Out of the Blue, Edinburgh

Out of the Blue Arts and Education Trust is a social enterprise based in Edinburgh where creative communities are acting as long-term drivers of regeneration, local economic resilience, and community wealth building through the stewardship of cultural space.

At the heart of the organisation is a simple model: provide affordable creative space; enable cultural production and participation; generate social and economic value and; reinvest surplus into community benefit. Over time, this approach has developed into a multi-site network of studios, venues, and learning spaces across Edinburgh.

Established in 1996, Out of the Blue opened a gallery but this was just the start of the creative community coming together and shaping the opportunities they had access to, locally.

By 2018, Out of the Blue had:

• Converted a near derelict bus garage office into an arts centre
• Purchased the Drill Hall on Dalmeny Street, converting space for studios, performances, events and a café
• Created additional workspaces for artists in Portobello in The Powerhouse and Arts Factory
• Repurposed an unused building in Leith and opening the Leith Walk Studios for bands and musicians
• Engaged young local artists through the power of print, Out of the Blueprint
• Established a centre for craft and design with workshops, Abbeymount Studios
• Created new studio and community spaces in empty buildings

A defining strength of this is the long term stewardship of buildings and securing opportunities for creatives and the wider ecosystem. These initiatives have involved repurposing multiple underused, vacant and heritage properties into thriving cultural hubs and has seen £1.8m expenditure on Edinburgh’s cultural infrastructure.

In 2026, Out of the Blue was granted a 75 year lease of the Powderhall Stables, which the City of Edinburgh Council restored and refurbished into studios, co-working spaces and events spaces.

They will also be an anchor tenant at Granton Lighthouse, being redeveloped as part of wider waterfront regeneration. Combined investment from the Scottish Government’s Regeneration Capital Grant Funding (£2.2m), Heritage Place Fund (£1.6m) and The City of Edinburgh (£0.2M) will see the redevelopment of Granton Lighthouse as a community arts and education hub.

These long term asset arrangements are critical. They provide stability for investment, allow spaces to evolve over time, and position cultural organisations as custodians of place rather than temporary occupiers.