Introducing the Recipients of the SPARKS 2026 Commissions
Category: Blog
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Introducing the Recipients of the SPARKS 2026 Commissions
Earlier this year, What We Do Now invited expressions of interest for the 2026 SPARKS programme – welcoming a breadth of ideas from the membership. Four creative practitioners were awarded grant funding to support the development of creative ideas. Over the coming weeks, our commissioned artists will set out to begin nurturing their ideas, in…
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Members’ Gathering | Reflecting on Six Bowls: Ecologies of Resistance
Hello dear reader. The following reflection is written by me, Craig Duncan. In case you missed my introduction – I am the Creative Spaces Associate newly embedded in the What We Do Now Network. As part of my tenure I will be exploring what it means to be a young artist within a Creative Placemaking…
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Designing the Blueprint: Reflections from LABS Stranraer
On 23rd April 2026, over 80 people gathered in Stranraer, travelling from far and wide to join What We Do Now (WWDN) at LABS Creative Neighbourhoods: A Blueprint for Local Placemaking. Creative Neighbourhoods marked our second LABS event, following our initial gathering on Community Wealth Building and the national kNOw One Place forum in 2022—the…
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Making Neighbourhoods | A Scottish Perspective
During 2024, The Stove and What We Do Now (WWDN) began a formal learning exchange and partnership with Workhouse Union—a community co-design organisation based in Callan, County Kilkenny, Ireland. First initiated as a connection in 2021, this partnership has grown into a rich, multi-year exchange. From Workhouse Union’s Rosie Lynch helping shape WWDN’s Manifesto for…
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Farewell from Andy Furlonger
Dear Members, after almost two years, my adventure as the Membership Manager for What We Do Now is at an end. It has been a truly life-changing experience. Arriving from one of the world’s most metropolitan cities, there was a certain amount of trepidation about my new life in Dumfries and Galloway. Little did I…
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The Art of Being Together
SPARKS reflections by Margot Henderson and DJ McDowall This SPARKS commission brought together Margot Henderson and DJ McDowall in a learning exchange focused on heritage, community, and creative dialogue. Supported by What We Do Now and Findhorn Bay Arts, the work prioritised exploration, reflection, and shared practice rather than a fixed outcome. The commission unfolded…
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Reflections – Inspiration and Shared Ideas
Katharine Wheeler A few weeks back, some of our members travelled to Edinburgh to visit WHALE Arts and then North Edinburgh Arts, both part of the Creative Community Hubs Network coordinated by WHALE and the fabulous Eva and Morvern. We have been growing our friendship together for a while, and this visit truly felt like…
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Sparks Reflection: Heather Taylor and Kathleen Cronie
Together in Time This collaborative enquiry explored new, imaginative ways of connecting people to heritage in inclusive and meaningful ways. Led by a shared question about how heritage and storytelling can better reflect diverse voices and lived experience, the project centred on listening, curiosity and participation rather than fixed outcomes. Working across Dumfries and Galloway,…
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SPARKS Reflection: Danielle Townsend
Transforming Everyday Public Experiences Danielle Townsend is a designer, educator, and strategic thinker based in Ireland, committed to advancing design as a tool for inclusion, systems change, and public good. This commission explored how design and creativity can actively shape placemaking in Dublin. It brings together local business owners, civic leaders and the creative community…
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A Year of Learning, Connection and What Comes Next
As we come to the end of the year, I would like to take a moment to look back at how far the What We Do Now network has come since opening our doors in May 2024. What stands out most is the depth of relationships forming across our region, the sense that something shared…