Thursday in Edinburgh – What’s On Today

#artcore: calling young animators! If you are aged 12-18 and interested in animation, come along to the library today to find out about a new series of workshops facilitated by Red Kite Animation. Today you’ll get a chance to try out the technology, meet the team and find out what’s involved, then from Friday 27th February there’ll be afternoon workshops with top-notch animator Bona Bones, who will set you up with everything you need to get started on your project. You’ll create storylines, dialogue and story boards, and get to grips with animating, editing and adding music. If you’re interested call #artcore on 0131 555 4604 or email fiona@redkite-animation.com. #artcore is a collaborative two year project led by Out of the Blue alongside 13 Edinburgh arts organisations, young people, artists and young Creative Apprentices; it aims to develop a new and vibrant arts scene distinct from adult arts, one where young people take charge. Taster session today, 2.30-4.30pm, Central Library, George IV Bridge.

LGBT Age Edinburgh: One Man, Two Guvnors. An exclusive behind-the-scenes tour of the internationally acclaimed smash hit National Theatre comedy at the Festival Theatre. 10.30am-12 noon, Festival Theatre, 13-29 Nicolson Street. Booking essential: contact Lynda Peachey on 0141 271 2330 or email lynda@lgbthealth.org.uk. If you would like to stay to have lunch and attend the matinee performance, please let Lynda know and she can book tickets. The tour is free but donations to the Festival Theatre are welcome. LGBT Age events are for LGBT people who are 50+ and would like to meet others. The group has a monthly LGBT Age newsletter, keeping you up-to-date with the project’s events and activities in Edinburgh, Glasgow and the Lothians; to join email lgbtage@lgbthealth.org.uk or sign up at www.lgbthealth.org.uk.

Leith Walk Police Box Pop Up Launch: Leith Walk Police Box is to become a pop up venue, offering short-term flexible lets to budding entrepreneurs, artists, foodies, designers, campaigners, and particularly for any community and charity uses. Tonight the launch will be celebrated at The Black Fox – come along, say hello and find out about the first two exciting pop ups, The Edinburgh Tool Library and Anjila Wilson, who is researching the history of Shrubhill at Edinburgh College of Art. There will be cake! Food and drink also available to purchase from the bar. 7-10pm, The Black Fox, 17 Albert Place.

From Plot to Plate: How to Plan and Work a Vegetable Plot. Each year RBGE’s students of horticulture are given a small plot to plan and work as part of their exam. At this event the students will present their different designs, explaining their ideas and showing how the plots developed through the season, which problems had to be overcome and what grew well or not so well. Plenty of tips and inspiration for the upcoming growing season! 7.30-8.30pm, Lecture Theatre, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, 20a Inverleith Row. £6 (RGBE members £5) on the door – no advance booking required.

Souper Indoor Kurling: free of charge and suitable for all ages and abilities – come along and join in this free social activity; everyone welcome! 1-3pm today and for the following 5 Thursdays, St Martin’s Community Resource Centre, 232 Dalry Road. Tea/coffee and soup will be available. For further information or to register your interest, please contact Alan on 0131 337 1376/alan@healthallaround.org.uk or Jim on 0131 337 3252/gdca@btconnect.com.

Edinburgh College of Art Online Information Session: MSc Digital Media Design. If you are interested in this online course and you’d like to find out more about the programme, join Professor John Lee (Programme Director) and Dr Denista Petrova (Tutor) for a live chat, during which they will provide an overview of the programme and answer your questions. 2-3pm: if you would like to take part click here for further details and registration.

LGBT Learning Disability Project: this month – ‘Speaking to your doctor’. 2-4pm, Lifecare Centre, 2 Cheyne Street, Stockbridge. This project provides a range of opportunities for building confidence and friendship among LGBT people who also identify as having a learning disability/difficulty. Please bring a carer or supporter if you need help to take part. If you would like to join this group please contact George Burrows on 0131 652 3281 or email george@lgbthealth.org.uk.

Slavery and Song: new insights into the songs of slavery, with the choir of St Andrew’s and St George’s West Church and special guests Andrea Baker, Stephen Fischbacher and The Edinburgh Signing Choir. 7.30pm, St Andrew’s and St George’s West Church, 13 George Street. Tickets cost £5/£3 and include refreshments.

Ecumenical Friends at St Cuthbert’s: John Ross speaks on Habitat for Humanity. 12.30-2pm, St Cuthbert’s Church Hall, 5 Lothian Road. £1.50 per person: bring your own packed lunch, tea and coffee provided. These events are organised by Edinburgh City Centre Churches TOGETHER.

