Drumroll Please…One Month to Go!
Ok, so a drumroll may have been a slightly abrupt way to break the silence of what feels like a long time since I last chatted to you all, the 100 Days Project Scotland community, but I wanted to get your attention.
today is the 1st of May 2024 and keeping with the tradition set over the past few years, it is one calendar month away from ‘Day 1’ the 100 Days Project Scotland 2024.
Though I feel I say this to you every year, it has been quite a year. I often wonder (and am often asked!) if I will have the energy to run the project again when it comes time to start the prep, and yet here I am unable not to. I spent last night, and into the wee hours, updating the website and getting the registration form up and running, and what a treat it was re-watching the crowdfunder video, hearing and reading the words of some of our 2020 project participants. This inspired me to look out the visitors’ comments book entries from the exhibition in 2023, and my heart swelled understanding the impact this project has had and continues to have on so many people. I hope those of you who have taken part, visited, or been in any way inspired by the project are more regularly creative as a result.
This announcement comes at a very busy period for those of us in the creative education game; it is final submission time and we are heading into degree show season when students who have been working on their final year projects get to celebrate and exhibit their work. Universities and Colleges with creative programmes of study all over the country are celebrating the wonderful individuals who have been working all year on an amazingly diverse body of work – it’s an exciting and busy time. If you have not been to a degree show or graduate show, I would recommend it – they are a creative feast for the eyes and imagination.
This festival of creativity is one of several reasons why we have not managed to organise the 100 Days Project Scotland 2023 exhibition as yet. Exhibition space within an Art College is in high demand, with planning for the graduate show happening very early in the year, and with the addition of building and renovation works happening in the Fire Station, there was no space available prior to the 2024 kick-off. The 2020, 2021, and 2022 group exhibition, held in March 2023, was a great way to draw people into the project and inspire them to take part, and though I had hoped we could do this again with 2024, it does mean there is the prospect of grouping 2023 and 2024 in Autumn – which could be very exciting! I am currently speaking with the Events Team at ECA about what spaces might be suitable, and how we could make this work, and I will write more about this as and when I have more news.
For now, let’s look forward to 2024…on June 1st 2024 this year’s project will begin! Woohoo!
On Day 1, June 1st, I will post a “No.1” for the #DailyCount2024, on the project Instagram feed, as a way to kick start the project and will continue to post a daily number to keep you all on track (goodness knows it can be tricky remembering what day you are on sometimes!)
Between now and then I will update you with a few posts to inspire and get the creative juices flowing.