Garnetbank Primary Aftercare Club

Thanks to the lovely pupils and their teachers from Garnetbank Primary Aftercare Club who came along to our Stencilling Station and had a go at creating some lovely stencils. Great to see lots of focus and learning going on and Charles Rennie Mackintosh as well as creating some great art!

St Aloysius Junior School class visit

It was nice to welcome some of the girls and boys and their teachers from St Aloysius' Junior School who visited our Stencilling Station last week. We were very impressed with their excellent stencilling and excellent behaviour! It's also great to know the students will be learning about Charles Rennie Mackintosh and Kate Cranston as part of their studies. We look forward to welcoming more students from St Aloysius and other schools in the future.

Nuremberg student visit

2017-11-03 16.40.24.jpg

We recently welcomed a small group of Textile students from Nuremburg, who came to visit along with their Student Director Barbara Denker. The students are part of an Erasmus reciprocal international exchange programme and are working with North Kelvin College on a Mackintosh event for 2018. They were interested to learn more about our plans and see what's happening currently. It's always good to hear about interesting collaborations and to be able to spread the news about Glasgow and of course Mackintosh at the Willow.

 

 

Local crafts - joinery workshop visit

IMG_20171101_144039.jpg

Really interesting visit to the Manufactured Joinery Workshop at Clarks Contracts to meet with their excellent joinery team who are working on some of the furniture for the restoration. It was good to see some of the samples and pieces being worked on and to see the level of care, thought, craftsmanship and expertise going into the pieces. Lots of discussion around finishes and measurements. Here's a preview of some of the pieces. We'll share more over the coming weeks and months as work progresses.

Permission to Start - Phase 2 activities

IMG_20171101_165305.jpg

Following our successful Round 2 Grant Award, we're delighted to say we now have official Permission to Start which allows us to move on with the project and to confirm contracts for Phase 2. Celia Sinclair, Chair, signed the construction contract with Clark Contracts on Monday October 30th. 

As we prepare to open in summer 2018, there are many aspects to the restoration of the building. We're now building up the project office team and are in the process of commissioning local crafts people to restore and make over 420 pieces of furniture, glass ware, wrought iron work, carpets, textiles and more.

We'll be increasing our marketing and PR activities and we're working in partnership with many prestigious organisations, for example with Dumfries House who will provide training and support for our front of house and catering staff when we open for business.

We continue to welcome the support of our funders and other partners including of course the Heritage Lottery Fund and not forgetting all the National Lottery Players whose support enables The Heritage Lottery Fund to support this and other great projects.

english_landscape_pantone.jpg

The Board of Trustees and Expert Mackintosh Advisory Panel continue to ensure every detail of the restoration is as it should be.

Supporting Scottish arts and crafts

IMG_20171024_153948.jpg

We're proud to say we've commissioned 420 pieces of furniture plus various textiles, glassware, wrought ironwork and carpets all from Scottish artisans. We'll be sharing more information on the artists and commission pieces over the coming months. And of course we'd love you to come visit  Mackintosh at the Willow when we open for business in summer 2018 - where you'll be able to see all the wonderful commission pieces and original designs in place!

Stencilling Stations at Sauchiehall Street - getting creative

Lots of fun and creativity this weekend with local and international visitors to our Stencilling Station at 213 Sauchiehall Street. Join in for some creative fun and to learn more about the exciting project plans for the current restoration of Miss Cranston and Charles Rennie Mackintosh's iconic Tea Rooms and the adjacent building which will house new state of the art learning, activity and exhibition spaces, due to open in summer 2018. 

22292091_10214388761618883_659931207_n.jpg

Running every Thursday, Friday and Saturday in October and November 2017 and February, March and April 2018, the workshops are free and open to adults and children. Just drop in and visit us. For larger groups or schools we recommend letting us know in advance.