Celebrating Gala's Success: MacArts and The Little Art Hub

There has been more positive news for Galashiels, with MacArts gaining national recognition and The Little Art Hub securing major new funding – highlighting just how important the town’s leisure and creative venues are both locally and nationally.

MacArts recently picked up an award at the Scottish Live Music Awards, held at Òran Mór in Glasgow and judged by a panel of 25 industry professionals. The venue was shortlisted alongside well-known names including DreadnoughtRock in Bathgate, King Tut’s and McChuills in Glasgow, PJ Molloy’s in Dunfermline and Sneaky Pete’s in Edinburgh - making the recognition even more significant.

Chris Wemyss, venue manager at MacArts, said: “It’s really not about the bricks and mortar - it’s about the people. My team, the volunteers, the audience and the performers all come together to make amazing things happen.”

Awards like this show the impact venues such as MacArts have in the town - bringing people together, supporting live music and events, and creating reasons for people to visit and spend time in Galashiels. Being recognised alongside nationally known venues highlights the quality and reputation the town’s cultural spaces have built.

There has also been great success for The Little Art Hub, which has been awarded £102,589 over 18 months from Creative Scotland’s Culture Collective fund for its new project, Imagine Galashiels.

The project will explore “places of possibilities” across Galashiels, encouraging curiosity and creativity through collaboration with local residents, artists and community partners including Energise Galashiels Trust, CABN and Transform Arts CIC. Through artist residencies, events and temporary creative interventions, the project aims to spark imagination and invite people to see the town in new ways.

Securing funding at this level from Creative Scotland is a significant achievement, recognising both the ambition of the project and the strength of the town’s growing creative community.

Together, these successes show the vital role arts, culture and creative spaces play in Galashiels – strengthening community connections, supporting creative talent and helping position the town as a vibrant place to visit, experience and invest in.