About Summerhall Arts

Summerhall Arts had its beginnings in the Summerhall venue – a cultural phenomenon that has captured the hearts and imaginations of the artistic community of Edinburgh, Scotland and the rest of the world. 

Summerhall Arts is built on the important work of the visual and performative arts that has taking place at Summerhall in Edinburgh since 2012, the needs and challenges of a changing sector, the evolution and limitations of the venue and the knowledge and experience of those who have developed an idea that provides a solution to deliver real and vital support and opportunities to local and national creative practitioners. 

Summerhall Arts was established to create a stable vehicle for the arts, protecting the fragile artistic community, safeguarding a creative professional development programme & maintaining a safe and inclusive space to showcase new writing and early career practitioners in Edinburgh and Scotland. 

We identify, create, support, and deliver a wide and diverse range of opportunities for emerging and established local and national creative practitioners within an established safe  space. 

The size, breadth and diversity of the planned programme is comprehensive and designed to support and galvanise a fragile sector through cross sector collaboration to be stronger by working together. 

Summerhall Arts is a Lifeboat and with it – we provide space, opportunity and mentorship to those who have creative ideas but no means or facilities to begin that creative process. Space is so limited to experiment and play within the city that it is often reserved for established creatives – we provide a safe, welcoming, and inclusive space and environment for the process to take shape. 

We hear proof of the urgent need for this from all those working in the sector. A ‘lifeboat’ is a very welcome sight for those who believe they are sinking without support. We hope it will also save the sector.