The Arts, Museums and Heritage Service operate the Art in Public Places scheme and annually acquire pieces for the existing collection. The collection is accessible to the public through schools, colleges, Orkney Library and Archive and other public buildings.
In addition to Art in Public Places, Orkney Islands Council also provides support for public art commissions and larger-scale public arts events and exhibitions. The intention behind these events is to provide access to public art across Orkney for as many residents as possible and to attract visitors to the Islands. Past events can also be viewed in the list below.
Remembering Together - COVID19 memorial for Orkney
Orkney Islands Council and greenspace scotland are seeking expressions of interest from artists and creative practitioners of all disciplines for Phase 1 of Remembering Together, Scotland’s Covid Community Memorial, in Orkney. This invitation for expressions of interest opened on 16 May and will close on Monday 13 June 2022.
24 May 2022
'Travellers' for GMB100
Commissioned as part of overall GMB100 activities marking the centenary of the writer’s birth, 'Travellers' was erected in the George Mackay Brown Community Garden in Stromness, in April 2022, and funded through Orkney Islands Council’s Culture Fund.
Creative duo, local writer Gabrielle Barnby and visual artist Orla Stevens, drew on old maritime materials donated by the Orkney Historic Boat Society - embellished with words of young people from Kirkwall Grammar School and original text from GMB’s final posthumous collection ’Travellers’
24 May 2022
Herring Wall by Jack Whitewell
NHS Orkney, in partnership with Orkney Islands Council’s Art Development Service, invited artists to submit proposals to help create a distinctive identity for the new Hospital and Healthcare Facilities Hub area, now widely known as The Balfour while it was being built. This was supported by the charity Art in Healthcare.
This was an important and high-profile public art opportunity in a much-anticipated new hospital. The aim of this project was to create a lovely public space with the artwork reflecting the community.
18 February 2022
Creative Schools
Local pupils from North Walls Community School have been undergoing training with a range of professionals to help them fulfil the role of Junior Curators at the Museum when it reopens.
In September, pupils were visited by experts from National Galleries Scotland Mara Barth (Learning Officer) and Freya Spoor (Curator) - who took them through a two-day workshop to become Junior Curators.
02 December 2021
The Balfour Hospital Art Collection
The Balfour Hospital Art Collection The Balfour Hospital, a new purpose built hospital designed by Keppie Design and built by Robertson Group at a cost of £65 million, opened in July 2019. Balfour Hospital is a rural general hospital in Kirkwall, Orkney, and managed by NHS Orkney.
13 October 2020
