Change

Stirling born artist David Galletly working on part of our collaborative mural for the exhibition 'How Children Learn' (2009).

I spent most of my childhood building makeshift forts from old doors and furniture scavenged from the vacant council flats that surrounded mine and my friends homes in Cultenhove or drawing pictures on the walls of a friends close. Which seemed like the normal thing to do at the time and it was fun.
I first became aware of Stirlings contemporary art gallery The Changing Room when I was 14 or 15. I had gotten into Skateboarding and that had coaxed me away from my usual haunts. I used to skip school and hang out at The Board Room, the skate shop in the old arcade. The weekend boy there was studying philosophy at Stirling Uni and we would go check out the exhibitions during lunch. He'd tell me something overly pretentious and I'd tell him I liked the colours.
I had stopped hanging out with a lot of the local YST kids during  High School they were always starting shit and by now most of them are dead or in jail. It didn't stop me from getting into similar troubles though and by 2007 I was a 19 year old college drop out with no fixed place of residence and a couple of outstanding arrest warrants looming over my head.
Around the same time as this my friend David (who I knew from the skatepark) put together a little exhibition in The Changing Rooms entranceway. Shortly afterwards I found myself doing one too and when The Changing Room moved up the hill to the new space we did one together. I've since exhibited my work throughout the UK and internationally, worked with and learned from some great artists. I still live in Stirling and continue to help out at The Changing Room whenever they need an extra hand during installs and openings.
The Changing Room picked me up and gave me a direction when I needed one. I don't want to think about where I'd be without this place.
Now Stirling Council want to close it down, don't let them.

Rue Five.

You can read a little more on David Galletly's blog here and here.
There is a little list of our local councillors here please email them and voice your opinion.