Press release -
Jings! Crivvens! ScotSpirit!
Scottish icon and comic favourite, Oor Wullie is set to join Scotland’s national tourism organisation in promoting the country’s spirit to the world.
VisitScotland has worked with Scottish artist Vanessa Gibson to create a ‘ScotSpirit Wullie’ as part of Oor Wullie’s Bucket Trail set to hit the streets of Dundee on Monday 27 June.
Using a variety of media including acrylic paint and fine nib markers, Vanessa has transformed the blank Oor Wullie statue into a fusion of colour and black and white, representing the Spirit of Scotland and the 2016 Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design.
ScotSpirit Wullie features the Seven Spirits of Scotland in colourful writing including Soul (across his chest), Humour (across his bottom), Guts (across his stomach), Determination (up his right side), Fun (elbow) Spark (face) and Warmth (down his left side).
Black and white features include 25 small drawings to celebrate Scotland’s pioneering spirit in the 2016 Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design including: The Hill House, incandescent light bulb, toaster, first boat propeller, first postage stamp, first colour photo, Scottish Parliament, Forth Bridge, Tarmac, first waterproof ‘Mackintosh’ coat, the Enchanted Forest, absolute zero, Harris Tweed, Kelburn Castle, first flushing toilet, SSE Hydro, telephone, first pedal bicycle, grand piano, MRI scanner, ATM, criminal fingerprinting, vacuum flask, Watt’s steam engine and the kaleidoscope.
The ScotSpirit Wullie took 14 days to create and will be put on display in Dundee on 27 June as Oor Wullie’s Bucket Trail launches to the world. The statue will then go on a tour of Scotland over the summer to inspire visitors and residents alike to get out and enjoy more of the country’s spirit.
Oor Wullie’s Bucket Trail is a major public arts event that will see the streets of Dundee and beyond come to life with a spectacle of colour of 50 giant Oor Wullie sculptures in summer 2016.
The project, a collaboration between The ARCHIE Foundation, DC Thomson and Wild in Art, will capture the hearts and minds of the public and encourage us all to become ‘tourists in our own city’ and attract visitors from all over.
The Oor Wullie sculptures are beautifully decorated by local and national artists as well as household names from the worlds of film, music, art, animation and fashion. From small local companies to national corporations, a whole host of businesses and individuals have taken the opportunity to sponsor a sculpture that will then be on show for 10 weeks before taking the sculptures to auction to help raise funds for The ARCHIE Foundation’s Tayside Appeal to create a twin theatre suite for the children’s hospital.
Malcolm Roughead, Chief Executive of VisitScotland, said:
“With his cheeky smile and sense of determination and fun, Oor Wullie is the perfect embodiment of the Scottish spirit and I could not think of a better person to showcase this to the world! We are delighted and excited to be involved in Oor Wullie’s Bucket Trail and have no doubt it will be a great draw for visitors to Dundee and indeed around Scotland when some of the sculptures go on tour.
“From textiles to technology, architecture to fashion and design, the Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design is shining the spotlight on our greatest assets and icons, as well as our hidden gems and we would encourage everyone to discover more about Scotland this summer.”
Vanessa Gibson is an environmental artist who was born in Fife. She graduated from Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design with a BDES (hons) Interior Environmental Design in 2001. She works as a teacher of Art and Design at Auchmuty High School in Glenrothes. Vanessa also works out of her studio based in Fire Station Creative in Dunfermline. Her work is inspired by text, poetry and song lyrics. She specialises in transforming old/unwanted things and giving them a new lease of life and meaning using a wide variety of media.
Vanessa said:
“I was thrilled to be shortlisted as an artist for Oor Wullie’s Bucket Trail and beyond delighted to be commissioned by VisitScotland to design and decorate ScotSpirit Wullie.
“Wullie’s innovative ideas and inventions have inspired me from a young age to be creative with the things around me. Wullie himself personifies the Seven Spirits of Scotland as well as embodying the concepts of Innovation, Architecture and Design, all of which we are celebrating in our nation this year.
“It has been very inspiring for me to be able to promote and celebrate the work of some of Scotland’s finest creative people through this project, whilst contributing to The ARCHIE Foundation's cause.”
