’s Centre. The white, cottage-like building with a wavy silver roof is modelled on a traditional Scottish “butt n’ ben” dwelling, and offers a welcoming sense of calm and sanctuary.
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The Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival (SMHAF) is seeking proposals for four small artist commissions to present during this year’s festival dates, from Mon 20 October to Sun 9 November. These commissions are open to artists based anywhere in Scotland and working in any discipline – music, film, visual art, performance etc.
Works submitted must address mental health and respond in a creative way to this year’s theme of ‘Comfort & Disturb’, taken from the Cesar A Cruz quote “art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable”. Artists are encouraged to interpret the theme in any way that they choose but artists will be expected to consider safeguarding for themselves, audiences, and anyone else involved in the creative process.
While the SMHAF artist commissions were originally designed to generate new work that can be presented online, they are also open to proposals that can be shared as part of a multi-arts event.
The fee for each commission is £1,000 inclusive of materials. Submissions close at 6pm, Fri 9 May.
How to submit:
Further announcements on the programme and other ways to get involved with the festival are due in the coming months, so keep an eye on the SMHAF socials for details!
The Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival (SMHAF) is one of Scotland’s most diverse cultural events, covering everything from music, film and visual art to theatre, dance, and literature. The festival aims to support the arts, explore how engagement in the arts can help prevent mental ill health, and challenge mental health stigma. Led by the Mental Health Foundation, SMHAF combines artistic quality with strong grassroots support, community engagement and social activism.
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On Sat 19 and 26 April, Generator Projects will be joined by writer and artist Hussein Mitha for a set of workshops exploring the Palestinian resistance through reading and writing practices.
Tickets to attend each workshop are free but booking is required to attend. Donations to The Ghassan Abu Sittah Children’s Fund are encouraged in lieu of a ticket price.
Reading the Palestinian Resistance
Sat 19 April, 1–3pm at Hapworks_00
A reading and study group on the Palestinian resistance, exploring short extracts from political, cultural and literary figures of the Palestinian resistance such as Basel Al-Araj, Walid Daqqa, Leila Khaled, Wisam Rafeedie and more. Participants will consider the universalising dimension of the Palestinian cause, as well as the role of literary and cultural production towards Palestinian liberation.
Writing the End of Zionism
Sat 26 April, 5–7pm at Generator Projects
Using tools from anticolonial, abolitionist and revolutionary sci fi, speculative fiction and theory, participants will respond to writing prompts that imagine the chain of events that leads to the end of Zionism, and the downfall and abolition of all borders and carceral regimes.
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The hugely popular Drop in and Play event is returning to DCA this May, in partnership with Ninja Kiwi, and they’re looking for brand new games to showcase!
Taking place on Sat 31 May from 1–4pm, visitors will be among the first to try a range of new games before they’re widely available, speak to game developers and let them know what they think.
They’re looking for new and unreleased games made in Scotland, and in particular Dundee, with the event providing a fantastic opportunity for developers to see how audiences interact with their work.
Deadline for applications: Fri 25 April 2025
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