Made In The Shade shines on at The Lighthouse

I feel a bit woozy this afternoon. I've tried eating aniseed balls. I've gulped down mouthfuls of fizzy energy drink. I've even dressed up in full frock and heels in a bid to feel a little bit more sprightly. A little bit more human. Is it a good sign or a really bad one that this particular Made In The Shade gal is still suffering the effects of a fabulous 30th birthday celebration. That was held on Saturday? Yes. The party was on Saturday. Today is Monday. Give me a break, daddio. I'm feeling elderly.

This fortnight has been a pretty eventful one for the Made In The Shade gals. Not only have we been celebrating important milestone birthdays and wedding anniversaries, but Clare has been interviewed by Enterprise Nation for a web documentary and Carrie secured some lovely Made In The Shade press coverage in the Sunday Herald Magazine. Suzanne has made fabulous progress with plans for our collaborative workshops with the Park Gallery and has developed a new craving for salt and vinegar crisps and apple chunk sandwiches. Yum yum.

More exciting even than the apple sandwich though, is the news that the next Made In The Shade boutique shopping event is definitely, definitely, definitely taking place as planned at The Lighthouse on Saturday 26th September. If you're in the habit of visiting www.wearemadeintheshade.com, then you'll know that we've been up to high dough of late, trying to organise not one - but two events: one boutique shopping event, and one emergency, 'We've Been Evicted From The Lighthouse' event. It's a colossal understatement to say that we are relieved to be able to put Plan B on hold. It's an absolute thrill that Made In The Shade is making its return home to The Lighthouse and we're so pleased to finally be adding the finishing touches to this season's shopping shindig. All this hanging around has left us behind schedule in terms of our press and promo work though, so it's all go from here on in. Yikes!

Cold War Neons and Socialist Modernity

The most daunting task we have before us is to un-do some of the slightly misguided (or just darn inaccurate) news headlines that have been published lately in relation to the status of The Lighthouse. To clarify, although The Lighthouse remains in a financial pickle and under the management of the business recovery team at PWC, the building IS still open to the public. The exhibition and events programme is ticking over with minimal disruption and there is every reason for y'all to visit.

The Mackintosh Interpretation Centre has long been a huge draw of the buidling. If you live in Glasgow and you've never visited 'the Mack room' then you oughta! If you are visiting the city on vacation, then you simply must devote a little half hour or so to exploring the Mack tower at The Lighthouse. Oh – and there is currently a fabulous photographic essay by Polish artist Ella Chmielewska installed on Level 5 of the building. 'Cold War Neons and Socialist Modernity' examines the 'neonisation' project initiated in 1960s Warsaw. Featuring the night architecture of Warsaw in the 1960s and 70s, large scale images of the urban landscape are shown alongside colour studies of neons. Well, that's what it says on the The Lighthouse website. I enjoyed the exhibit on the basis that visually, 1960s Warsaw seems to bear a startling resemblance to 1950s America – and we all know how I feel about the aesthetic of 1950s America. Buildings, signage, cityscape – all fabulous. It's well worth a look for all sorts of reasons

MITS at The Lighthouse

More than ever, The Lighthouse needs to demonstrate that as a national centre for Design & Architecture it has a place in our city, that it meets a demand – or creates one. The Lighthouse needs to be seen to engage and involve local people and tourists and it is imperative that the building loses its reputation as a cold and unfriendly space. I don't suppose that under the current circumstances it takes Yahoo Serious to figure out that for one reason and another (and another), at times The Lighthouse hasn't successfully involved or engaged people as much as it needs to survive. The Made In The Shade event was conceived as a joint venture with the Creative Entrepreneurs Club at The Lighthouse in a bid to promote club memberships, to invite new audiences into the building and to increase commercial revenue. Made In The Shade successfully delivered the new footfall to the building, but consistency was lacking internally to capitalise on the arrival of these visitors. I don't suppose we were ever in with a shot at single handedly earning back the £200,000 funding deficit!

We continue to talk with the staff who are working hard to keep The Lighthouse doors open about new ideas and we continue to hope that Made In The Shade is recognised as a valuable addition to The Lighthouse events program. Made In The Shade whole heartedly supports the efforts of Neil McGuire et al in the set-up and growth of The Lighthouse – Renewed. Neil has launched a social network designed specifically as a forum for positive, constructive discussion about the future of The Lighthouse and possible routes of progression for the trust organisation and the building itself. You can also find The Lighthouse – Renewed on Twitter and on Facebook. Contrary to local headlines, The Lighthouse has not closed its doors. It's not 'lights out' quite yet. Without a full staff, it's nigh on impossible for The Lighthouse to create a positive press and marketing profile at the moment, but we'd love to draw attention to this fabulous building and the exciting work that could go on inside it.

Join us for what could be our final Made In The Shade fling at The Lighthouse in Glasgow on Saturday 26th September between 10.30am and 5pm.