A mobile art-teaching enterprise is coming to Scotland and heading for rural communities across the northeast: in a partnership initiative launched by Swiss international gallery Hauser & Wirth with Robert Gordon University and Gray’s School of Art, from 12th March the Mobile Art School is set to deliver free creative workshops to rural communities, led by sculptor Thomas J Price.

The new three-year partnership begins when the Mobile Art School is set to visit Braemar Primary School at St. Margaret’s Church, and Braemar Kirk. It aims to ‘connect and empower communities across Aberdeen and beyond to improve awareness and understanding of the creative industries.’ It will allow Gray’s School of Art to extend its reach by incorporating practising artists, leading high-impact workshops, working alongside the University faculty, bringing-in students and recent graduates.

Participants will be given the opportunity to experience and explore the personal and social enrichment that creative learning presents, not just within arts careers, but as a powerful, transformative and essential part of everyday life. Daniel Sutherland, who is Associate Dean for Economic, Social and Cultural Development at Gray’s School of Art, has said, ‘This three-year partnership with Hauser & Wirth is incredibly exciting. It gives Gray’s School of Art an opportunity to take our practices outside their traditional settings and into the communities on our doorstep. We hope the Mobile Art School activities will be transformational as we look to inspire the next generation of creatives beyond London and across the UK.’

The custom-built Mobile Art School vehicle is equipped with an array of state-of-the-art creative tools including VR headsets, laser-cutting, 3D printing / scanning, darkroom, CNC routing, vinyl-cutting, vacuum-forming, interactive electronics, clay modelling tools, raku kiln, screenprinting, intaglio/etching, model-making with hot wire cutting and hand tools, with facilities for jewellery-casting and inflatable projects.