About Aosdana

  • Returning to her mother's roots from Glasgow in 1997, Mhairi Killin set up home in Tigh-na-Beargh, or House of the Loom, a small cottage in the village of Iona, where she restored part of the building to its original use as a weaving room.

     

    Mhairi, who trained at Glasgow School of Art, was the fifth generation of Macdonalds to live and work in the cottage and she continued a long family tradition of making and selling work to Iona's many visitors.

     

    In addition to her own woven artwork, Mhairi also produced a range of silver jewellery from the historic designs of Iona silversmiths, Alex Ritchie and family relative Iain MacCormick.

  • The studio thrived and it was obvious that more space was needed in order to set up a separate jewellery workshop, art studio and display area.

     

    In 2003, after a long period of negotiation with the National Trust for Scotland, work began on the restoration of the St. Columba Steadings, a group of disused farm buildings, situated on the road to Iona Abbey. The aim of the project was to develop workshop and display space for local artists and craftspeople.

     

    The transformation of the buildings took three years and was assisted financially by Whelk Leader +, AIE, The Highland Fund, The SJ Noble Trust, The Russell Trust and the National Trust for Scotland.

  • The project was strongly supported locally and was further enabled by the generous time given by architect, George Keith of Hugh Martin Architects, Edinburgh and local stonemason, Colin MacDougall.

     

    Working to exacting standards of renovation the ruined farm steadings were lovingly regenerated to accommodate a gallery, art studio, jewellery workshop, and a separate workshop and display area for other Island artisans. The buildings opened in 2006, with the official ribbon being cut by the project's architect George Keith and Iona silversmith Iain MacCormick's widow, Margo. Mhairi named the new gallery and workshops, Aosdana, from the old Gaelic meaning, people of the art, craft or gift.

  • By encouraging local people to develop their creative and business skills the project has offered an economically sustainable future for 10 micro-businesses and has created a diverse and lively centre of creativity on Iona.

    Through Aosdana, Mhairi continues to develop her artwork whilst two trained craft workers proudly maintain the tradition of Iona's Celtic jewellery. The gallery also showcases some of the best contemporary designer silversmiths currently working in Scotland and future plans include an exhibition of Scottish textile artists.

     

    The gallery is open daily 10 am - 5pm from Easter through till the end of October.

Isle of Iona