Education and Learning

Our Education & Learning programme is diverse and offers provision at all levels. From the highly successful schools outreach work run from Bonhoga, through to our formal education programme delivered in partnership with Shetland College UHI, and informal opportunities such as regular cross-artform Creative Labs, business development, masterclasses and Creative Insight events.

Highlights of 2019/20 included:

We were delighted with the achievements of the students on all the courses we deliver in partnership with Shetland College UHI.

• Twenty-four Vocational Pathway students who are in S3 at school and study part-time in Mareel, successfully completed the SQA Creative Industries National Progression award;
• Eight students completed the NC Creative Industries course with specialisms in Film or Music;
• Four students were successful in completing the HNC Music award, all of whom gained an A grade for their final graded unit portfolios.
• NC Creative Industries film and music students have worked collaboratively on three short film projects that were aimed for screening at Shetland Arts Screenplay Festival.

• The START Bonhoga Education Programme featured electric paint workshops in each of the five participating schools and culminated with the closing exhibition, events and a film of the project, Collection & Archive.
• To coincide with the Sixteen touring exhibition, photographer Craig Easton visited Shetland to deliver workshops to S3 pupils at Anderson High School and a Creative Lab at Mareel.
• The exhibition of INKLAB works created by local school pupils continued in Mareel.
• We hosted two summer-themed Creative Labs inspired by Shetland Landscape delivered by artists Paul Bloomer and Aimee Labourne which explored drawing in the landscape expressively and looking at depth. Both day-long workshops sold out.
• There were two blocks of creative workshops for adults at Mareel: Contemporary Dance and Life Drawing.
• In September we hosted the Shoormal Conference in Mareel in partnership with the University of the Highlands and Islands Centre for Rural Creativity.
• Our Film Making Creative Lab with Keiba Clubb was very popular. Local artists and business owners have used the skills they learned to support them in marketing and developing their own work.
• The Live Literature Residency took place with author James Robertson delivering five schools workshops across Whiteness and Weisdale, Tingwall, Scalloway, Aith and Anderson High School, reaching 109 participants.
• We held several successful blocks of Contemporary Dance for adults delivered by our Creative Project Manager and choreographer Kathryn Spence. These blocks are fun and encourage people to get active while learning the techniques of contemporary dance.
• Shetland Islands Council Education Department received funding from the Creative Learning Network Fund in collaboration with Shetland Arts to host workshops in schools called Creative Classrooms. Five schools welcomed sessions from design collective Civic Soup, who are artists on the LOCUS Sculpture Trail project. They worked together to design symbols and motifs that reflect life in Shetland. These will be incorporated into their final artwork as part of the LOCUS trail.