Appointed as a Special Project Advisor by Creative Scotland for the Year of Natural Scotland. Worked with Scottish Natural Heritage, National Trust for Scotland, the Forestry Commission Scotland, Artwork Scotland and Loch Lomonds & The Trossachs National Park, and other partners to support new developments and initiate residencies with emphasis on the natural world. The residency programme was extended and supported by Creative Scotland. I co-ordinated the making of a series of short films, published articles and a publication with new writing by Nicola White (published June 2017) and a sharing best practice event. 

<iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/212983769" width="640" height="360" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen></iframe>
<p><a href="https://vimeo.com/212983769">Nicky Coutts | Inverewe Garden and Estate, Wester Ross</a> from <a href="https://vimeo.com/artisticreflections">Artistic Reflections</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p>

In partnership with Riverside Churches Association, developed and curated The Other Side of Air. A two yearprogramme of residencies and event explored the theme of spirituality within a contemporary context and directly engaged many thousands of Highland residents including women’s collectives, teenagers of different (and no) faith, as well as the large resident Polish population in Inverness with new artwork presented in series of non gallery spaces along the River Ness.

Artists: Karen Rann, Geoff Broadway, Del Whitticase, Fin Macrae.

DVD of the residencies and follow-on projects is available, on request.

Attracted to working in unusual spaces and situations to reinvigorate and foster new experiences through contemporary art interventions. Projects have embraced churches, cathedrals, a lighthouse, different levels of a multi-storey carpark including rooftop and lifts, empty shop units, city streets, graveyards, hotels, rivers, underpasses and hidden gardens

SUBLIME, an 18th month programme of events which was critically acclaimed and distinctive in its celebration of diverse spaces with weekly events and interventions – changing sound installations, video, yarn-bombing, theatre, magic, and large outdoor painting performance with cars volunteered by the public. Film programme co-curated with Lorraine Wilson. Artists included Torsten Lauschmann, Duncan Campbell, Nicolas Provost, Katy Dove, Ilana Halperin, Roger&Reid, Lisa O’Brien and Shona Illingworth.

During 2013-2015, worked in close partnership with Coigach community and artist, Neville Gabie and commissioned artist’s film Afloat which explores the burgeoning coastal rowing movement and which was nominated for a national community regeneration award. Afloat was produced by Neville Gabie following a residency in Achiltibuie, a small rural community in the stunning north-west Highlands.

This project was supported by Creative Scotland and the local community culminating in screening programme, a large-scale survey of Neville Gabie’s work at the Pier Arts Centre in Orkney, a new publication and national events programme involving writer Moira Jeffrey. The exhibition toandFRO was co-curated by Susan Christie and the Pier Arts Centre, and inspired a creative exchange project entitled Endeavour which involved emerging artists and students whose resulting collaborative work was displayed at the Pier.

Publication and DVD of Afloat are available, on request.

In close partnership with Lead Artist, Jacqueline Donachie worked to extend and enhance the public spaces within the purpose built Centre for Health Science in Inverness. Housing organizations from private, public and educations sectors, the Centre offered the opportunity to curate and commission ambitious programme of artwork. This included Ecbolic Garden (Winter) 2001 by Christine Borland, a series of sculptural artworks The Blaeberry and the Deer by Mary Redmond designed specially for surgeries in the dental wing, fabric commission for the Highland Diabetes Institute by Black Isle based designer Jane Dunn along with artwork by Toby Paterson, Jacqueline Donachie which highlighted the physical characteristic of the location and brought attention to a collection of unusual historical medical material.