Neil Cooney, Project Manager of Oor Wullie’s Bucket Trail, said:
“We are delighted that VisitScotland has joined Oor Wullie’s Bucket Trail, a public art event which is set to capture the public’s imagination in Dundee and the surrounding area this summer.
“As part of The ARCHIE Foundation’s Tayside Appeal to raise two million pounds to help create a brand new twin-operating theatre surgical suite for the Tayside Children’s Hospital at Ninewells, the Bucket Trail will culminate in a special auction in September where each sculpture will be auctioned off, all to raise money for the appeal.
“We hope many people, locally and further afield, will come to Dundee this summer to join in the fun and explore Oor Wullie’s Bucket Trail.”
Oor Wullie’s Bucket Trail will launch on Monday 27 June 2016. For more information visit www.oorwulliebuckettrail.com
The ‘ScotSpirit Wullie’ is part of the national tourism organisation’s Spirit of Scotland campaign, launched in February 2016. The global campaign is built on extensive research which shows that people think Scotland has a unique spirit– whether it’s the magic of the landscapes or the warmth of the people. Everyone who has shared their #ScotSpirit will become part of a special social movement. To find our more, visit: www.visitscotland.com/scotspirit
Caption: Artist Vanessa Gibson is pictured with 'ScotSpirit Wullie’ at Auchmuty High School in Glenrothes
Topics
- Tourism
Categories
- corporate communications
- year of innovation architecture and design
- scotspirit
Regions
- Scotland
Notes to Editors
- Follow us on twitter: @visitscotnews
- VisitScotland is Scotland’s national tourism organisation. Its core purpose is to maximise the economic benefit of tourism to Scotland.
- The organisation’s core objective is to contribute to the Tourism 2020 Strategy ambition of growing tourism revenues by £1 billion by 2020.
- This will be supported by seven overarching strategies:
- Marketing: we will market Scotland and its outstanding assets to visitors from all parts of the world, including the promotion of Scotland to people living in Scotland to visit different parts of the country
- Events: we will support the national events strategy and its delivery, and sustain, develop and promote Scotland’s international profile as one of the world’s foremost events destinations
- Internationalisation and International Engagement: we will utilise all our platforms to enable Scottish-based tourism businesses to better understand international opportunities and market to a global audience and we will work within One Scotland Partnerships to optimise the potential of Scotland’s Diaspora and our strategic partners at regional, European and global levels
- Customer Experience: we will provide information and inspiration to visitors both locally and globally via their preferred medium of choice
- Quality and Sustainability: we will provide support and advice to businesses, with the goal of improving the quality and sustainability of the tourism sector in Scotland. We will provide quality assurance to visitors through our Quality Schemes
- Inclusive Tourism: we will strive to make tourism in Scotland inclusive and available to all
- Working in Partnership: we will listen to and work with the industry, partners and communities to shape our offering and support
- VisitScotland works together with tourism businesses to make tourism a success for everyone and ensure the industry continues to grow.
- The organisation employs 700 people and has offices and VisitScotland Information Centres across Scotland.
- Spending by tourists in Scotland generates around £12 billion of economic activity in the wider Scottish supply chain and contributes around £6 billion to Scottish GDP (in basic prices). This represents about 5% of total Scottish GDP.
- The Scottish Government is the Managing Authority for the European Structural Funds 2014-20 Programme. For further information visit www.gov.scot or follow @scotgovESIF
- For VisitScotland’s press releases go to http://www.visitscotland.org/media_centre.aspx, tourism statistics and frequently asked questions go to http://www.visitscotland.org/
- Where possible, a Gaelic speaker will be made available for broadcast interviews on request (Far an tèid iarraidh, agus far am bheil sin nar comas, bruidhinnidh neach le Gàidhlig aig agallamh)
- For holiday information on Scotland go to www.visitscotland.com
- For information about business events in Scotland go to www.conventionscotland.com
Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design 2016 - 2016 will shine a spotlight on Scotland’s achievements in innovation, architecture and design through a wide-ranging, variety of new and existing activity.
