Lord Provost’s Community Garden Party
Creative Scotland have gender balance on board
Family activities for August
New shop at the Gallery
Today at the Edinburgh Art Festival
On Friday the Lord Provost held a Community Garden Party at Lauriston Castle. It was not the sunniest day but everyone who was invited seemed to have a lovely time! Sponsored by Virgin Money the champagne flowed and the cucumber sandwiches were aplenty.
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Creative Scotland has become the first public body to meet the First Minister’s recent call for all boards in Scotland to achieve a 50:50 gender split by 2020.
Culture Secretary Fiona Hyslop today (Monday) announced the public arts body has achieved a gender balanced board with the appointment of four new members.
The appointments of Professor Maggie Kinloch, Erin Forster, Sheila Murray and David Brew follow a recruitment exercise by the Scottish Government that trialled new approaches aimed at continually improving gender balance on regulated public boards.
It follows First Minister Nicola Sturgeon’s call at the end of June for companies, third sector organisations and public sector bodies to make a commitment that by 2020, 50 per cent of their board members will be women.
Creative Scotland today became the latest public body in Scotland to achieve a gender balanced board, and the first public body to meet the target since the First Minister launched the Partnership for Change on June 25.
As well as 18 private companies and 45 third sector organisations, 81 public bodies have now signed up to meet the Partnership for Change commitment by 2020.
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Families are in for a fortnight of fun as events for kids and the festival season kicks off in Edinburgh.
The City of Edinburgh Council’s City Art Centre, Lauriston Castle and Museum of Edinburgh all have packed programmes to keep children entertained over the remainder of the summer break, while the Edinburgh International Festival, Edinburgh Festival Fringe and Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo will kick off soon on 7 August.
Councillor Richard Lewis is encouraging local families to make the most of all on offer. As Edinburgh’s Culture Convener and Festivals and Events Champion, he said: “Edinburgh is a culture capital and with so much to see and do, families who want to make the most of the summer holidays before they draw to a close certainly aren’t short of options.
“You can’t beat Edinburgh in August with the sights and sounds of the festivals but don’t forget the city’s budget-friendly events and exhibitions at the Council’s museums and galleries. There truly is something for everyone. Ticketed events have been going fast so don’t miss out.”
In store for children this fortnight:
- As the largest festival of visual art in the UK, theEdinburgh Art Festival has already launched in venues all over the city with plenty on offer for young art fans.
- At the City Art Centre, children can take inspiration from the gallery’s huge selection of paintings when staff hold family workshops on creating Edinburgh panoramas (Friday 7 August) and still life works (Saturday 8 August).
- The City Art Centre’s major summer exhibitionScottish Art: People Places Ideas continues, featuring works spanning 350 years. Fun free tours have been launched for young visitors and are held every Thursday and Saturday at 2pm.
- Kids can also get crafty at the Museum of Edinburgh by learning how to make their ownfridge magnet organisers to get them ready for the new school year (Monday 3 August) or be inspired by the Museum’s Canongate location by creating pretty prints of Old Town landmarks (Thursday 6 August)
- A visit to the Museum isn’t complete without trying out the attraction’s innovative new installationstelling the story of Edinburgh’s past or the Council’s official app guide to the Royal Mile, Edinburgh Up Close.
- The Edinburgh International Festival’s free outdoor celebration to mark the start of the 2015 programme will offer an excuse for older ones to stay up late when theHarmonium Project (Friday 7 August at 10:30pm)projects a series of spectacular animations onto the outside of the Council’s famous Usher Hall music venue. See what’s on in the EIF season.
- Young music fans will be able to experience the unusual sight of a Norwegian School Marching Band when a group of 35 musicians from Oslo play in the grounds of Lauriston Castle. See the‘Holmliaskolenes Musikkorps’ for free.
- Also outdoors, this year’s Edinburgh Festival Wheelwill keep on turning in East Princes Street Gardens, offering stunning views of the city skyline at special 20% discount for EH postcode holders (proof of address required).
- Experience the Edinburgh International Book Festival’sChildren’s Programme (opening 15 August) or some of the hundreds of Fringe children’s shows, based on classics such as the Cat in the Hat, Peter Pan and the Tiger Who Came to Tea.
Book activities at the City Art Centre, Museum of Edinburgh and Lauriston Castle at the Usher Hall, or visit Festivals Edinburgh for details of the city’s 2015 programmes.
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We’re very excited about our new Princes Street Shop at the front of the Royal Scottish Academy building!Please do…
Posted by National Galleries of Scotland on Friday, 31 July 2015
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Today the Edinburgh Art Festival invites you to visit The Old Royal High School to see Marvin Gaye Chetwynd’s The King Must Die, a new performative installation.
Working across performance, sculpture, installation and painting, Marvin Gaye Chetwynd draws on a seemingly disparate array of cultural reference points (high brow and popular, historic and contemporary) to construct her exuberant, anarchic and distinctly handmade worlds. Mediaeval Mummers, Starship Troopers, 60s happenings, and contemporary cinema, have all provided inspiration for her work over the years.
Anytime between 10am and 6pm today! More information on the Edinburgh Art Festival here.
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Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