Children’s Crafts: 3pm, Piershill Library, 30 Piersfield Terrace. Also at same time on Friday 20th February.

Women 50:50 with Talat Yaqoob and Sarah Beattie. Women 50:50 is a campaign launched by Kezia Dugdale (Labour MSP) and Alison Johnstone (Scottish Green Party MSP) for 50% representation in Parliament, on councils and on public boards. It welcomes support from members of all political parties and none; key supporters include Jackie Baillie (Labour MSP), Marco Biagi (SNP MSP), Jean Urquhart (Independent MSP) and Alison McInnes (Lib Dem MSP). 7pm for 7.30pm, Area C Coffee House, 239 Leith Walk. All welcome. This event is hosted by Common Weal Edinburgh North & Leith. For more information about the Women 50:50 campaign, click here.

Grafitti Art & Design Workshop at Muirhouse Library: learn design skills and create artwork on paper for the Surveillance Gallery, then paste it up with the help of Zoo Arts Extra and library staff. The Surveillance Gallery is the outside wall of North Edinburgh Arts; it has already been the site of three community exhibitions since being established in August 2014 by local artist Bob Winton. This workshop aims to share skills and fun, and get more young people involved with creative activities in and around NEA. 10.30am-12.30pm, Muirhouse Library, Pennywell Court. Booking is optional – if you would like to reserve your place, call North Edinburgh Arts on 0131 315 2152.

Mayfield Salisbury Thursday Club: Neil Shaw will talk about Edinburgh Shops in the Past. 2pm, Mayfield Salisbury Church Hall, West Mayfield. Everyone very welcome; please contact Florence Smith on 0131 663 1234 for more information.

Live Music Now: Seraphim. An exciting ensemble featuring soprano Marie Claire Breen, trumpeter Andrew Connell-Smith and pianist Christopher Baxter. The programme will include works by Handel, Strauss, Debussy and Gershwin. 6-6.30pm, Scottish National Gallery, The Mound. Free and unticketed.

Where Cows Walk on Water’ – the printmaking studio of the future: a talk by Paul Hamilton, an art and design lecturer and practising artist based in Portadown, Northern Ireland. Paul’s belief that printmaking has developed as a microcosm  for learning and creative expression will form the backbone of this lecture, in which he will highlight the symbiotic relationship between traditional and digital printmaking; ultimately he proposes that printmaking in the 21st century is a rich and exciting means of communication through reflection, technology and process. 6.30-7.30pm, Edinburgh Printmakers, 23 Union Street. Tickets cost £5 or two for £8 (EP members free). Places are limited: please book online here or call 0131 557 2479.

The Heart is a Prideful Beast: an exhibition of new work by Daniel Domig. Domig studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna and has exhibited widely over the past decade in Europe and North America. This is his first UK show. Opening reception 6-8pm tonight, then 10.30am-5.30pm Wednesday to Sunday until 19th April 2015, Warburton Gallery, 1 India Buildings, Victoria Street.

Red Kites February Tour: ‘epic yet intimate music, combining emotive lyrics and sweeping melody delivered with a fierce determination. Balancing pop songwriting with raw, celtic-tinged alt-rock and an unpredictability which is entirely their own..’ 7pm (doors open 6.30pm), Sneaky Pete’s, Cowgate. For over-18s only: refunds will not be given for ticket purchases for under-18s. Tickets cost £5.50 and can be booked here (transaction fee may apply).

The Jonathan Mills Lectures: Ethereal Eye – a musical meditation for an unbuilt city. In his composition Ethereal Eye, Jonathan Mills pays tribute to the unrealised plans of the architect Walter Burley Griffin for Canberra, Australia, and through a specially commissioned ensemble  of microtonal percussion instruments, he invokes the poetics of a city that was imagined but never achieved.  Jonathan Mills is a composer, festival director and Visiting Professor at the University of Edinburgh. 5.15pm, Alison House, Lecture Theatre, University of Edinburgh, 12 Nicolson Square.

Biggest Threat or Greatest Opportunity? A Health Response to Climate Change. As part of the University of Edinburgh’s Innovative Learning Week, MedAct and Healthy Planet are hosting an event to explore the health impacts of climate change. Come and explore the links between climate change, health and nuclear disarmament, and the ways in which we can improve health and stop climate chaos. The event will begin with key speakers from MedAct, Healthy Planet, Friends of the Earth and ICAN and  some short films, followed by discussions in small groups. 7-9pm, University of Edinburgh, G.06 Central Area, 50 George Square. Please book online here.