Ash to Art. 

Our idea harnessed the solidarity of the artistic community by sending ash from the fire to 25 world-famous artists, and asking them to create a new piece of art, which would then be auctioned at Christie’s, the world’s biggest auction house, to rebuild the School.

Each piece of ash was given powerful meaning and context by a label identifying it as ‘Bookcase. Charles Rennie Mackintosh. C. 1909’.

These powerful reminders of a much-loved art school touched the hearts of even the most charity-fatigued artists. The use of that classic art school material – charcoal – to reincarnate the School, struck a chord with artists. One of the artists said, “it was like receiving the ashes of a dear friend” and another said, “it released the smell of the fire”. In supplying them with simply a raw material, we gave artists an open brief allowing free reign for their self-expression.

Firstly, we successfully targeted some of the world’s most highly regarded artists with a charcoal mailer that struck at the heart of their artistic solidarity, convincing even the most charity-fatigued to take part.

The exceptional caliber of our talent allowed us to transform worthless ash into priceless works of art. Our partnership with Christie’s then allowed us to realise the full market value of these unique and diverse works in the magnificence of one of the most famous auction rooms in the world.

Press and OOH pushed art-lovers to a website that showcased the artwork. The event was strongly promoted on social media by a global network of galleries and institutions, including The Gagosian, The White Cube and The Victoria Miro gallery.

The event caught the attention of the world’s media and helped us change the fortunes of one of the country’s most important creative institutions.

3 years after the fire, The Glasgow School of Art became big news again as our auction captured the attention of art lovers from around the world.

The artists produced an inventive, diverse body of work that immortalised the old building, elevating the humble by-product of the fire into a legacy of 25 iconic pieces of art.

The 3 day exhibition brought over 10,000 people into Christie’s and received mass coverage and positive reviews from key influencers in the artistic community, reaching 42% of the UK population.

The auction was live streamed and drew global attention, attracting bids from 28 countries worldwide.

The auction resulted in total sales of £706,438, and with further pieces still to be sold, our total is expected to be well in excess of £1 million, helping us generate an ROI of over 1:700,000.