North East Open Studios celebrates £10,000 National Lottery award

North East Open Studios (NEOS), one of the largest arts and creative events in Scotland has been awarded a £10,000 grant by The National Lottery Fund.

NEOS 2023 Committee Members from left to right: Susie Hunt, Linda Colquhoun, Lynne Staples-Scott, Val Thomson, Paul Lawson, Louise Lemmon, Mahri Prince, Connie Roberston, Carol Hiles.

The grant will be used to upgrade the NEOS website and develop a mobile phone app to assist both visitors to the area and to help artists and makers to promote their activities.

Chair of NEOS23, Lynne Staples-Scott said: “North East of Scotland is home to an astonishing number of creative people who have skills ranging from traditional wood and stone carving to digital art. The nine day long Open Studios event in September is a great opportunity for the general public to visit some of these often hidden gems and meet the artists to find out more about what they do. However, the NEOS website, which is used by both artists and visitors, is no longer fit for purpose and we are keen to make it more interactive and easy to use while also developing a mobile phone app for people to use while on the move.

“Given the economic climate at the moment, we are keen to do what we can do to help raise the profile of our talented members while keeping the membership fee of NEOS at a reasonable level.

NEOS 2023 Committee Members from left to right: Susie Hunt, Linda Colquhoun, Lynne Staples-Scott, Val Thomson, Paul Lawson, Louise Lemmon, Mahri Prince, Connie Roberston, Carol Hiles.

"As a Not for Profit organisation, it is difficult for NEOS to raise money and, like every other organisation, we have faced rapidly escalating costs. This grant will make a real and tangible difference to what we can achieve this coming year and we are immensely grateful to The National Lottery for the award.”

Next year, NEOS will take place from September 9-17.