Projects
Since it’s inception, Out of the Blue Arts and Education Trust has initiated and hosted a wide range of projects.
The huge variety of artists working in over one-hundred studios at The Out of the Blue Drill Hall and our other Creative Spaces form a unique blend of art forms and allows artists to often collaborate on projects and events.
Out of the Blueprint is a risograph print studio project based in the Drill Hall.
Leith Hub Meanwhile Use is a project for the people of Leith to come together to regenerate a large piece of wasteland and build a bustling new hub for the community, by the community.
The Cook School project features a range of cookery classes and community meal events designed and led by young people for others in the community.
Past Projects
Education/Outreach
The ‘Park Life’ project: Out of the Blue established a project which has been acclaimed as a model of community engagement; utilising the arts as a generator to animate community activity towards the revitalisation of the local park, and establish a Friends of Dalmeny Street Park (FODSP) group.
Activity around this project has included:
- The design and build of a new Play Park: Working with partners from Lorne Primary School to involve them creatively in the planning of a new play park and the development of a programme of environmental activities. Working with The City of Edinburgh Council to establish the funding for and building of the new park play area
- Planting Project: Building and planting raised wooden planters with a cross section of the community.
- Leith Festival events: A series of events in the park featuring music, poetry, sport, gardening and arts
- Sport: Working with the City of Edinburgh Council and initiating the building of a ‘ball stop’ court in the park.
The park remains as a focal point for the community and Out of the Blue will continue to initiate projects utilising the arts to connect the park and The Out of the Blue Drill Hall.
100th Anniversary of the Quintinshill Rail Disaster
On the 22nd May 1915, at Quintinshill near Gretna, the worst train disaster in British railway history left over 200 men from the 1/7th Royal Scots dead. This ‘Leith Battalion’ trained at the Drill Hall on Dalmeny Street which later became the focus point for families looking for information after the disaster.
Working with Out of the Blue in this same building 100 years later, a group of community actors from Active Inquiry and Strange Town Young Company researched and devised a piece of promenade theatre, Persevere, which guided the audience around the Drill Hall enabling them to catch glimpses of stories of Leithers 100 years ago saying goodbye to sons and brothers, hearing the news of the crash and coping with the aftermath.
In addition, a group of community researchers worked with Citizen Curator and artist Jan-Bee Brown to research and curate an exhibition, Seven of the 7th, exploring the disaster through the story of seven soldiers who were involved. Read more >>
#artcore
#artcore was a project led by Out of the Blue in collaboration with Edinburgh-based arts organisations, young people, artists and young creative apprentices. The aim was to develop a new and vibrant youth arts scene, one distinct from adult arts, where young people took charge. The project ran from 2014 – 2016. Read more >>
Leith Moves
Leith Moves was an Out of the Blue Heritage Lottery Funded education project from 2016 to 2017 investigating the historical significance of Leith docks. It follows the successful format of our recent Gretna 100 project, namely a participatory research project integrating with exhibition and theatre groups. The project included many events as opportunities which further involved the Leith community in exploring their history. Read more >>
