The Fruitmarket Gallery have launched a unique gift registry to help close the gap in funding towards their redevelopment which has been challenged by the Coronavirus pandemic.
The Fruitmarket Gallery has been a key part of Edinburgh’s cultural landscape since 1974. Currently closed for redevelopment, they are getting ready to OPEN OUT – with more space for art; a new space for cross-artform collaborations; better facilities for all; and a new learning studio. The new Fruitmarket was originally due to open in summer 2020, but the coronavirus crisis seriously challenged both the timing and finances of the project.
They have already raised almost 90% of their £3.9 million target, but are now launching a public campaign to help close the final gap and ensure that the Fruitmarket can continue to operate at the forefront of contemporary culture for decades to come.
The Fruitmarket are asking the public to help play their part in building a new future for the Fruitmarket, and have just launched a unique GIFT REGISTRY where anyone who has taken something away from their own experience of the Fruitmarket can select a virtual gift they’d like to give back in return.
Through the GIFT REGISTRY people can donate to the OPEN OUT campaign by selecting a virtual gift they’d like to give back in return – whether a pair of coat hooks for the gallery’s brand new learning studios; a shelf for displaying hand-picked titles in the ever popular Bookshop; redesigned non-gendered and accessible toilets; or even a newly commissioned public artwork created in and for the revived building.
The Fruitmarket Gallery has embarked on a transformational plan to upgrade their existing building – meeting the expectations of and revitalising relationships with twenty-first century art, artists and audiences – and seized the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take over a neighbouring building, bringing it into cultural use.
OPEN OUT will provide enriched material finishes, upgraded environmental conditions and modernised audience access; all of which will vastly improve their present premises, enhancing their abilities to work with artists and collections.
They will continue to programme the Fruitmarket exhibition galleries with three world-class exhibitions per year, a mix of solo and group exhibitions, with a diverse selection of artists representing the very best art of our time.
Next door, a new double-height Fruitmarket warehouse will provide an expansive, inspirational space where artists can make new work in and for the Fruitmarket, creating a regular programme of Fruitmarket commissions curated in-house. This space will importantly also offer new opportunities for us to work in partnership with other cultural organisations, creating a year- round multi-arts venue at the heart of Edinburgh that lends itself to theatrical and musical performances, spoken word and dance events as much as it does to the presentation of visual art.
“The original galleries are seen as a series of white spaces, abstract and precise. Surfaces are smooth and continuous while detail and material expression are suppressed. The gallery as a neutral backdrop to art. The space is luminous and fragile. The palette in the warehouse, by contrast, is dark and sensual. It is a space that relishes the directness and crudeness of the existing steel frame, the strength and texture of the brick walls and the industrial timber floor. The mood is intense, almost visceral. As an ensemble they offer the artist, curator and their audience remarkable contrasting and complementary spaces for art and performance.”
Neil Gillespie, Director, Reiach & Hall Architects
New connected, collaborative spaces will ensure we the Fruitmarket can continue their respected programme of excellence in the visual arts while also being able to respond to opportunities that offer audiences more choice and new ways to connect and participate in cultural activities.
OPEN OUT creates new spaces and facilities for engagement and renovates existing spaces, ensuring they can continue to operate at the forefront of contemporary culture for decades to come.
It also gives new capacity and space to sustain and build visit frequency of current audiences as well as attracting new visitors, proactively targeting under-represented and marginalised groups. It will ensure their spaces are fully accessible, embracing all visitors and removing physical and psychological barriers.
Visit the Gift Registry here: fruitmarketgallery.myshopify.com
