Information about all of our events
can be found on our calendar.
Please do contact us for further information about any of our activities.
PENFEST
This is Penicuik’s Annual Arts Festival. This year, we’re offering a full programme of art and music from Friday 22nd September until Sunday 1st October 2023.
Find “Penfest 2023” in the menu above for full details. Navigate to our Shop in the menu above to buy tickets.
Meanwhile, here’s the programme of events.
Music at the PCAA
We offer around six chamber music concerts during the year from high class musicians. These concerts are usually subsidised by Chamber Music Scotland, enabling us to charge less for tickets.
In addition, we aim to present one or two concerts a year of traditional and folk, jazz or popular music.
Please click here for details of upcoming concerts
Please click here to buy tickets
PCAA Groups
Informal music-making at West Street Arts centre
We are now running some informal in-house music-making sessions for instrument players at intermediate/Grade 3/Nat 5 standard or above. Please keep checking the calendar for dates or email penicuikarts.org@gmail.com if you’re interested.
Yarn Group
Art Group
A group of amateur artists meets once a week – usually outside during the summer months, and inside when the weather is cooler. Please contact Jackie on penicuikarts.org@gmail.com for more information.
Story Swap group
This is a new group, starting 28th October 2023. It’s a peer support group to give beginner and experienced storytellers alike a chance to practice their storytelling skills and discuss various aspects of storytelling. Please contact Sue on penicuikarts.org@gmail.com
Lectures and talks
We’ll post again here when we’ve another lecture planned.
Current Community Projects
Please click here to see further details of what we’re offering to the community right now!
Or email Sue on penicuikarts.org@gmail.com for further details about any of the projects….
– A new series of Storytelling workshops and clubs starting in October 2023 with funding from the National Lottery “Awards for All” Please click here for more details.
– A Penicuik paper-making film project with funding from SCOPS – lots of opportunities to be involved!
Spoken and written word at the PCAA
For some time, the PCAA has run occasional writing workshops for local amateur authors. In 2021, we obtained a grant from CORRA to produce a community poetry book.
The PCAA has also enjoyed occasional story-telling events for both adults and children. Our most recent event was held on Zoom in May 2021, when Ruth Kirkpatrick entranced us with her spell-binding tales and song. (link to archive material)
Please let us know if you’re interested in further events like this.
Exhibitions
We run new exhibitions each month, each beginning on the first Monday of the month. Our current and upcoming exhibitions include:
Please click here for more information.
Please click here for Past exhibitors
Past Community Projects
A series of SInging workshops for fun and wellbeing starting Tuesday 24th January 2023 with funding from MyCool. Please click here for further details.
“Oor Toon” phase 2 workshops – a new series of Storytelling workshops starting in January 2023 with funding from TASGADH. Please click here for more details.
“Oor Toon” phase 2 clubs – a Story-telling project with Ruth Kirkpatrick – the storytelling club continues in January 2023 with funding from TRACS Please click here for full details
“Oor Toon” – a storytelling project with Ruth Kirkpatrick funded by Museums Galleries Scotland YS2022. More details can be found by clicking here.
Cowan Court Concerts
Cellist Justyna Jablonska gave three 30-minute concerts, (2nd September, 7th October and 2nd December 2022), at Cowan Court. Each was attended by about 20 people from the Community and from Cowan Court. The music was followed by refreshments provided by Cowan Court, and a social time. Thanks to Chamber Music Scotland for funding this project.
Singing for fun and well-being
A course of six singing workshops with Kirsty Law ran every other Tuesday evening starting 5th April 2022. Around 16 people enjoyed these sessions and some are taking part in a wee party piece at the beginning of Kirsty’s concert on Friday 10th June 2022.
The PCAA Community Postcard Competition
This was funded by Midlothian Council and took place during March 2022 with entries displayed during Penfest 2022 in May at West Street Arts Centre.
The winning entries chosen by that year’s Hunter and Lass Elect (Kelly Lorimer and Duncan Whitson) and were from: Hannah Brown (under-16) for a photograph of Harper’s Brae digitally decorated; Fiona Thomson (under-16) for a painting of the Pentland Hills; Andrew Gillie (adult) for a photograph of a silhouette of “Wisdom Tower” on Penicuik Estate; and Rebekah Sloan (adult) for an image of Penicuik buildings created using computer software.
Please click here to view the entries!
The winning entries were on sale at the West Street Arts Centre as a set of four postcards for £1. Runners-up selected by the PCAA committee and their art was used for a set of notelet cards with envelopes on sale at £5 for 10.
The Penicuik Community Poetry Book project
The PCAA obtained funding to produce a Penicuik Community Poetry book, full of poems written by the people of Penicuik, including running free workshops to help writers. We are grateful to the CORRA foundation for funding for this project.
“Pentland Voices” is now on sale in the café and in Pen-y-Coe press £10, or online (visit our “Shop” in the menu) for £10 plus £2 p&p to UK addresses only.
The PCAA Musician in Residence Project for Penicuik High School
The PCAA was successful in a grant application to Chamber Music Scotland to engage with young people in the Penicuik community in a totally new way. The project funded a young local cellist, Justyna Jablonska, in the role of Musician in Residence for the school to work closely with the head of music, Keith Murphy. Together, they lead and facilitated the production of a sound and video production using contemporary classical composition techniques, which was premiered on YouTube at the PCAA Penfest Arts Festival at the end of September 2021. Justyna engaged the students in “improvisation” on their own musical instruments or vocalisation, recording them on their devices, and layering them to make a final “production”.
The work was done as a series of intensive workshops in August and September when the school students returned after the summer break.
The recorded sound and video clips were stitched together for the final video/sound track under the guidance of Justyna and Keith.
The sound/video file is now available in the “Penfest 2021” playlist on the PCAA YouTube channel and can be seen and heard by clicking here.
