Spring Fling - the scores on the doors

This Years Spring Fling brought 10,000 visitors from 19 countries and over £1,000,000 to the local economy.

Local, national and international art enthusiasts flock to Dumfries and Galloway to buy £183,000 of art direct from the artists, make 30,000 studio visits and get behind the scenes of creative practice.

Spring Fling in Dumfries and Galloway, a leading light in the field of artists open studios events in the UK, celebrated its 10^th birthday in June 2012 with a four-day event from 2-5 June. The event saw studio sales of £183,781 with the overall spend in the region estimated at an all time high of over £1,087,647 – a £20.76 return on every £1 invested. The event attracted visitors from 19 different countries, 54 % of the visitors came from out side Dumfries and Galloway and 1 in 3 of the visitors came from outside Scotland. 99% of visitors to Spring Fling rate the event as ‘excellent’ or ‘good’ and ‘worthy of recommending to friends’ and ‘visiting again’.

The 2012 event attracted 10,000 visitors from 19 countries including Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, Uganda and USA. The 2012 event welcomed visitors from Australia who came specifically to see Spring Fling participant Maggie Ayres and experience the event first hand, having watched from a far for the last few years.

One of the Australian visitors, Anne, said: ‘We came from Australia to meet with and see the works of our favourite artist Maggie Ayres, and excited about having a workshop with her. Loved all the work by all the artists. We also purchased lots of cards as mementos and inspiration. The setting of the country studios was absolutely gorgeous. Brilliant art trail’.

Leah Black, Project Manager says: ‘Dumfries and Galloway is an immensely creative region and Spring Fling a vibrant open studios event. Whilst the event continues to grow both on and off line throughout the year, the core focus remains on bringing professional artists and the public together over one weekend of creativity and discovery. We are delighted with the record-breaking statistics from 2012 and look forward to more successes in 2013’

Couch, a building turned into a giant sofa and described as ‘magnificent’, ‘clever’ and ‘striking’ by the public was a public art commission funded by Creative Scotland as part of the Year of Creative Scotland. This was a traditional Galloway cottage covered entirely in Plumbs floral stretch cover fabric. Masterminded and created by local artist Alice Francis, Couch formed part of the 2012 studio trail and attracted 1,800 visitors over the weekend. 

Alice Francis - Couch. photo Colin Tennant

Visitors to Couch said: ‘Great to see something of this scale! And being able to talk to the artist about the concept was informative’; ‘I love it! We were looking for it, and it appeared in front of us... it was a wonderful surprise! ‘; ‘We found it on my birthday, so on speaking to the artist Alice Francis - I thanked her for 'wrapping up my birthday present so beautifully' this little cottage has been on my wish list for a very long time and to see it so dressed made my heart sing!’

As part of Spring Fling’s 2012 Young Artists Mentoring Programme professional artists Morag Macpherson and Linda Mallett mentored young artists Coral Beattie and Sally Hogarth. The Young Artists received £1000 bursary to create new work, fifteen days mentoring and a free space in Spring Fling. Coral Beattie said: ‘Spring Fling has become a real platform for me at the start of my textiles career, and it is my chance to show everyone how I see the world...a place filled with pattern.’

Applications for professional artists to take part in Spring Fling 2013 open on Thursday 13 September and close on Thursday 25 October. Artists and makers with a connection to Dumfries and Galloway or Spring Fling can apply under the Springback scheme. And new for 2013 is the Neighbours scheme, opening a limited number of spaces to artists and makers from the neighbouring regions of South Ayrshire, East Ayrshire, South Lanarkshire, Borders and Cumbria to apply to take part in Spring Fling by setting up in a temporary studio in Dumfries and Galloway.

Applications will open at the end of September for the second year of the Young Artists Bursary Mentoring Programme – this programme is open to graduate artists under the age of 25 who have a connection to Dumfries and Galloway. Also new for 2013 - Spring Fling will also offer discounted fees to recent graduates of FE or HE institutions.