The Studio and Gallery is located in Kilbirnie, a small town in the Garnock Valley in North Ayrshire, some 25 miles south-west of Glasgow, close to Lochwinnoch and Beith. In 2017 Franzeska and Adam McLean had the idea to create a space in which artists could show their work outside of the established commercial galleries, yet in a professional manner. We decided to adopt the format of monthly one-
person shows, which allowed individual artists to present a substantial amount of their work, and some have used this to create a retrospective. Our gallery was initially sited at 2 Craighouse Square but in October 2019 moved into larger premises, only twenty-five yards away on the Main Street. We have promoted a number of emerging artists, while also attracting some well-established ones, who seem to like the freedom and ease of exhibiting in our space. Each exhibition is well-curated and professionally hung by Adam McLean. Being artists ourselves, we listen to what artist require and try to meet their expectations. In 2019 we formed an alliance with our friend Nina Henry so she could set up her barber’s shop at the rear of the gallery. Art galleries are sometimes linked to other activities, cafes, bookshops, craft outlets, etc, but we appear to be unique. The gallery is simultaneously a physical exhibition space and a virtual gallery on the Internet. Each exhibition is filmed and made permanently available on our website, our Youtube site and social media such as Facebook, together with printed catalogues, an interview and biography of the artist. Exhibitions are, by their nature, ephemeral and transitory, so we seek to preserve each exhibition and continue to make it available to a wider public in the videos and catalogues. We are open to all styles of art, primarily figurative and technically skilled paintings, and we have a particular interest in surreal and symbolic material. We have discovered a number of talented local artists and allowed them the opportunity to show their work. In 2019, we created a mural on the gable end of our building, now affectionately named 'The Kilbirnie Mona Lisa', based on a painting by local artist Tom Donnelly. We realise how difficult it is for artists to find a gallery to exhibit their work. Often they are only allowed to display a single painting on densely packed walls. We set up the gallery to give artists a better opportunity than this, and to provide them with a means of further promoting their work. We have also set up websites for some artists who are not particularly Internet savvy. The gallery is privately funded and thus free of the economic constraints under which commercial galleries in the large cities have to work. We can facilitate sales of artwork but we do not charge a commission, rental or any hanging fees. During the quieter months of the year, Adam McLean creates educational exhibitions, on themes such as Mathematics as art, Art in Freemasonry, Tarot as art, and the Witch figure. We are currently building our programme of exhibitions for 2022, and are looking for artists to show their work. Once the Covid restrictions are lifted we will also be open on Saturday and Sunday afternoons, and be able to host openings of exhibitions.
