The PCAA aims to run projects which involve our wider Community and which collaborate with other organisations in Penicuik.
Please email Sue on penicuikarts.org@gmail.com (or text 0781 505 2929) for further details of all projects.
Please note, the PCAA won’t be running singing projects in the foreseeable future. However, a private Georgian Singing Group runs on a Monday evening 6-8pm. Please email us if you’d like to contact the group (penicuikarts.org@gmail.com)
Current PCAA Community Projects
Storytelling
We have funds from the National Lottery “Awards for All” to run another series of Storytelling clubs and workshops during the 2023-2024 season.
Please click here for more information about the storytelling project.
We are starting STORY-SWAP – a peer support group for storytellers of all levels of experience. Please email penicuikarts.org@gmail.com for more details.
Singing
We regret that there will be no singing projects this season, but James Warwick runs a successful Georgian Singing group on a Monday evening at the Arts Centre.
Please email penicuikarts.org@gmail.com if you’d like more details.
Paper-making Film Project
From the SCOPS Arts Trust, we have recently heard that we have been awarded the funds to run the second year of this two-year project to make a film about the Paper-Making industry in Penicuik. The first year’s money was for Gerda Stevenson to research and write a script. We’re delighted that Gerda has now finished the script and we’ve started to look for filming locations and thinking about recruiting amateur actors.
Our first year’s report and script were good enough to secure the second year’s funding which will pay professionals to work with our volunteers to do the filming. HUGE THANKS to everyone who has helped Gerda with her research – all the folk that she’s interviewed who used to work in the paper-mills, the local historian Pam Snell, who’s spent time and shared knowledge with Gerda, the PCDT Paper making museum staff including Roger Hipkin, the Penicuik Community Theatre Group, especially Susan Dickson. There are many more who will be named in due course!
Please click here for further details of the Penicuik Paper-Making Film Project
Past PCAA Community projects include:
– Summer 2020 – Community Art Project 1 “Reaction to Covid” (funded by Penicuik Community Council)
– Christmas 2020 – Community Art Project 2 “Winter and Christmas with Covid” (funded by Penicuik Community Council and participants)
– Spring 2021 – Community Art Project 3 “Looking forward to Spring” (funded by Midlothian Council)
Participants each received a free good quality art pack, including several pieces of A5 card for their contributions. These were small enough to make lovely displays of art work from all participants in the Arts Centre window while the building was closed during lockdown. Prizes were awarded for the best in three categories for the Spring 2021 project: “Brownies and Rainbows”; “Care home residents” and “Other participants”.
– Summer 2021 – The Penicuik Poetry Book Project “Pentland Voices” (funded by the Corra Foundation). The resulting illustrated poetry book can still be bought online (please click here) or from the West Street Arts Centre Café, or from Pen-y-Coe Press in Bridge Street.
– March 2022 – a Community competition for a postcard design, funded by Midlothian Council. Entries were exhibited during May, judged by the Hunter and Lass elect (Duncan Whitson and Kelly Lorimer) and prizes were awarded by Penicuik’s Citizen of the Year, Shona Hardie, at Penfest 2022’s “Show and Tell” event.
You can view the entries by clicking here
– April 2022 – A series of 6 singing workshops with Kirsty Law – Tuesdays – Singing for fun and wellbeing, funded by Midlothian Council.
– September to December 2022 – A series of 30-minute concerts from cellist Justyna Jablonska at Cowan Court, funded by Chamber Music Scotland.
– May to December 2022 – “Oor Toon” – a Story-telling project with Ruth Kirkpatrick, funded by Museums Galleries Scotland Year of Stories 2022 (#YS2022). This involved storytelling workshops, mentoring, a visit to the Edinburgh Storytelling Centre, Storytelling in the Community from workshop participants and three trial Storytelling Club nights.
– January to May 2023 – a grant From Tasgadh, for further Storytelling workshops
– January to April 2023 – a grant from TRACS to help fund professional storytellers at the storytelling club.
– January to March 2023 – a grant From MyCool Music Foundation for a new series of singing workshops with Kirsty Law.