On The Edge Research is a collaborative investigation of the role of the artist in public life. We are a partnership of researchers specialising in public art, social practice, environmental art, cultural policy and leadership, having grown out of a postgraduate programme based at Gray’s School of Art (Robert Gordon University). We provide research, writing and evaluation expertise relevant to a range of professional and academic needs. Based in Scotland, we are active in different parts of the UK and Europe.
On The Edge Research was founded in 2001 by Anne Douglas and Chris Fremantle. As the name implies, we are interested in culture beyond the mainstream and seek out fresh perspectives on policy and practice. Building from our origins in Aberdeenshire, we are convinced that the contemporary arts derive vital energy from experiences, experiments and traditions which exist outside established centres.
We seek out overlooked insights from the margins of cultural life, whether in extreme rural settings, in neglected corners of our cities, or at the boundaries between disciplines, territories and environments. We work internationally to understand the local. We examine individual experience to inform strategy. We lift the dead stone of orthodoxy to see what lives in the warm earth below.
On this site you will find:
A Blog with news and ideas from the team and our partners
Details of current and completed Research Projects
Profiles of Team Members and Research Associates
Current and Completed Post Graduate Research
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On The Edge Research 