The art is just the start at the Marchmont House Open Studios Weekend – visitors can meet artists and craft makers, watch circus performers, browse stalls and take tours of the magnificent stately home and its gardens.
Taking place on 27-28 August, at Marchmont Studios (at Marchmont House, near Greenlaw, in the Scottish Borders), the event sees resident and visiting artists throw open their doors to welcome the public.
It’s a chance to meet the painters, sculptors, stone carvers and makers of beautiful rush seated chairs who occupy a series of beautiful studios created in the historic stables and outbuildings, set round a lovely courtyard, near to the house.
There will also be a Makers’ Market where showcasing locally created work.
The event is family friendly with Kids’ Workshops by artist Georgie Faye on Saturday and entertainment from the Rowanbank Forest Circus Performers on Sunday.
There will be excellent food and drink available – including salads and home baking from Marchmont’s own kitchens.
The open studios event is free with a suggested donation of £3 to the Marchmont Makers Foundation to support artist residencies and local community projects. To make sure it’s all as relaxed as possible tickets need to be booked in advance, with arrival times spread out across each day.
The weekend will also be an opportunity to book onto a special garden sculpture tour – including one led by Hugo Burge the director of Marchmont House who led its restoration and built its collections. Hugo’s Garden Ramble will be a two-hour walking tour followed by Pimm’s and canapés on the terrace.
It’s rare opportunity to hear first-hand about Hugo’s vision for Marchmont as a Home to Makers and Creators, to get insight into the restoration project, to learn about his future plans for the house and the Walled Garden, and to see inside the latest project; Sir Robert Lorimer’s hothouses that have been undergoing a recent renovation.
The outdoor tours, which cost £12.50 plus an online booking fee, are a chance to see sculptures dating from the early 18th century to 2021, including abstract work, classical figures, growing works and pieces inspired by the trees and landscape of the estate.
There are also House Tours costing £17.50 (plus booking fee) which is a chance to see inside a house that contains some of the finest Georgian and Arts & Crafts interiors in Scotland.
- The tours can be booked at marchmont.eventbrite.co.uk
The open studios artists
- The Marchmont Workshop The Marchmont Workshop – Richard Platt & Sam Cooper
- North Studio Michelle de Bruin & Josephine Crossland
- South Studio Richard Goldsworthy
- Upper Powerhouse Gary Anderson
- Lower Powerhouse Annabel Wightman
- The Old Squash Court Theadora Ballantyne Way and Noel Griffin
- The Tower Zoe Irvine and Pernille Spence
- The Common Room Sarah Rhys.
Makers’ Market
The Makers’ Market features textiles by Arra Textiles (Lucy Macdonald), botanical artist Marianne Hazlewood, leather goods Roslyn Leather (Roslyn Whiting), millinery by Ginger & Teal, and pottery from Redbraes Pottery.
There are also social enterprise stalls supported by the Marchmont Makers Foundation; QEST (Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust), ReTweed and Allanbank Arts who provide spaces and skills for everyone to access their creative abilities.
– Ends –
Notes for Editors
About Marchmont
- Marchmont House is a 1750 Palladian mansion near Greenlaw in the Scottish Borders.
- It was awarded the 2018 Historic Houses/Sotheby’s Award following a seven-year restoration, which was described by the jury as “stunning”.
- The house has one of the finest Georgian and Arts & Crafts interiors in Scotland.
- It is open to the public for a limited number of days each year, for tours and special events.
- The Marchmont team is dedicated to bringing the house alive as a home for makers and creators, celebrating innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship
- The Creative Spaces project is entirely privately funded by Marchmont Farms Limited and has not called on grants from the public sector or charities – which are facing immense demands for their limited resources.
- The studios and workshops have been created by the conversion of a series of 19th-century outbuildings round a courtyard near the house and its spectacular walled garden.
- The project’s value has already been demonstrated by the establishing of The Marchmont Workshop, which has saved the great 19th-century tradition of Arts & Crafts rush seated ladder back chairs for a new chapter in the Scottish Borders.
- Visit www.marchmonthouse.com for more information.
- For information about The Marchmont Workshop see https://themarchmontworkshop.com.
About Marchmont Makers Foundation
- The foundation makes grants, donations and gifts to individuals and organisations who share its ambitions.
- The key focus areas for supporting artists are:
- funded residencies in the creative spaces.
- Providing opportunities/places to nurture creativity in the local community including garden/environmental/work spaces/organisations
- Enabling access to creative opportunities that would not otherwise happen.
- The foundation has developed partnerships with Visual Arts Scotland and The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland amongst others, but is keen to establish links with charities using creativity to further their cause within the Scottish Borders and beyond, welcoming approaches from like-minded organisations.
- Marchmont Makers Foundation is a registered charity No. SC048981 – v124
- See https://marchmontmakers.org
For media information contact Matthew Shelley at [email protected] or 07786 704299.