Over the past year, a major new attraction, initiated and led by the Friends of the Smith, has taken shape around the Stirling Smith Art Gallery and Museum.

The re-shaping of the grounds has now reached an important milestone with the opening of Ailie's Garden at the back of the museum.

The Garden has been named after Ailie R Maclaurin (1913-2000) of the Stirling Homesteads, where biodiversity and sustainability were practised in the early twentieth century.
Ailie was a great gardener and lifelong Friend of the Smith.

Ailie's Garden has been created to encourage wildlife, for the study of nature, the demonstration of composting and waste management, and to add to the pleasure of visiting the Smith. It has been planned as an outdoor gallery, biodiversity garden, and family activity space.
The garden has been designed to attract wild birds, hedgehogs and insects. Guests can visit the kitchen garden where potatoes, raspberries and rhubarb is being grown.

Among the attractions of the two-acre site are a willow tunnel, a storytelling circle/performance area where the audience sit on dinosaur teeth seats , an outdoor chess and draughts board, a giant caterpillar sculpture, a mini labyrinth, and a woodland area.
Seating created by sculptor Kevin Blackwell is comfortable as well as plentiful, and the area is enlivened with the mosaics of Jan Kilpatrick, aided by children from several local primary schools. A great place to have a picnic or for families to spend some time.

Elspeth King, Director of the Stirling Smith said "We have long needed this complementary outdoor facility for family use. It is a major new asset for Stirling as well as for the Smith. That it has been delivered through the fundraising efforts of volunteers Frances Chatfield and Moira Lawson is a great testimony to the power of volunteering in museums, and the sterling efforts of the Friends of the Smith".

Funding for the project came from the Fresh Futures programme of the New Opportunities Fund, Scottish Natural Heritage, Stirling Council, Stirling Landfill Tax Trust, Stirling Council Community Environment Scheme, and the Friends of the Smith.

Carol Davies of Scottish Natural Heritage said, "We are very pleased to contribute to such an innovative and exciting project. Ailie's Garden provides an enjoyable opportunity for families, schools and all visitors to the Museum to appreciate and learn more about their local natural heritage".

Iain Roxburgh of the Fresh Futures programme said: "We are delighted to be able to support this project, which extends the work of the Stirling Smith into outdoor spaces. It is too often easy to forget how our lives relate to the wider environment, and Ailie's Garden can help us understand this better. We hope it will be well used by the people of Stirling and visitors to the area."

For further details, contact Elspeth King, Director, Smith Art Gallery and Museum, Dumbarton Road, Stirling FK8 2RQ
telephone 01786 471917
fax 01786 449523
email Elspeth.King@smithartgallery.demon.co.uk

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