Supercreative Glasgow: gifted graduates on how the city inspired them

A recent technical and production art graduate from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Lennon originally studied with a specialism in set and costume design but has since gained experience at the Scottish Opera, the Young Vic, and the National Theatre of Scotland, with roles in costume assistance and costume departments in both theatre and film. A career highlight for Jessica Lennon was working alongside the crew of the National Theatre of Scotland on a one-man version of Macbeth, starring Scot polymath Alan Cumming. ‘Glasgow has a vibrant arts and culture scene and the RCS has a fantastic reputation for training some of Scotland’s best theatre and film practitioners,’ she says. ‘People in Glasgow are passionate, friendly, and definitely proud. I wanted to be a part of that.’

Now associate director at London’ Royal Court Theatre, John Tiffany arrived at the University of Glasgow to begin an MA in theatre and classics back in 1990, when the city was already buzzing. ‘It was the European City of Culture, and a very vibrant place to be.’ He went to gigs at The Barrowlands, danced until dawn at the Sub Club and wandered the stretch of Argyle Street from St Vincent Street to Kelvin Way. ‘It’s at the other side of the M8 from the city centre and has restaurants like Crabshakk, fantastic charity shops and everything in-between.’ Since leaving Glasgow, Tiffany has worked as the associate director of the National Theatre of Scotland (2005 to 2012), winning the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Director, as well as a Critics’ Circle Award for Best Director on a production of Gregory Burke’s Iraq war play Black Watch. He also won the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical for his work on the musical play Once. Glasgow, he says, is a ‘demotic city, full of energy, heart and banter. Why say one word when 893 will do? That’s a Glasgwegian.’

A recent graduate of product design engineering, a joint course between the University of Glasgow and The Glasgow School of Art, Martin Keane received the top student award from the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and a distinction from the Incorporation of Hammermen Glasgow for his year-three studies. ‘The Glasgow of today is very much a forward-thinking European city,’ says Keane. ‘There’s always something going on the design and culture scene. The people are, on the whole, very friendly, and most of them think they’re comedians.’ Keane’s favourite University of Glasgow alumnus? ‘It would have to be James Watt. Like me, he studied engineering and also comes from my home town of Greenock. Among many other things, he redesigned the steam engine to be more efficient, bringing it to a level where it was more useful to industry. His design kick-started the industrial revolution. The fact that he started off in the same town as me before studying in the same department in the University of Glasgow is something I find inspirational – and if I can have even a fraction of the influence he had over British industry I’ll be very happy.’

‘Glasgow is a city with a great engineering heritage; most notably for its rich history of shipbuilding,’ says Michael Aldridge. ‘Today this is reflected in its universities and I was attracted to the city because of the University of Strathclyde and its reputation for engineering teaching.’ Aldridge is currently employed at Glasgow-based product design engineering consultancy 4c, designing ‘everything from board games to power stations’. He was part of the team that designed the Queen’s Baton for the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

Bennion completed an HND in architectural technology at the City of Glasgow College and a Master’s in advanced architectural design at the University of Strathclyde, before heading to Germany to study the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar’s international advanced architectural design course. He has always been a fan of Glasgow’s architectural aesthetic. ‘Glasgow’s scale strikes a perfect balance between big-city living and a small-town feel,’ explains Bennion. ‘It has all the draw and amenities of a larger city but you can traverse the centre, on foot, in just over ten minutes.’ Glasgow’s best buildings? Bennion chooses the Kingston Bridge for its ‘wonderful materiality and tactile qualities’ and Buchanan Street’s BOAC Building. ‘Such a beautiful construction. It fits so well to its site, but also stands out from the crowd. It takes the surrounding context and applies it in a new way.’ Now employed as an architectural assistant at the Glasgow-based architectural studio GRAS the city still provides inspiration for Bennion. ‘Looking down from Central Station’s concourse, or from between Cochrane Street and Montrose Street, you get the full effect of the city’s grid layout but without anything interrupting the view. Glasgow’s geography makes the view endless.’

With hats that reference floristry, illustration, British birds and Glasgow architecture, a clientele that includes Kelis, Joan Jett, Ana Matronic and Walt Disney Studios, a recently opened shop in Merchant City and a brand endorsement via fellow milliner Stephen Jones (‘he makes things that are classically beautiful in an elegant way, but with a modern edge’), William Chambers is now a fully fledged figure in Glasgow’s creative salon. He studied millinery at Glasgow’s Metropolitan University (now City of Glasgow College). Chambers lives and works in the city and finds continuous inspiration in its people, parks and buildings. A collaboration with The Glasgow School of Art graduate Georgia Wiseman, mixing sculptural brass jewellery design with Chambers’ distinctive millinery, has made for some striking hats. ‘I love the work of Margaret MacDonald, the wife of Charles Rennie Mackintosh,’ says Chambers. ‘Her beautifully intricate art nouveau designs and drawings inspired my early textile work and this has infiltrated through to my millinery today.’ And for time off? Chambers suggests you pull on a woolly hat and head to Glasgow’s Pollok County Park. ‘It has beautiful forests, gardens, a country house, a museum, a river, an old bridge and highland cows. It’s like a mini Scotland all in one place.’

Calum Huggan likes to bill himself as a ‘Scottish marimbist and percussionist, passionate about music and cross-arts collaborations’. With a first class honours in percussion from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Huggan recently became the first Briton to be accepted onto the advanced solo marimba course at the Royal College of Music, London, studying under virtuosic marimbist and composer Eric Sammut. Calum has also performed with orchestras such as BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Scottish Ensemble, Scottish Opera and National Theatre Mannheim; he recently made his international debut as guest principal with Jyväskylä Sinfonia, Finland, and as a soloist in Abu Dhabi. ‘Glasgow people? They are kind, humorous, honest, brave, stylish and pure dead brilliant.’

Canadian-born Ciara Phillips is an artist who lives and works in Glasgow, creating provocative, printmaking pieces and site-specific installations that occupy the margins between craft, art and design. While studying for a Master’s in fine art at The Glasgow School of Art, alumnus artist Norman McLaren was an influential figure for Phillips. ‘He went on to become a celebrated animator and hugely important figure in the National Film Board of Canada. I love, and always return to looking at, his 1971 piece Synchromy for its innovation and humour.’ Phillips likes to collaborate not just with other artists, but also social-activist groups including Artlink Central in Glasgow, which works with the disabled, and Justice for Domestic Workers in London. She has been nominated for this year’s prestigious Turner Prize award.