Creative Dundee

Collaboration is core to our work at Creative Dundee, and it’s the support of our partners and the local creative community that enables us to keep doing what we do – and that includes you! 👏✨ We’re a collaborative network rooted in the city since 2008. We forge partnerships – locally in Dundee, nationally, and far beyond – to go further and faster together. Visit the link in our bio to find out more about how you can work with us to connect, imagine, plan, play, experiment and explore together to build a more sustainable, optimistic tomorrow.

This morning we were joined for our #AmpsDundee Breakfast by designer Eirinn Leigh Reay (@reay.el )! Eirinn took us on a quick tour of her learning journey, from student to professional designer, and shared the projects she’s been working on since joining @agencyofnone , including a deep dive into their rebranding work with The Green Company! 👏✨ We also chatted about the first places, spaces, and communities where we felt creatively supported, from standout teachers to close-knit creative networks. Join us at the next breakfast at the link in our bio! New Amps, always welcome. Individuals: £4/mo Students: £2/mo

Dundee Month of Design is here and for our own wee celebration of the month, we’re returning to our Creative Base series! This time we’re chatting to a few of the city’s many brilliant designers and highlighting the variety and breadth of work that has helped put Dundee on the design map. 👏🤩 We’ve asked them to share their work, what it means for them to be designers in Dundee, and what support could ensure a better and brighter future for other designers in the city. We’ve also asked them to ‘pass the mic’ and share other local creatives whose work they admire and think you should get to know! Head to the link in our bio to find out more about: Robyn Green (@_gadgie ), Connor Finlayson (@codesign.scot ), Hannah Sabapathy (@studioplica ), Russell Milne (@rustle.jpg ), @veryevildemons , Kirsty Maguire (@Kirsty_maguire_arch_studio ), Nanditha Ram (@nanditha_designs ), Mike Dix (@michael_dixartist ), Karen Smith (@metalliumjewellery ), and Jane Petrie (@costume_detail )! (With special shout outs to: @highanxiety__ , @taysideregion , @stein__design , Kim Anderson, @draffstudio , @halleystevensons , Niall Moody, Claire Morwood, @catloots , @beaveranton , @johnstoneprojects , @ievajankovska1 , @luisalcada_person , @yolla.studio , and @misslydiaphoto ) Don’t forget to pick up a @dundeemonthofdesign programme & book out your calendar with design exhibitions, workshops, talks and more this month!

We opened the digital doors to our #AmpsDundee Breakfast this morning for @dundeemonthofdesign ! 👋 We were joined by our guest Rhianne Connelly (@rhiannemargaret ) who shared a snapshot of her design journey – chatting about what it means to make work in and for a place, and how she finds playful ways to uncover patterns across the city. We also explored how design shows up day-to-day for people in Dundee, from how it helps us explore and connect to the city, to how it shapes the places around us and the stories they tell. Join us at the next breakfast at the link in our bio! New Amps, always welcome. Individuals: £4/mo Students: £2/mo

This week our Fabric: Creating Care cohort gathered together again for a sunny second session, continuing our conversations on reimagining youth mental health in Dundee! We spent the day with vital local organisations and projects which offer connection, community care, and clinical pathways, hearing about how they’re working to better link support services in Dundee and the ways creativity is woven into the work they do. We’ll be sharing a full reflection on the day soon but for now a huge thank you to @artangel_dundee , Boomerang Community Centre, Tayside Healthcare Arts Trust, @nhstaysidecamhs , @cornerdundee , Room to Be, @howitfelt_littledebz , and Wild Dundee @rspb.scotland for hosting and sharing with us!

Next week we’re opening the digital doors to Amps Breakfast for a special @dundeemonthofdesign edition! Amps is a community of people who make and cultivate creativity in the city, and on Tue 5 May everyone is welcome to join our next online network gathering! Across the hour we’ll hear from Rhianne Connelly (@rhiannemargaret ), a local designer drawn to bold patterns, playful typography and print design, before a chance to chat to others and share updates via Pass the Mic. If you’re curious about Amps, or want to spend an hour hearing about and discussing design and Dundee from the comfort of home, come say hello! 👋 ☺️ 📅 Tue 5 May, 9:30–10:30am 📍 Online, Zoom 🎟️ Free and open to all! Booking required. Book your free ticket via the link in our bio – we’ll see you there!

