Exclusive:The 'great rural experiment' art school which won international award after chance visit by judges
Hospitalfield was launched as an art school in 1902
A garden which began life as the site of a plague hospital for the nearby abbey and has been a centre for the support of artists for over a century has won a major international award - after a chance visit from a panel of judges.
Hospitalfield, in Arbroath, has become the first Scottish winner of a prestigious international gardens prize and is to be celebrated with the creation of an hour-long documentary and a new book.
Director Lucy Byatt said the judging panel of the International Carlo Scarpa Prize for Gardens had made a chance visit to the site while visiting around a dozen other properties in Scotland.
The venue, which has had a multi million pound makeover in the past five years and began as a “great rural experiment” as a new art school by the sea in 1902, is the recipient of the 34th edition of the prize, joining a list of recipients in nations including Egypt, Switzerland, Finland, Syria, Benin, Iceland, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Italy, Kazakhstan and Spain.
Hospitalfield made its Chelsea Flower Show debut in May last year, with a garden designed as an outdoor artists’ studio and workspace.
Ms Byatt said: “I think the gardens attracted the judging panel’s attention through the visibility of Chelsea. And somebody said to them, ‘Well, you must go to Hospitalfield when you're in Scotland’. I don't think we were even on their shortlist, particularly, they just came for a visit.”
Dedicated to contemporary art and ideas, Hospitalfield was originally a project of 19th century artist Patrick Allan Fraser and his wife Elizabeth.
The £10 million masterplan to invest in the site is currently in its third phase, with the gardens designed by Nigel Dunnett completed first, followed by the renovation of the studios. The third phase, which needs a final £700,000 in funding, will see investment into the main house and the creation of a collections study centre.
Awarded by an international committee brought together by the Benetton Study Centre for Landscape, in Treviso, Italy, the prize combines a sixty minute documentary film and the publication of a book on the history of Hospitalfield.
Ms Byatt added: “I think it's it's really a prize for the wider vision, the stewardship of an organisation with a long history and how we've devised a future for it.
“We haven't discarded any of those values that were regarded as an essential in the 19th century, but we still think that's really important that it needs a little bit of an adjustment for our time, so we are making sure that we're developing a programme that suits artists now.”
The Hospitalfield team will travel to Treviso next month to contribute to and attend a symposium, the book launch and the first screening of the film that marks the announcement and celebration of the award.
Professor Frances Fowle, chair of the Board of Trustees, said: “It is wonderful that the magic that is Hospitalfield has been recognised through this prestigious international award. Combining the best arts and crafts design, hand-carved wood and stonework, a first-class art collection, and beautiful grounds and gardens overlooking the North Sea, this tiny corner of Angus has inspired artists from all over the world for well over a century.
“The Carlo Scarpa Prize recognizes Patrick Allan-Fraser’s extraordinary vision: to stimulate new art through creating a unique and magical environment in a breath-taking location.”
In September, the award will be celebrated in Scotland in both Edinburgh and Arbroath. The Italian Cultural Institute will host the event in Edinburgh on the 9 September with a screening and symposium. Following this Hospitalfield will hold an event in Arbroath on 13 September, chosen to coincide with the Angus Doors Open event.
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