The Arran Arts Heritage Trail

By Ruth Impey, 23.06.2021

The Arran Arts Heritage Trail Eardley and Sandeman marker.

The Arran Arts Heritage Trail (AAHT) is a brand new art trail exploring the landscapes of Arran through the eyes of artists inspired by them. The AAHT represents a varied array of artists dating back over 200 years. In collaboration with members of the local community, twenty locations with featured artists have been identified to establish this island-wide trail, which aims to celebrate this rich cultural heritage for current and future generations. Featured artists include Craigie Aitchison, Joan Eardley, Alisdair Gray, John Knox, Jessie M. King, Samuel Johnson Peploe, William McTaggart and many more iconic names.

Hand carved placemarkers, made of reclaimed red Arran sandstone mark the physical trail across the island. The trail can also be explored virtually through the newly launched website. By clicking on the trail map locations, playing short films, listening to revived Arran dialect Gaelic location names and discovering further artworks and artists held in an extensive database, the website allows you to immerse yourself in the landscapes, even if from afar. The artist database and images provide a unique resource for researchers, students and art lovers.

The trail was launched on the 29th April through a fascinating online symposium with papers focusing on Arran’s extraordinary artistic history. The symposium was chaired by broadcaster, writer and lover of Arran and art, Kirsty Wark. The schedule provided a rare treat, with contributions from the National Galleries of Scotland, the Hunterian Museum & Art Gallery, the University of Glasgow, Glasgow School of Art, the Alasdair Gray Archive, Lyon & Turnbull and the irrepressible Richard Demarco in conversation with BBC Arts correspondent Pauline McLean.

Kirsty Wark chaired a discussion on Eardley’s formative years on Arran which included Anne Morrison Hudson, Eardley's niece, and journalist Jan Patience, both founders of Eardley100, promoting her centenary year. A short film especially commissioned by the trail and directed by Simon Sloan, the trail’s appointed young filmmaker, also received its public debut as part of the Eardley discussion. The film ‘Tabernacle’ narrated by Kirsty Wark focuses on the cottage come studio in Corrie, where Eardley and her lifelong friend, Margot Sandeman, spent summers painting whilst students at Glasgow School of Art. Eardley and Sandeman share a placemaker on the trail, near the shore in Corrie to mark their time spent painting there. 

Further highlights of the symposium included a talk on fairies and Hannah Frank, the ‘Missing Colourist’ Jessie M King bringing Paris to Arran, the ‘Smashers Club’ and a remarkable and revealing glimpse into the sketchbooks of Duncan Shanks and Charles Rennie Mackintosh. A full list of speakers, paper titles, session talks and  films can be viewed on the website.

Images of artworks were projected onto Brodick Castle to mark the launch of the trail, literally highlighting the artists’ links to Arran through the landscape and built environment, which provided a spectacular visual representation of Arran’s historic and continued ability to inspire creativity.

AAHT is a member of SWARN and in the coming months will be promoting women artists and their artworks represented by the trail. For further information contact arranartsheritagemanager@gmail.com.