Hello, and welcome to the Inverclyde Culture Collective!
Put simply, Creative Scotland’s Culture Collective Fund is a network of participatory arts projects, shaped by local communities alongside artists and creative organisations. Funded by Scottish Government through Creative Scotland, these projects are taking place across Scotland from across 2026-2027. You can read more about the network, and who’s in it, here.
Inverclyde Culture Collective is one of these projects being delivered by various partners and organisations across Inverclyde, these include
Inverclyde Council https://www.inverclyde.gov.uk
CVS Inverclyde - who support, promote and represent Inverclyde’s third sector organisations https://www.cvsinverclyde.org.uk/
RIG Arts - a multi-award winning socially engaged arts charity based in Inverclyde https://www.rigarts.org
Beacon Art Cente - a contemporary theatre and arts venue in the heart of Inverclyde https://www.beaconartscentre.co.uk
The Wyllieum - a gallery in Greenock celebrating the work and legacy of artist George Wyllie https://www.wyllieum.com/
Creative Recovery Inverclyde - an arts strand nestled within the heart of Your Voice’s Lived Experience Network https://www.yourvoice.org.uk/creative-recovery-inverclyde
Theatre School of Scotland (TSOS) - who offer a variety of performing arts classes in Greenock https://theatreschoolofscotland.co.uk/locations/greenock
Located on the west coast of Scotland, Inverclyde is arguably one of the most attractive places in Scotland to live, work and visit. The area enjoys beautiful scenery, excellent transport links, some of the best walking and sporting activities in Europe and one of the best schools estates in Scotland. A strong sense of community identity exists within Inverclyde and to local neighbourhoods. However, the area is subject to a high degree of de-population, and a lack of local employment opportunities and other markers of multiple deprivation are the main causes of this. Deprivation levels vary significantly across the area with residents in Greenock and Port Glasgow experiencing some of the worst income inequality in Scotland.
Our intention for Inverclyde Culture Collective is to build on the success of our previous Inverclyde Culture Collective (ICC 2021-2023) to create 18 months of new activity from June 2026 - November 2027 devised from the Inverclyde Arts & Creativity Action Plan (2024-2029). Our overall focus will be an exploration of our “Creative Health” – a strong thread that emerged through previous delivery, leading to the inclusion of a “Creative Health Statement” within the “Inverclyde Health & Social Care Strategic Commissioning Plan” (2024 – 2027). We will also explore themes linked to the Climate Crisis, including climate anxiety. This project will create paid opportunities for both salaried and freelance Creative Practitioners to engage with communities that have low arts engagement. Inverclyde Culture Collective will provide both emerging and established artists with the opportunity to push the boundaries of their own practice and look for radical solutions to sensitively collaborate and make work with local communities.
Inverclyde Culture Collective will create a context for artists to experiment with alternate modes of sharing practice, test pilot new local partnership and community projects with no pre-determined outcomes. This funding would provide multiple opportunities for artists to push the boundaries of their practice and think about radical solutions to how we can sensitively collaborate and make work with local communities. Our network will continue to reflect on what we learned through previous funding to strengthen and deepen our collaborative approach. Together, we devised a new Inverclyde Arts & Creativity Action Plan that is forward-thinking and aspirational. This sets out a clear, shared vision supported across the locality from individual practice to strategic alignment with Community Planning Partnership outcomes. It provides a context for individuals, organisations and communities to develop their programmes. Our methodology emphasises the complex interweave between artforms, whilst tirelessly seeking out the most dynamic ideas and partners to create extraordinary art, accessible to communities.