Pupils from Lochgilphead High School have created innovative displays that can be installed in the windows of empty shops in the town as part of a project led by the council’s Lochgilphead Conservation Area Regeneration Scheme (CARS).
Thirty-five S3 pupils joined forces with local artist Lesley Burr and set designer Ali Mills for the Lochgilphead CARS Shop Window Art Project to develop ideas and designs to make empty shop windows in the town look more attractive.
The project has been funded by Lochgilphead CARS using Historic Environment Scotland funds, ACHA’s Community Fund (secured via the Lochgilphead Phoenix Project), Lochgilphead Community Council, and Balfour Beatty.
Council Leader, Councillor Jim Lynch, said: “The shop window project is a great initiative. Not only has it enabled pupils to experience running a live project and the creative pressures involved, but it has also helped them to connect and appreciate the place they live and allowed them to have fun with public art whilst learning about the wider historic environment.
“The project has helped to make empty shop windows look more attractive and has instilled a real sense of civic pride amongst the town’s young people. Congratulations to everyone involved and thank you to the local shop keepers for letting the pupils use their premises.”
In recent years, Lochgilphead has benefited from multiple grant-funded projects through CARS, including the regeneration of historic buildings and improving the public realm surrounding the town centre. This has helped improve the appearance of the town centre and encouraged more people to visit and to stay for longer.
In addition to repairing historic buildings, improving shopfronts, and delivering Traditional Skills training courses, Lochgilphead CARS aims to raise awareness of the historic environment by delivering several events and training activities for the local community.
