A Post-Graduate Survival Guide Part III: Aberdeen

Leaving art school can be hard. After four years of experimentation, freedom and the faith that whatever you do will be considered as art, you leave to face the cold harsh reality of jobs, taxes and no student discount. The culture shock can be especially harsh in Aberdeen, which lacks the comparatively strong network of galleries, initiatives and art-related jobs which have mushroomed in Glasgow and Edinburgh’s scenes in recent years. As a result, the majority of graduates from Gray’s School of Art annually migrate southward in search of sunnier cultural climes. With graduates forming a mass exodus there is no one left to facilitate the initiatives needed to renovate the city, creating something of a vicious circle. Lately, however, the tide has started to turn, with those few hardy souls left behind beginning to stand up and be counted thanks in part to the emergence of Project Slogan,

Project Slogan is the brainchild of artist and musician Sarah J Tingle, and its remit is clear: “to support emerging contemporary artists through exhibitions, projects, collaborations, events and community encouraging experimentation and new art.” Slogan offers film nights, collaborative opportunities, mini-residencies, studio space - at heart a place to create, and also to meet and greet those like-minded souls who can so easily slip away once the college doors are closed. Since Slogan opened at 179 Victoria Road it has played host to more than fifteen shows and events from both local and national artists, and a year after the initial launch it received a birthday present in the form of a new space, set up in collaboration with both Gray’s and Wasps Artists’ Studios.

This rapid rate of growth is testament to how much Aberdeen needs something like Project Slogan. It intentionally avoids reliance on SAC funding in order to maintain creative control for the artist, rather than forcing them to endure the traditional, arbitrary hoop jumping and lengthy delays of state funding. Life after art school can be quite grim, in particular for those of us fighting our corner in the North East. The current environment in the city doesn’t provide much for creative people, but things look set to improve. Even before the new Aberdeen Centre for Contemporary Arts opens, hope exists in the form of an orange, star-shaped light shining in the darkness.