Molly Sullivan Swipe / click to begin
Monday How fitting that the first day of my photodiary is the first day of my internship at Hospitalfield, the contemporary arts centre in Arbroath? I’ve been in the UK for a year and this is my second time in Scotland. It was a whirlwind of a day. I met the staff and volunteers, and sat in on a meeting with Hospitalfield’s Creative Scotland lead officers. I’m looking forward to learning more about the history of Hospitalfield and meeting the artists involved in its programme of residencies and public events.
Wednesday One of my tasks this week has been to research and create information handouts for some of the 20th century art in the collection. The majority of the work is by artists who spent time at Hospitalfield when it was an art school. As part of this project, I was introduced to Mae McKenzie Smith, Chair of the Hospitalfield Alumni Association. Mae and her husband Ian spent time as artists at Hospitalfield in the 1950s. They were lovely – I really enjoyed listening to their stories of friends and fellow artists.
Thursday I seriously have to pinch myself every time I walk through the house! Although I’ve spent a fair bit of time doing online research, the time spent upstairs in the arts and crafts rooms has been my favourite. This is a view from the landing to the Ante Room looking down onto the corridor. Some of the 20th century paintings I’ve been researching are on the walls here, but there are others throughout the house as well.
Friday Although I wasn’t working today, I decided it would be good to visit the nearby city of Dundee. The first ever Dundee Design Festival was happening so I decided to pop into the exhibition space. It looked like the workshops and talks would have been fun – I wish I’d looked into them before coming. Afterwards, I ventured off to the Degree Show at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art. After spending the past year in London, it was nice to see the different things happening elsewhere in the UK.
Sunday Hospitalfield’s summer residency hasn’t begun yet, but I’ve been fortunate to be living in this grand house for the past week with artist Tamara Henderson. She’s been very busy working on a piece for Art Basel and will be sticking around to complete a new commission for one of Hospitalfield’s events, the Summer Open Weekend. I love seeing sketches and works in progress almost as much as I like seeing the final product, so it was wonderful to see her process. I’m slightly jealous of the large studio space!