As we continue to weather the storm of Covid-19, we have been humbled by the number of people who chose not to take a refund but to take credit or donate to the Barn instead, and by all the additional support we have received from both individual donations and the various grants which were made available to us.

The Barn is grateful and relieved to have received support from the Scottish Governments Performing Arts Venues Relief Fund. Designed to support arts venues that cannot yet re-open due to the ongoing impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, this funding will help to safeguard our organisation until March 2021.

Despite this, our activity and our earning potential over this period has been and continues to be considerably impacted by the closure and our organisation still faces significant financial pressures.

As we progress through this Worldwide pandemic, it is more apparent than ever just how important arts venues are to our communities, and to Scotland, a country awash with talented artists, designer-makers, performers, musicians, dancers, film makers and many more, all who rely upon venues like the Barn to support their work.

We know that Covid-19 will have a long-lasting impact on the arts sector. Over the coming months, the Barn will work with artists to develop new ways of being creative together. It is our hope that the relief funding, will enable us to move into a period of creative activity which will consider, develop and enhance the wellbeing of people and the planet.

Here at the Barn we are working hard to ensure that as we move forward, we have the right measures in place to ensure our audience, volunteers, Friends, artists and staff feel confident they can enjoy a happy and safe return. We look forward to re-opening our Gallery doors again in September as we host a stunning exhibition from Aberdeenshire based paper artist Stevi Benson – Fragile Nature. We hope this is the first of many ways to once again engage with our audience, artists and the community.

We do not hold all the answers as to how the future will look for the Barn but it is our sincerest wish to remain invaluable to the communities who support us and to those we support.

Victoria Layt - General Manager

Cath Du Preez - Head of Operations

Simone Stewart - Head of Programme