Scotland’s first National Saturday Club has been established at Edinburgh College of Art (ECA), giving young people the chance to enjoy taking part in a whole range of creative activities.
The Saturday Art Club was set up as part of the National Saturday Club scheme which gives teenagers the opportunity to study subjects they love at their local university, college or cultural institution, for free. The ECA club was the brainchild of Senior Lecturer Susan Mowatt, who secured funding from a private donor to welcome youngsters aged 13 to 15, mainly from disadvantaged backgrounds. Teaching Fellow, Bobby Sayers, and paid third year undergraduate students Inayah Hussain (BA (Hons) Sculpture) and Bess Schofield (BA (Hons) Painting), developed an exciting series of activities, exploring art techniques including clay, printmaking and collage.
The year culminated with an exhibition in the ECA Sculpture Court to celebrate all they had achieved.
Susan said: “We are delighted to have set up the first National Saturday Club in Scotland at ECA. During the opening of the recent exhibition in the Sculpture Court, we were thrilled to see the range and standard of work that the young people have produced each week. We were also very moved to hear all the hugely positive responses directly from the Saturday Art Club members and their family, friends and supporters. We know that art has a beneficial impact on people’s lives and it’s great to see this happening through opening our doors and welcoming young people aged 13-15 from across the Lothians every Saturday morning.
“Bobby has been brilliant at working with Inayah and Bess to develop lesson plans each week. Involving our own students in this initiative makes our club very special and their presence each week is appreciated and inspiring for our members.”
Susan also expressed her gratitude to the generous donor, who is supporting the club to run for a further two years, allowing us to achieve huge impact together. Philanthropy is vital to ECA and the experiences we can provide for our students, and our wider communities. It is through support like this we can continue to welcome everyone, irrespective of background and circumstance, to engage, enjoy and enhance the arts and cultural landscape. If you would like to give, or to learn more about how your support could help at ECA, please get in touch with Rachel Bruce, Philanthropy Manager – Rachel.bruce@ed.ac.uk.
