This year saw the very successful delivery of the pilot of Artlink Central’s ‘Creative Leavers Programme’ in partnership with Stirling Council as part of the ‘Arts and Transition Programme’. This project involved selected Stirling High School leavers, with additional support needs, who have shown an aptitude for the arts whilst at school, working with, in these cases, professional visual artists from Artlink Central, on a one to one basis to help them take their own creativity forward into adulthood. Participants created new work and portfolios which they will be able to use to showcase their individual artistic abilities in transition to future settings e.g. college.

  Workshops took place in the school setting once a week for approximately two hours over seven weeks and also included a guided visit to The Gallery of Modern Art / Dean Gallery in Edinburgh for research and inspiration. On these visit pupils were met by the gallery’s educational artist who had tailored a visit and activities to each individual child. As part of the pupil’s ‘Life Skills’ instruction these visits were made by public transport and the children were accompanied by a member of school staff and the Artlink Central artist assigned to them.

This year all the projects were visual art, although other art mediums are available, and a selection of the work produced was exhibited at ‘The Gallery on the Corner’ in Edinburgh in an exhibition in July of this year. We are very pleased to report that 11 out of the 13 pieces exhibited were sold, and the pupil’s received full payment for these less the gallery’s commission.

Some of the pupils involved have gone on to college courses and all who left school this year have joined Artlink Central’s Artreach programme, ‘Young Peoples Creative Social’ which is held on Friday evenings in the macrobert, Stirling University.