- The Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design begins on 1 January 2016 and ends on 31 December 2016 and will build on the momentum generated by the 2015 Year of Food and Drink as well as previous years including Homecoming Scotland 2014, the Year of Creative and the Year of Natural.
- Through a series of exciting events and activity, the year will showcase Scotland’s position as an “innovation nation”, its outstanding built heritage, and its thriving, internationally acclaimed creative industries sector.
- The Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design is a Scottish Government initiative being led by VisitScotland, and supported by a variety of partners including Scottish Government, Creative Scotland, Architecture + Design Scotland, Scottish Tourism Alliance, Scottish Enterprise, The National Trust for Scotland, Historic Environment Scotland, Highlands and Islands Enterprise and The Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland (RIAS).
- The Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design events fund is managed by EventScotland, part of VisitScotland’s Events Directorate.
- Join the conversation at #IAD2016
- Events can join the 2016 Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design Partner Programme throughout the year by visiting http://www.eventscotland.org/YIAD_partner_programme
The ARCHIE foundation
The ARCHIE Foundation was first formed in Aberdeen in 2000 and raised money to ‘make the difference’ between an excellent new children’s hospital planned by NHS Grampian and a world-class facility with many extras which would make the experience of children being in hospital better for both the children and their families. Important structural changes were incorporated such as:
- Each child’s room being built 1m wider with a fold down bed for a parent to sleep on, instead of just a reclining chair for overnight stays
- A 20 bedroom parents’ accommodation block was added, enabling families to stay close to very sick children, free to parents
- A multi-faith chapel and a quiet area for times of reflection
- A parents lounge for time out
- Play areas for the children, both indoor and outdoor
- Classroom
There is also:
- Artwork to create a child friendly atmosphere throughout the hospital,
- Additional staff such as a specialist pain nurse and an ARCHIE play leader,
- Specialist training courses for staff
- An ARCHIE funded PhD research student
The charity has also funded many pieces of specialist equipment, emergency grants and much more.
This enables The ARCHIE Foundation to ‘make the difference’ between the excellent clinical care delivered by the NHS and a child friendly environment which makes any time spent in hospital, long or short, a better experience for the child and their family.
On 25th January 2014 the Royal Aberdeen Children’s Hospital (RACH)was 10 years old and had had over 1million visits from children and their families through its doors, leaving it in need of some TLC itself. The ARCHIE Foundation launched a 10th anniversary fundraising appeal ‘High 10 for ARCHIE’ with the vision “To make Royal Aberdeen Children’s Hospital world-class for today and tomorrow’s sick children.”
Following a period of successful fundraising work has begun on the upgrades at RACH and will continue throughout 2016 /17
For details of all the 10 steps of the appeal follow this link to the High 10 appeal brochure
http://www.archiefoundation.org.uk/flip/high-10/
In March 2011 The ARCHIE Foundation launched an appeal in the Highlands to raise £1million to refurbish the existing children’s ward in Raigmore Hospital, Inverness. This sum has been surpassed and is now close the £2million needed to create a whole new Highlands Children’s Unit bringing together all the paediatric in-patient services in a relocated children’s ward with its own dedicated entrance. Children will move into this wonderful new facility from mid-April 2016
In January 2014 The ARCHIE Foundation extended its presence to Tayside to support fundraising activities dedicated to ‘Making the Difference for sick children in Tayside Children’s Hospital’.
In November 2014 it launched a £2million appeal towards a new twin operating theatre pediatric surgical suite alongside the children’s hospital to replace the single paediatric operating theatre which is located some distance from the rest of the children’s hospital.
2016 will see the first ever public art trail of its kind in Dundee when at least fifty 4ft tall wonderfully decorated statues of ‘Oor Wullie’ adorn the streets of the city throughout the summer in the Oor Wullie Bucket Trail, in order celebrate the 80th anniversary of this lovable character and to raise vital funds for the Tayside Children’s Hospital appeal
The ARCHIE Foundation also supports many other child healthcare facilities across the north of Scotland, in smaller hospitals and community based.
The ARCHIE Foundation has become a trusted brand in fundraising for child healthcare, always promoting its desire to ‘Make the difference’ for sick children in every area in which it operates.
For more information visit www.archiefoundation.org.uk