We had a lovely, chatty #AmpsDundee Breakfast this morning inspired by our crowdsourced 99 Things to See and Do in Dundee guide! After hearing a little more about how the guide has evolved over the years, we broke into groups to explore where we would take visiting friends to share OUR Dundee – from literally showing off the city from it’s magnificent view points, to seeking out local live music and settling in at favourite pubs. We then took a step into the future and went on an imagined day trip to Dundee in 2036, finding a city that’s greener, more connected, and thriving for small and local businesses! 🤞🤞 If you’d like to share your favourite spots in Dundee for this year’s 99 Things Guide, you can find out more at the link in our bio! The form will be open for your suggestions until Fri 1 May. Join us at the next breakfast at the link in our bio! New Amps, always welcome. Individuals: £4/mo Students: £2/mo

We had such an amazing night at the #AmpsDundee Forum yesterday, with Amps supporters voting to award 2026’s Community Ideas Fund to Ele Roscoe (@queer.clay ) and Claire Morwood for their collab, Let’s Clay Together! 🙌 🥳 Huge round of applause and thanks also go to the other brilliant teams pitching on the night; Ailleen Angsutorn Lees (@decolonisingtheoutdoors ), and Alison Scott and Cat Macleod (@dundeefeministbirdclub ) with Edge Lands; Taylor Dyson (@tayemilylisa ), Jade Anderson (@ne0n_wookie ), and Calum Kelly with Scheme Queens; and Aylish Kelly (@theatregreen ), Zoe Sievwright and Sandy Campbell with Theatre of Change! THANK YOU to everyone who joined us on the night and to every Amps supporter whose subscriptions fund the CIF and make it happen! Special thanks to the team at @uodenterprise for hosting us and to @elizabethannday for stepping in as photographer and team CD support. ⭐️🧡 Find out more about Let’s Clay Together! at the link in our bio.

#AmpsDundee Breakfast returned this morning and it was great to be back in the virtual room with some new & returning faces! 👋 ☺️ We were joined this morning by Cleo Goodman, co-founder of @basicincomeconversation ! Cleo introduced us to basic income, what it could mean for creatives and artists, and the growing campaign for @basicincomeforartistsscot . She also shared more about Ireland’s recent artist-focused pilot and prompted some thinking about what Scotland can learn from it, and how we might better apply universal basic income principles here. We broke into groups to chat about what a recurring basic income would mean for us – from improved wellbeing and agency, to building a system that better enables creative freedom and risk. Join us next time at the link in our bio! New Amps, always welcome. Individuals: £4/mo Students: £2/mo

#AmpsDundee is a community of people who support the work of Creative Dundee, make and collaborate together! We want to showcase some of the amazing #AmpsMakers in the community, so here’s a little bit about one of them: @cararoooney ! Cara Rooney is an illustrator and plaything maker from Dundee, who works with bright colours and bold shapes to create children’s books, activity trails and to capture climate focussed events. Alongside her illustration work, she facilitates workshops based on her book “A Little World of Ants”, and in her role as Freelance Design Educator at @vadundee . “Through all my work, I aim to encourage people to connect curiously with the world and everyone we share it with. The thing I love most about my work is finding new ways for people to engage playfully with pictures, and exploring how they can inspire imagination, empathy and a sense of child-like wonder.” 📸 Image 1: Photographed by @jillyjillystudio

Fabric is back and we’re so excited to be on this learning journey again with a brilliant group of young people, creative practitioners, and youth & healthcare workers! Over the course of four sessions between March and June, Fabric: Creating Care will be collectively reimagining youth mental health in Dundee, exploring new possibilities grounded in care, creativity and collective responsibility. At our first session titled ‘Safety and Belonging’, the group explored the work of @feelingstronguk , @comicsyouthscio , @hotchoctrust , Lucy Paterson, and @dundeerep in a day filled with inspiring spaces, playful activities, and creative reflection. @annarooneyart reflects on her experience of the day and shares more about the first session in a new blog – head to the link in our bio to read more! 📸 @burnt_bongo

We’re getting ready for the Amps Forum on Wed 22 April! 🙌 🤩 It’s one of the highlights of our Amps calendar, bringing the network together to share and support projects pitching for the Community Ideas Fund! This year, we’re so excited to have four collaborative projects sharing on the night with the network voting for which one they’d like to see come to life. A portion of all Amps subscriptions go towards the fund, so it’s thanks to everyone in the network that this pot of £2,500 exists! 📅 Wed 22 April, 7–9pm 📍 @uodenterprise Centre for Entrepreneurship, Dundee DD1 5EN Head to the link in our bio to book your free ticket! We’ll stream the pitching portion of the event on Zoom for folks who’d like to vote but can’t make it in-person. This event is for our Amps community, but new Amps are always welcome to come along. Find more info about joining the network over on our website. 🧡