My Glasgow: curator Sarah McCrory talks culture in the city
The director of Glasgow International, the city’s major contemporary art festival, explains why it’s the ideal location for creative types
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Your support makes all the difference.Sarah McCrory has lived in Glasgow for almost four years after moving to the city from London to take up her current post as director of Glasgow International, a dynamic art festival that takes place every other year. With a mix of Scottish artists and specially commissioned work from international creatives, during the fair’s 18-day run, art pops up everywhere in the city - from shop fronts and apartments, through to major galleries. Here she shares her thoughts on the Glasgow art scene and its cultural hotspots.
Glasgow is a very culturally vibrant - it’s an exciting place to live. I like how north, south, east and west are such diverse neighbourhoods. It feels quite personal and because it’s a small city, you get to know it really well. It has great architecture and there are some amazing buildings. I also really like the fact that you can get from the city to the most incredible countryside in half an hour.
Glasgow has become a natural centre for people to live and work as artists. They can afford to have great studio spaces and live and work frugally, which gives them time to focus on their work. A lot of artists come to the art school and stay because as a city it’s really hospitable to artists. In the north there’s a place where lots of artists have studios called The Whisky Bond, which used to be a big warehouse. It also houses the Glasgow Sculpture Studio.
Two of my favourite art galleries are spaces in the same building. Mary Mary and Koppe Astner may have very different voices, but the galleries are both doing interesting things with emerging and mid-career artists. There’s a great space called Celine in the southside and that’s in a large front room of some artists' house. I would always mention the Glasgow Women’s Library too. They are working really hard there under an amazing director called Adele Patrick to be a positive space for women from all walks of life.
For people who have never been to Glasgow and want to do something arty, I would suggest they go to the GoMA (Gallery of Modern Art) in the centre of town because there is a really interesting exhibition programme and, importantly, afterwards you can go around the corner to Rogano and have a cocktail. It has an incredible interior which is original Art Deco, so it’s really beautiful, and they do really good martinis.
My favourite Glasgow haunts include a restaurant called Alchemilla. It doesn’t have a website yet. It has a Middle-Eastern feel and fresh local produce. If you want to go clubbing, there’s a great place called La Cheetah which often has really big name DJs even though the place is tiny. I would recommend a short drive to the coast to The Wee Hurrie at Troon to eat pretty much the best fish and chips ever. It’s ironic because they cook everything fresh and there’s always a queue, but it’s definitely worth the wait.
Alchemilla: 0141 337 6060
One of the first things I do when I get to Glasgow is get together with friends and go for a walk in the countryside. Pretty much every weekend I’m here we go somewhere really beautiful. You can pick and choose the landscapes, whether you want to walk up a huge hill or whether you want to go round the edge of a loch.
In the city, the Necropolis is one of my favourite places. It’s incredible. It’s a really beautiful place with old graves and monuments on the hill. Also, the Botanic Gardens glasshouse - it’s called The Kibble Palace and it’s really beautiful. It was named after John Kibble, a Victorian eccentric who did lots of things - photography, engineering… he was a bit of a polymath!
Famed for its spectacular Victorian architecture and vibrant cultural scene, Scotland’s largest city is a must-see. To discover more about Glasgow and the people who call it home visit peoplemakeglasgow.com