Jupiter Artland is launching a new national platform for young people and communities across Scotland, building on five years of transforming vacant high street spaces into free contemporary art venues.
Launching in Dumfries this summer, Jupiter+ Nation marks the next stage of a programme that has already welcomed more than 20,500 visitors and engaged 2,536 young people through exhibitions, workshops, artist commissions, mentoring and youth development.
The new platform begins by taking over a former estate agent’s office inside the Loreburne Shopping Centre, opening on 31st July 2026 with Growing Pains, an immersive installation by Lindsey Mendick. A wider free learning programme launches on 28th August, with the project continuing until 6th December.
Jupiter+ began in Perth in 2022 before expanding to Ayr, Paisley and Dundee, using empty high street units as spaces for contemporary art and creative learning. What began as a local experiment will now become Jupiter+ Nation, an umbrella platform designed to build a growing network of opportunities for young people, artists and communities across Scotland.
At the centre of its first edition is Mendick’s Growing Pains, a site-specific multimedia installation drawing on the artist’s teenage years in the early 2000s.
Taking over the former commercial office, Mendick uses the estate agency—a business built around selling aspirational lifestyles—as the framework for a haunting, humorous exploration of adolescence, social mobility and identity.
An intricate spiralling office desk holds eight Alice in Wonderland-style ceramic dollhouses filled with teenage figures, while an accompanying video work expands on the uncertainty, awkwardness and social hierarchies of growing up.
“The programme’s fifth year marks a major milestone,”
said Nicky Wilson, Director of Jupiter Artland.
“Through artist-inspired learning, youth leadership programmes, residencies and public commissions, Jupiter+ has worked with schools, colleges, universities, and community organisations across the country, helping young people develop creative skills, discover new pathways, and build confidence in their own voices.”
At the core of Jupiter+ Dumfries is a barrier-free education programme, with every secondary school, college and community group in Dumfries and Galloway invited to take part in fully funded, tailored learning sessions.
The national expansion follows five years of work with young people across Scotland. Independent evaluation from the programme’s Dundee edition found that participants felt more confident sharing their experiences through creative work, while 73% said they felt more inspired to use creativity to speak up about issues that mattered to them.
More than three-quarters of participants also agreed that exhibitions such as Jupiter+ create spaces where young people can ask big questions and imagine new futures.
One participant described learning “to not be afraid of stepping out of my comfort zone. Have confidence in myself,” while another called the experience “liberating and freeing.”
The launch comes amid renewed national debate around youth disengagement and access to opportunity. By turning empty commercial spaces into free exhibition and learning environments, Jupiter+ Nation offers a model for how contemporary art might play a more active role in creating creative pathways beyond Scotland’s established cultural centres.
After Dumfries, the programme will continue to expand its network of artist development, participation and cultural engagement across the country.
Lindsey Mendick: Growing Pains, Jupiter+ Nation, Loreburne Shopping Centre, High Street, Dumfries, from 31st July–6th December 2026. The associated programme begins on 28th August. Free entry.
