Stills launch 40th Anniversary Auction

• Rachael Cloughton
• 3 October 2017

credit: Robin Gillanders

Artists show their support for Stills by donating works to support the centre of photography's future programme

Artists including Rachel Maclean, Wendy McMurdo and Robin Gillanders have donated works for a major fundraising auction in aid of Stills, Edinburgh's centre for photography. The auction is part of a larger fundraising campaign launched by Stills as part of its 40th anniversary celebrations. The centre aims to raise £40k to cover the ongoing cost of its programme – which includes ground-breaking photography exhibitions, state-of-the-art production facilities in the heart of Edinburgh and work within communities around the city, taking photography to those who face barriers to the arts.

There are almost 100 works available to bid on in total, and the Auction is split between an online auction of anonymous prints – available to bid on now and a live auction of named works, which will take place on the 20 Oct at 6pm at Stills on Cockburn Street. Auction house Lyon & Turnbull will manage this sale (with all funds raised going towards Stills). A catalogue of the works available in the live auction, plus reserve prices are available on Stills' website. Anonymous works in the online auction start at just £20 and include pieces by some major names in the art world as well as works by emerging Scottish artists.

'Our Auction is an opportunity to support our work – and by extension, the future of photography in Scotland,' said Ben Harman, Director of Stills. 'It's also a chance to own works by some of
the most exciting artists and photographers working in Scotland today.'

Alongside the Anniversary Auction, Stills is celebrating its 40th year with a programme of talks by internationally regarded figures from the photography world including Alec Soth, Martin Parr, Brett Rogers, Director of The Photographer's Gallery and Simon Baker, Senior Curator, Tate, while the gallery will host a major retrospective of work by Robin Gillanders following the Auction. Stills has also recently launched a Friends scheme, with perks including discount on courses and in the shop and an exciting events programme.