Building on the learning from their specially commissioned film documentary “Unearthing Farming Lives”, the partnership wished to engage further with the agricultural sector, acknowledge and raise awareness of the importance of their myriad of roles, whilst also recognising the challenges that impact on the health and wellbeing within this community.
The partnership wished to explore and promote creative engagement as a route to establishing and maintaining, or restoring, wellbeing.
The Art of Farming, was developed by Live Life Aberdeenshire, as a one year artist residency programme to create a platform where the two sectors of art and farming, could be brought together through mutually beneficial engagements, unlocking the potential of the landscape to inspire creativity, learn new skills and develop creative responses to it.
Building on an initial developmental phase led by artist Nic Green, Live Life Aberdeenshire appointed artists Mary Bourne and Lynne Strachan to develop and steer the project to its conclusion in July 2023.
Mary and Lynne both grew up in, and continue to be based in, the North East of Scotland and have many years' experience of working on engagement projects and creating place-specific artworks for public places. They share a fascination with how people and their stories inhabit a place, and the way making things in response to this can benefit both the maker and the viewer.