Panel is a curatorial arts organisation led by Catriona Duffy and Lucy McEachan. Based in Glasgow, we create projects about design and making in relation to particular histories, archives and collections. We commission and collaborate with artists, designers and makers to produce new work, often in partnership with local industry, that frames design and making, not as the resource base for segregated services or goods but as an integral part of our broader social, political and cultural landscape.

Uncovering and layering narratives from public and private archives and collections, our projects subjectively examine, through design and making, the dynamic ways in which alternative viewpoints and perspectives can be presented and recast through culture. Across Scotland, in both urban and rural places, we are committed to finding spaces beyond the traditionally cultural, from gym hall to swimming pool to factory floor, in order to present exhibitions, events and publishing all closely connected to their site.

We also offer product development, research, curation, production and support to venues and other organisations through consultancy. This work punctuates and connects to our outward-looking programme and allows Panel to extend our reach beyond our home in Glasgow.

Since 2010 Panel has led and inspired a critical space for design in Scotland, commissioning and producing innovative cultural projects that engage designers and public audiences, and making connections with practitioners and institutions whose work extends into visual arts, craft and other cultural contexts and frameworks. Our work been delivered in partnership with cultural venues, local authorities, museums, archives, galleries, local and international cultural festivals, community and retail spaces and academia.

We advocate to wide and diverse audiences about the transformational power of design and making through our projects, as members of the Scottish Craft Development Network and as custodians of MAKE: a Manifesto for Craft in Scotland.

We share what we learn through publications, talks and events and through the voices of other people, via their blogs, events, talks, seminars and symposia. More about our learning, conversations and news can be found in our Journal.

Panel is a not-for-profit Community Interest Company and we receive regular funding from Creative Scotland.

The current team at Panel is:

Catriona Duffy, Co-director

Lucy McEachan, Co-director

Laura Richmond, Freelance project co-ordinator

Across our projects, Panel works with a wide range of freelance collaborators and consultants to help us research, develop and deliver our programme with care.

Panel’s graphic identity was handmade by artist Mick Peter using plywood, panel pins and plastic.

At once both a sculpture and a logo, it reflects our interest in the interplay between material culture and digital graphic design communication, capturing the individual personality of a signature.