University of Stirling creates fictitious faculty with the help of Glasgow artists

The University of Stirling is creating a temporary fictitious faculty with the help of two Glasgow artists. They will form the Faculty of Taking Notice as a way to engage with students and staff.

Sculpture by Pathfoot Building
Above: Pathfoot Building at the University of Stirling, where the first artist in residence event will be held.

The University of Stirling is creating a temporary fictitious faculty with the help of two Glasgow artists.

Artist duo Gardner & Gardner are forming the Faculty of Taking Notice as a way to engage with students and staff on climate crisis, displacement and COVID-19.

The creation of the Faculty is part of Heidi Gardner and Peter Gardner’s plans for their year as artists in residence at Stirling for 2024-25.

With a theme of Human Experience, they will explore topics with an emphasis on the human need for creativity and community to build our resilience.

The husband-and-wife duo will use the Faculty of Taking Notice and a series of playful actions and interventions with a focus of the campus as both neighbourly and a neighbourhood. 

Heidi said: “We don’t want to give too much away, but we’ll be engaging with students and staff through these creative interventions on campus, encouraging the practice of taking notice of each other, of neighbourliness, as a form of care for people, place and planet.’

Sarah Bromage, Head of University Collections at the University of Stirling, said: “Each year our artists in residence programme allows artists to immerse themselves in the life of the University. We are delighted to be working with Gardner & Gardner and look forward to seeing how our university community can interact and help shape the art itself throughout the academic year.”

man and woman Gardner & Gardner come from different disciplines, Heidi from History of Art and Peter from Theology. They have built up their multi-disciplinary art practice over two decades. Their practice responds to community environments and they share a commitment to listening as an artistic discipline.

The first chance to meet the new Artists in Residence will be on Thursday, 5 September, 12:30 to 13:30pm, where they will be having a Faculty of Taking Notice Assembly. 

Staff, students and the public are welcome to join them for coffee and cake in the Crush Hall, Pathfoot Building. Free tickets can be booked here.

Find out more about Gardner & Gardner at https://www.gardnerandgardner.co.uk/