Art exhibition will launch in Linlithgow's EH49 Hub

He founded the Linlithgow Art Collective five years ago and continues to run workshops in the town, despite now working at a high school in Falkirk.

And this weekend some of Peter’s young charges will be taking centre stage at an art exhibition in the EH49 Hub in the Vennel in Linlithgow.

Same Experience Different Font, an exhibition about neurodiversity, will launch tomorrow (Saturday) from 2pm to 5pm.

It features the work of an evening art class Peter runs for young people in Linlithgow.

He said: “I was asked by a funding charity called the Ideas Foundation if I would like to run a project about neurodiversity with my group; they would fund it and allow me to direct and develop the project.

“As some of my group members are diagnosed with neurodiverse conditions like autism, ADHD and social anxiety it was a perfect fit.”

Peter enlisted the help of a former art school friend, David Gilliver, and former pupil Iona Sorbie, who is now a successful graphic designer.

He said: “David is a renowned miniature photographer and Iona is also very talented in her field.

“We ran workshops with the young people to develop and create the artwork for the exhibition.

“The aim was to explore how we all look at the world differently – we might have the same experience but it’s different for each of us. Some people may feel left out; others might not be confident in themselves.

“Once they’d created lists of things they liked and didn't, we used them to create a visual of that experience – with David using his miniatures to great effect.

“We also played around with different fonts on the artwork, which gave us the inspiration for the exhibition’s name.

“Some of the work is darkly humourous; some is more serious with an environmental message, for example. But all of the work is inspired and designed by the youngsters with a neurodiverse theme.”

Tomorrow for the launch, copies of the prints and t-shirts will be on sale at the exhibition with post production profits being donated to Donaldson’s in Linlithgow and the charity Diversified.

The work will then be on display during normal hub opening hours; once it is taken down, it will be donated to Skills Development Scotland and Donaldson's School – in the hope of stimulating even more conversations about neurodiversity.

Peter hopes that people in Linlithgow will come along in strength to support the youngsters at the launch.

He said: “A lot of imagination and thought has gone into the exhibition and all the young people have worked incredibly hard.

“It’ll be nice for them to take centre stage at the event and get some feedback on the work they’ve done.”