A dedicated platform that will help Scotland's artists and craft makers eliminate waste and re-use resources is aiming to helping them redistribute everything from paint to plinths. By promoting the principles of a circular economy, the Circular Arts Network (CAN) is the latest scheme from Glasgow’s Sculpture Placement Group (SPG), described as 'a Gumtree for the arts'. SPG's Kate Robertson said: "Even though we’ve only just got started there seems to be tremendous support for CAN precisely because it enables the arts community to confront all these issues by giving access to free and affordable materials, as well as skills exchanges and transport sharing... and given time we hope to roll it out all across the UK.”
Supporters include founding partner Scottish Contemporary Arts Network (SCAN) and Zero Waste Scotland, whose Sector Manager Laura Blair said: "The Circular Arts Network can help visibly demonstrate the benefits of taking a creative approach with items that may otherwise be tossed aside. There have also been concerns among artists and makers that when they try to offer up unwanted items at no or low cost on other platforms that they are snapped up by people who then resell them at commercial rates. We very much hope that this will bring real and direct benefits to the arts sector in Scotland".